US President Donald Trump suffered a triple defeat as Democrats won high-profile state and mayoral elections. The elections underscore his unpopularity on first anniversary of his dramatic election win on Wednesday. <br/><br/>The last night results amounted to a sweeping repudiation of what critics have called Trump's politics of division, and a test of his influence ahead of electoral battles looming on the state and national level.<br/><br/>The most damaging defeat was in Virginia, a state bordering Washington seen as a bellwether for national politics with the country gearing up for 2018 congressional elections and the next presidential contest in 2020.<br/><br/>The Virginia governor's race had all the makings of a nailbiter, but in the end, Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam trounced his Republican rival Ed Gillespie by an unexpectedly wide nine percentage points in the southern battleground state.<br/><br/>In New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy reclaimed the governorship with a victory of about 13 percentage points over his rival following eight years of Republican Governor Chris Christie, a onetime ally of Trump.<br/><br/>And in New York, progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio rode a wave of hometown distaste for Trump to cruise to re-election in America's most populous city.

US President Donald Trump suffered a triple defeat as Democrats won high-profile state and mayoral elections. The elections underscore his unpopularity on first anniversary of his dramatic election win on Wednesday. <br/><br/>The last night results amounted to a sweeping repudiation of what critics have called Trump's politics of division, and a test of his influence ahead of electoral battles looming on the state and national level.<br/><br/>The most damaging defeat was in Virginia, a state bordering Washington seen as a bellwether for national politics with the country gearing up for 2018 congressional elections and the next presidential contest in 2020.<br/><br/>The Virginia governor's race had all the makings of a nailbiter, but in the end, Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam trounced his Republican rival Ed Gillespie by an unexpectedly wide nine percentage points in the southern battleground state.<br/><br/>In New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy reclaimed the governorship with a victory of about 13 percentage points over his rival following eight years of Republican Governor Chris Christie, a onetime ally of Trump.<br/><br/>And in New York, progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio rode a wave of hometown distaste for Trump to cruise to re-election in America's most populous city.