virginia governor issues dominate ad wars

He also backed a business-friendly approach to the state’s economy, opposed mask and vaccine mandates, promised to expand Virginia’s limited charter schools and ban critical race theory, an academic framework that centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people.

He opposed a major clean energy mandate the state passed two years ago and objected to abortion in most circumstances. Youngkin ran confidently on a conservative platform. Favoring fleece vests, Youngkin sought to cut the image of a genial suburban dad. The city had previously only elected white men as mayor.īut no other contest in this off-year election season received the level of national attention - and money - as the governor’s race in Virginia, a state with broad swaths of college-educated suburban voters who are increasingly influential in swaying control of Congress and the White House.Ī former co-chief executive at the Carlyle Group with a lanky, Youngkin poured vast amounts of his personal fortune into a campaign that spent more than $59 million. World & Nation Boston elects Michelle Wu as its first female and Asian American mayorīoston voters for the first time elected a woman and an Asian American as mayor. The initiative would have replaced the police force with a Department of Public Safety charged with undertaking “a comprehensive public health” approach to policing. Minneapolis voters rejected a ballot initiative that sought to overhaul policing in their city, where George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer on Memorial Day 2020, sparking the largest wave of protests against racial injustice in generations. Cincinnati is getting its first Asian American mayor, Aftab Pureval. Eric Adams won in New York, and Boston voters elected City Councilor Michelle Wu as the city’s first female Asian American mayor. That approach could provide a model for Republicans competing in future races that feature significant numbers of Democratic or independent voters.Įlsewhere in the country Tuesday, mayoral contests helped shape the leadership of some of the nation’s largest cities. He never campaigned in person with Trump, successfully challenging McAuliffe’s effort to cast him as a clone of the former president. Perhaps most significantly, Youngkin prevailed in a task that has stumped scores of Republicans before him: attracting Trump’s base while also appealing to suburban voters who were repelled by the former president’s divisive behavior.ĭuring the campaign, Youngkin stated his support for “election integrity,” a nod at Trump’s lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, while also focusing on education and business-friendly policies. Biden won there by more than 15 points in 2020. Phil Murphy was in a close fight as he sought to become the first Democratic governor to win reelection in the state in more than four decades. In addition to the stinging Virginia loss for the Democrats, New Jersey Gov. Youngkin promised to lead not just from the state capital but with “a vision where Virginians’ power, the power that has historically resided in the marble halls in Richmond is spread out, spread out into the kitchen tables that are held together with the bond and the spirit of liberty and freedom.” AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” had blared from speakers as the race was called after midnight. “This is the spirit of Virginia coming together like never before,” Youngkin told cheering supporters in a hotel ballroom in Chantilly, about 25 miles west of Washington. It is certain to add to the Democrats’ anxiety about their grip on political power heading into next year’s midterm, when the party’s thin majority in Congress could be erased. The 54-year-old Youngkin’s defeat of Democrat Terry McAuliffe marked a sharp turnabout in a state that has shifted to the left over the last decade and was captured by Joe Biden in last year’s presidential race by a 10-point margin. Republican Glenn Youngkin won the Virginia governor’s race early Wednesday, tapping into culture war fights over schools and race to unite former President Trump’s most fervent supporters with enough suburban voters to become the first GOP candidate to win statewide office here in 12 years.

Virginia governor issues dominate ad wars