RICHMOND, Va. (CN) — Virginians woke up with new leadership on the horizon Wednesday morning as Republicans, led by businessman and Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin and bolstered by weak Democratic turnout, took control of the top statewide offices and the House of Delegates in the closest watched election of 2021.
It’s been over a decade since Virginians elected a Republican to a statewide seat. While those on both sides of the aisle will spend weeks if not months dissecting Tuesday’s election, the reality of the GOP victories will set in by January for the 2022 legislative session and in legal fights over the coming months.
"We are going to get to work on day one to ensure that Virginians soar and never settle," Youngkin said in a brief statement following his two-point win over former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe.
At the top of the governor-elect's list of campaign promises is addressing what he perceives as the state’s failing school system.
Youngkin's campaign website says that effort includes increasing the number of governor’s schools – the state’s highest performing and more exclusive public education options – alongside restoring school standards to “actual excellence.”
While some goals such as making sure all kids can read, write and understand math by third grade can be pursued easily, construction of new buildings and restoring education standards will require input from other parts of the state government.
Changes to school standards are in the hands of the Virginia Board of Elections, whose members are appointed by the governor. The board is currently filled by Democratic appointees with few terms expiring before 2023. This could be a firewall against much of Youngkin's scholastic agenda if legislation stumbles.
Construction projects like new schools have to be funded through budget planning, something that is ongoing under the current Democratic House leadership as a biannual budget awaiting final amendments. Sources were unable to confirm if that budget process would wrap up before Republicans take control in January.
Still, the GOP’s retaking of the state’s House of Delegates will make changes easier.
Among those who helped retake the House is lawyer Wren Williams. Based in the state’s far southwestern corner, the delegate-elect overtook a 14-year GOP incumbent in a primary earlier this year. He attributed his win, as well as Youngkin’s, to a desire for moderate politics.
“I don’t think gun rights and abortion will be front and center,” Williams said of the upcoming session in a phone interview Wednesday morning.
Citing Youngkin’s refusal of an endorsement from the NRA, and attempts to avoid discussions about reproductive health, he argued the GOP won on education and economic development and that will be where the party focuses.
“Everybody wants to see Virginia and the nation come back to the middle, not an extreme right or left, and that’s what I think that’s the kind of Virginia Youngkin wants to represent,” he added.
But Williams also pointed to Youngkin’s most headline-grabbing campaign pledge: to ban critical race theory in public schools.
While no evidence exists to suggest Virginia’s schoolchildren are learning about the theory that racism is embedded in American institutions, Williams said voters believe school systems are rife with efforts to teach Black children they were unequal to their white counterparts.
Though the GOP winning the House will be a major boon for Youngkin, he’ll still face a 21-19 Democratic majority in the Virginia Senate. But that slim majority often relied on outgoing Democratic Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax casting tie-breaking votes for some of Democrat’s most contentious efforts, thanks to two moderate Democrats in the chamber.
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