The Republican members of the Virginia House of Delegates chose legislators considered allies of Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) for party leadership last Sunday, including one who spent over $500,000 to win a district considered safe for Republicans after Virginia’s 2021 redistricting.
Virginia Republicans chose House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) to become the party’s new Minority Leader in the House of Delegates, and Delegate Amanda Batten (R-York) will retain her position as the Republican Caucus Chair.
Gilbert (pictured above, left) was described as a “key ally” of Youngkin in 2022 by The Washington Post, which reported that the men spoke “on an almost daily basis,” and seemed to credit Gilbert for helping Youngkin achieve his legislative goals.
He survived a leadership challenge over the weekend that was reportedly fueled by frustration over his acquiescence to Youngkin during the 2023 elections. Delegates reportedly blamed Gilbert for allowing Youngkin and his Spirit of Virginia PAC to steer Republicans’ election messaging, and for forwarding Youngkin’s demands for delegates to appear at campaign events they considered part of a last-minute presidential bid for the governor.
Though some Republican candidates were against Youngkin’s campaign messaging, particularly the politicization of his proposed 15-week restriction on most abortions in Virginia, Batten campaigned in favor of Youngkin’s proposal, according to 13 News Now. “The governor has mentioned 15 weeks maybe,” She told the outlet. “I think that’s a great place to start.”
She spent over $500,000 to secure her re-election, and her campaign received nearly $50,000 from Gilbert’s Republican Commonwealth Leadership PAC in 2023, making it one of her largest contributors. Batten’s campaign also contributed a similar amount of money to the PAC controlled by Gilbert throughout the election.
At press time, election officials show Batten (pictured above, right) received 50.9 percent of the vote, and her Democratic opponent Jessica Anderson received 49.03 percent of the vote, giving Batten a 1.87 percent margin of victory.
Batten currently represents Virginia’s 96th District, and redistricting in 2021 caused her to run in the 71st District, which data indicates Youngkin would have carried by 7.87 percent in 2021.
Batten acknowledged her 2023 campaign was “different,” according to The Virginia Gazette, and attributed at least part of the difference to the elections being held in an “off-off-year,” which she said was due to the lack of national or gubernatorial candidates on the ballot.
Radio and TV host John Fredericks, who is also the publisher of The Virginia Star, said Gilbert and Batten retaining their leadership positions does little to assure Virginia Republicans the party will not suffer future losses.
“I guess in the Republican Party of Virginia it’s opposite land, like we play with our children,” Fredericks continued. “Losing is now winning, and losers are now chairman. People that spend $600,000 to win seats that are R+8 become conference chair. What’s going to change?”
The media’s uncertainty regarding Youngkin’s presidential ambitions was highlighted in a memo by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) on Monday, with the liberal group attributing Democrats’ victory to the party’s commitment to state issues like abortion and national pundits’ “focused on Governor Youngkin and his presidential ambitions.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Todd Gilbert” by Todd Gilbert. Photo “Amanda Batten” by Amanda Batten. Background Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Ron Cogswell. CC BY 2.0.
