RICHMOND, Va. (CN) — Virginia Republicans are hoping to break their decade-long losing streak for statewide office Tuesday in an election that is being closely watched nationwide as a test of voter support for Democrats and President Joe Biden.
Democrat and former Governor Terry McAuliffe is hoping to reclaim his seat in the race against Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin, who hopes to secure the GOP’s first statewide win since 2009. The two have been neck-and-neck in polling despite McAuliffe's early advantage and the state's shift to the left in recent years, which has inspired heavy hitters from both parties to throw their support behind their respective candidates.
Former President Donald Trump has made several statements endorsing Youngkin over the course of the campaign. In a final plea during a phone call billed as a tele-rally Monday, he called the Republican “a good man, a hardworking man, a successful man.”
But Trump lost Virginia in both 2016 and 2020, losing by 10 points last year. McAuliffe has bought billboard ads linking Youngkin to the former president in the hopes of dashing his chances.
Meanwhile, President Biden spoke at a campaign event for McAuliffe last week in Arlington.
“You don’t have to wonder what kind of governor Terry will be because you know what a great governor he was,” Biden said. “It wasn’t just because of what he promised. It’s what he delivered.”
Biden also called Youngkin "an acolyte of Donald Trump,” hoping to drum up the same voter enthusiasm that put him in the White House.
Former President Barack Obama, who won Virginia in his successful 2008 and 2012 elections, also stumped in person for McAuliffe. Speaking at a rally in Richmond last month, he described the candidate as “the Energizer bunny.”
“He does not sleep. He does not stop,” Obama said.
Early in the campaign season, McAuliffe promised to expand health care access and paid family sick leave, among other progressive policies, but Youngkin and his surrogates quickly shifted the narrative to the issue of critical race theory being taught in public schools.
While no evidence exists to suggest Virginia’s schoolchildren are learning about the theory that racism is embedded in American institutions, the issue has animated voters like Julie Bailey of Manassas.
"I am dead set against critical race theory,” Bailey said after voting Tuesday. “I want that out of here.”
It was also a motivating factor for retired Henrico County resident Paul Loomis.
“The school stuff, it seems like that’s an important thing for a parent to be involved in,” the military veteran said as he left his suburban Richmond polling place.
Loomis said he voted for Republicans straight down the ticket, something he’s done for years, except for his local House of Delegates member, Democrat Schuyler VanValkenburg.
“He spoke to me before I went into the polls,” Loomis said, admitting he doesn’t usually trust Democrats and thought McAuliffe was "a bag man for the Clintons," but VanValkenburg seemed different.
The incumbent Democrat smiled as he watched Loomis speak. VanValkenburg was a few feet away and said the Short Pump-area polling place was his 10th stop on a busy morning as he defends his seat.
“You see the culture war issues on TV and in ads, but when you talk to folks it's the kitchen table issues,” VanValkenburg said of Youngkin’s strategy to focus on critical race theory in public schools.
As VanValkenburg sees it, it's things like health care and having enough money to put food on the table that animated voters he spoke with. A high school civics teacher, he’s also uniquely positioned to confirm the lack of critical race theory in the classroom.