Voters Are Done With COVID-19 and Pandemic-Powered Officials

Panicked Americans surrendered a lot of authority during the pandemic. Now they want their country back.

J.D. TUCCILLE | 11.5.2021 at reason:

(Sue Dorfman/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom)

Politicians have been on a high over the last year-plus, wielding extraordinary power with the approval of voters fearful of viral infection. Democrats, in particular, championed draconian restrictions on life and often won praise for doing so. Going into this week’s election, Terry McAuliffe, Phil Murphy, and other politicians had every reason to expect voters to cheer similar interventions in other areas. But voters, it turns out, are over their pandemic panic and want something closer to a traditionally restrained government minding its manners and paying attention to the public’s concerns.

“From Virginia’s Tidewater region to the Philadelphia suburbs to Long Island, voters on Tuesday issued an unmistakable repudiation of the Democratic Party that was wider and deeper than…