Glenn Youngkin, Terry McAuliffe. Bill OLeary/The Washington Post via Getty/Win McNamee/Getty, Shayanne Gal/Insider
In Virginia's gubernatorial election, Republican Glenn Youngkin beat Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
McAuliffe was governor for one term, while Youngkin is a first-time candidate and businessman.
This high-stakes vote is a major win for the GOP, and a warning sign for Democrats.
What's at stake?
In Virginia's gubernatorial elections, Glenn Youngkin defeated Terry McAuliffe. The Tuesday race was the most important test for President Joe Biden's party's strength since Democrats regained the White House in November 2020, and the Senate in January.
McAuliffe is a well-known fixture in Democratic politics. He started his career fundraising for former President Bill Clinton in late 1990s. McAuliffe was elected Virginia governor in 2014.
Youngkin, an ex-private equity executive who is now co-CEO at the Carlyle Group and a wealth former executive, is a political newcomer. He has self-funded a large portion of his campaign.
A select few party members chose Virginia's native to be the GOP nominee. He was not competing in a primary election, but was instead chosen by a small group of GOP members at a May 8 ranked choice party convention. He has never been in direct contact with voters, unlike McAuliffe. Youngkin has portrayed himself as an economic conservative, and avoided talking about former President Donald Trump who lost Virginia by double-digits for 2020.
The Virginia constitution states that governors can only serve one term. Current Democratic Gov. McAuliffe is seeking his second term. Ralph Northam has been termed out. In Virginia, where the US capital is located, state politics are becoming more nationalized.
McAuliffe had admitted that Washington Democrats were closely involved in the fate of his campaign. McAuliffe recently called on Democrats to do whatever it takes to pass their domestic policies agenda, including the bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, and he lamented Biden's declining approval rating.
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McAuliffe attempted to tie Youngkin to Trump, despite Youngkin not having a real political record. McAuliffe called Youngkin a "Trump wannabe", and Democrats claimed that Youngkin's policies were almost identical to Trump's.
Youngkin was happy to be endorsed by the former president, but he has since admitted that Biden was elected fairly in recent months and "there wasn’t material fraud" during the 2020 election. Youngkin declined to comment on whether Biden won the election before he was nominated.
Youngkin also ran on "election integrity," which is a platform that supports the GOP's voter-fraud conspiracy theories, but does not explicitly endorse Trump's false claims regarding the 2020 election.
Trump issued a statement on Tuesday congratulating Youngkin. "I want to thank my BASE who came out in force and voted for Glenn Youngkin. He would have never been able to win without you. It said that the MAGA movement was stronger and bigger than ever before.
This statement was made in response to another one that Liz Harrington, his spokesperson, shared on Twitter just before the election. She said that Trump and Youngkin "get along well together" because they "strongly believe many of the same policies."
"Fake News media together with some perverts doing ads on primarily Fox (Fox shouldn’t take those ads!) The statement stated that they were trying to make Glenn Youngkin and me seem at odds and not like one another.
McAuliffe did not concede the race immediately on Tuesday night. "Folks. Not everything is counted, and we still need a lot more votes to get in. He tweeted just after 10:30 p.m., local time: "We want to ensure that every Virginian's voice is heard."
Youngkin portrayed himself as a champion for parents who are against vaccine mandates and racial injustice efforts in public schools, in his attempts to appeal to suburban voters. Youngkin promoted a Fairfax County mother who tried to get Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Beloved", from her son's high schools curriculum in October. McAuliffe, as governor, vetoed legislation requiring schools to notify parents of sexually explicit content being assigned to their children and give them the option to opt out.
Youngkin accused McAuliffe of denying parents the right to decide what their children learn when he defended schools, saying that "I don’t think parents should tell schools what they should do" during a recent debate.
Youngkin received a boost in his final days as he was supported by the latest polls.
Business Insider has the original article.
