Republican Glenn Youngkin beats Terry McAuliffe to win VA governorship in shocker upset - 'one for the ages'

Samuel Chamberlain
New York Post
Wed, 03 Nov 2021 16:59 UTC

© Associated Press

Republican Glenn Youngkin has pulled off the upset victory over Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s gubernatorial election.

Republican Glenn Youngkin pulled off an upset for the ages Tuesday night, defeating Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia's gubernatorial election, a result that sent a political shockwave across America ahead of next year's midterm elections.

In his victory speech, delivered before a roaring crowd shortly after 1 a.m., Youngkin called his win a "defining moment" and promised to "change the trajectory of this commonwealth."

"On day one, we're going to work," Youngkin vowed. "We're going to restore excellence in our schools ... We're going to embrace our parents, not ignore them."

As Youngkin spoke, President Biden was descending the steps of Air Force One after returning to the US from Europe and landing in a very different political reality.

With 99 percent of the expected vote in, Youngkin had 50.7 percent of the vote compared to 48.6 percent for McAuliffe, a margin of approximately 67,000 votes out of nearly 3.3 million ballots cast.

© Getty Images

Youngkin awaits the results of the Virginia gubernatorial race at the Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles on Nov. 2, 2021

Republicans also had narrow leads in the races for Virginia's two other statewide offices. Businesswoman and former Virginia House of Delegates member Winsome Sears will be the first black woman to win statewide office if she defeats Democratic House of Delegates member Hala Ayala to become Virginia's next lieutenant governor.

"I am at a loss for words for the first time in my life," Sears, a former Marine, told the rapturous crowd shortly before Youngkin spoke.

In the Virginia attorney general's race, Republican Jason Miyares, a descendant of Cuban exiles, led Democrat Mark Herring, who was seeking his third consecutive term in that office. Miyares would be the first Hispanic person to hold statewide office in Virginia.

An exultant Republican National Committee statement proclaimed: "The red wave is here!"

"This Republican sweep in Virginia is a resounding rebuke of the failed policies of Joe Biden and the Democrats," the RNC said. "Virginians — and Americans across the country — are fed up with Biden's divisive policies, failed leadership, and a Democrat agenda hurting working families. A Republican wave is coming in 2022, and Virginia is just the start."

Running against a former governor in a state Biden carried by 10 percentage points last year, Youngkin focused his campaign on winning back suburbanites alienated by former President Donald Trump.

He did that by keeping Trump at arm's length throughout the race and hammering McAuliffe on local issues like the economy and education, advocating for more parental involvement in schools and vowing to ban the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 classrooms.

Comment: Not a shock to anyone who could read the mood of the Virginia citizenry: Matt Taibbi: The red-pilling of Loudoun County, Virginia

Youngkin wasn't the only Republican breakthrough in what has been considered a deep-blue state. There was a clean red sweep at the top of Virginia's government. The Post Millennial reports:

Two Republicans made history in Virginia on Tuesday after the state elected the first black woman to become Virginia's Lt. Governor and an hispanic man as Attorney General.

Virginia's Winsome Sears (R) is expected to be named the first black female Lt. Governor of Virginia after statewide elections predict a victory over Democratic nominee Hala Ayala.

"I'm telling you that what you are looking at is the American Dream," Sears said during a victory speech in Chantilly on Tuesday.

In 2001, Sears made history when she became the first female veteran, first black female Republican, and first naturalized citizen to serve in the House of Delegates, representing the state's 90th district. Sears immigrated to the US from Jamaica as a child and later went on to serve in the United States Marine Corps.

Winsome Sears, 57, ran on a bid alongside Republican Glenn Youngkin, who is projected to defeat Democrat Terry McAuliffe and be named the next Governor of Virginia.

In addition, Jason Miyares (R) defeated two-term Democrat Mark Herring for Virginia attorney general on Tuesday, thus becoming the state's first Latino to serve in the position.

Since 2016, Miyares has served in Virginia's House of Delegates, representing areas of Virginia Beach. He was also the first Cuban American elected to the General Assembly, according to Business Insider.

Miyares ran on a platform to reinstate public safety with an intended focus on supporting the police, restoring law and order, and fighting human trafficking, according to his website. The attorney general-elect heavily criticized the Democratic "Defund the Police" movement and said he was running "to keep our communities safe and secure."