Youngkin Declares ‘Virginia Is Competitive’ for Trump Campaign Despite Biden-Harris Swap

Glenn Youngkin, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump

Governor Glenn Youngkin said on Wednesday that Virginia remains competitive for former President Donald Trump and Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) despite President Joe Biden dropping out of the race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been credited with making up ground lost under Biden.

Youngkin made the remarks during an appearance on The Brian Kilmeade Show, initially acknowledging the recent poll results that showed Harris narrowly leading Trump within the survey’s margin of error.

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Ex-Gov. Terry McAuliffe Disputes Virginia Poll Showing Trump Tied with Harris, Argues Federal Employee Turnout Pivotal

Terry McAuliffe

Former Governor Terry McAuliffe on Thursday disputed the results of a Virginia poll that showed former President Donald Trump statistically tied with Vice President Kamala Harris in the commonwealth, raising allegations about the pollster’s credibility and claims its data was skewed, before arguing federal workers would turnout in sufficient numbers to propel the Harris-Walz ticket to victory.

McAuliffe claimed the pollster who released the Tuesday survey showing Trump and Harris statistically tied, with the Democrat leading the former president by just 3 percent, “has never had a poll that’s been correct in their life,” according to The Washington Times.

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At Texas Festival, Youngkin Counts Trump’s Wins, Explains Virginia’s ‘Ground Zero’ Role in Parents’ Rights Issues

In an interview before a live audience at the Texas Tribune Festival Friday, Governor Glenn Youngkin answered questions about a potential 2024 presidential run, Donald Trump, campaigning for Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, pro-life policy, and education policy. Most of Youngkin’s answers sounded similar to other speeches he’s made in Virginia, although there was more criticism of the U.S.’ border policy and of President Joe Biden’s leadership.

As part of a series of questions sounding Youngkin out about national political ambitions, Washington Examiner Senior Correspondent David Drucker asked Youngkin what Trump did right, and what he did wrong. Youngkin said that the former president successfully addressed kitchen-table economic concerns, supported law enforcement, and focuses on parents and high expectations in education.

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Former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax Says FBI Is Investigating Origins of Allegations That Derailed His Political Career

Former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax says the FBI is investigating the origins of allegations of sexual assault that tainted Fairfax, potentially blocking him from becoming governor.

“Investigators have been given evidence of fabrication regarding the accusations and evidence regarding the orchestration of a lengthy smear campaign,” Fairfax said in a Tuesday statement. “For over three years, I have asked for this matter to be investigated because I knew the allegations were patently false and I knew that I would be exonerated.”

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VA-08 GOP Nominee Lipsman’s Priorities Are Public Safety, Economy, Education, and Mental Health

GOP nominee in VA-08 Karina Lipsman wants to focus on public safety, the economy, education, and mental health. Lipsman is battling Representative Don Beyer (D-VA-08) in a deep-blue district, and was nominated at the end of May in a ranked-choice convention. “We live in Northern Virginia. We don’t live in, you know, Chicago or Baltimore. It’s unacceptable how crime is affecting our daily lives,” Lipsman told The Virginia Star. “The soft-on-crime policies need to end and we need to really start investing in our law enforcement and make sure that they have the resources they need in order to keep our communities safe,” she said. She said that fewer people want to work in law enforcement, and there’s a need to incentivize those that want to work in the field to stay. Lipsman highlighted high inflation, rising gas prices, and rising taxes. “Right now the government just continues to tax and tax and tax, without any real way of controlling our spending. We also need to have manufacturing here in the U.S.,” she said, calling for a “Made in America” agenda with incentives to keep jobs in the country. She called for energy independence with expedited drilling permits. Lipsman is…

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VA-10 GOP Nominee Hung Cao: Focus on Economy and National Security

GOP nominee for Virginia’s tenth congressional district Hung Cao said his top priorities if he’s elected to Congress will be the economy and national security.

“We have to stabilize this economy. This is spiraling out of control,” Cao told The Virginia Star. “We have to cut spending. This is not just about my kids and your kids, but our grand kids and our great grand kids. This is going to resonate for years.”

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Youngkin Vetoes 25 Bills, Including Nine of Sen. Ebbin’s Ten 2022 Bills That Passed

Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed 26 bills from the 2022 General Assembly session, including nine of the ten bills sponsored by Senator Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) who helped lead efforts to block some Youngkin appointees. Youngkin also amended over 100 bills, including a bill introducing staggered elections at the Loudoun County School Board; Youngkin’s amendment would force all the members of the board to run for re-election this year.

“My goal as Governor is to make Virginia the best place to live, work, and raise a family and the bills I vetoed today reaffirm that commitment,” Youngkin said in a Monday evening announcement of the 25 newest vetoes. “I look forward to working together with members of the General Assembly in the future to ensure that we’re working for all Virginians. Together we can make the Commonwealth a place where businesses can prosper, students can thrive, and communities are safer.”

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Democratic Party of Virginia Re-Elects Chair Susan Swecker

The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA) re-elected Chair Susan Swecker for a four-year term with 80 percent of the vote on Saturday.

“I am incredibly grateful to Virginia Democrats for putting their faith in me to continue to lead the Party as we move forward. We have made so much progress as a Party and Commonwealth over the last seven years, and now is the time to protect and build upon that progress,” Swecker said in a press release.

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State Senators Petersen, Lewis Provide Path for Republicans to Pass Sexually Explicit Educational Materials Bill out of Virginia’s Democratic Senate

Two Democratic senators voted with Republicans in committee to advance Senator Siobhan Dunnavant’s (R-Henrico) SB 656 requiring Virginia public schools to notify parents about sexually explicit instructional material, allow parental review, and provide non-explicit alternatives. The bill instructs the Department of Education to create model policies; if passed, school boards would be required to pass similar policies.

“This is the opportunity for parents to have a conversation with their child,” Dunnavant said in the Senate Committee on Education and Health on Thursday.

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Commentary: Woke Is Broke and Costing Democrats

We are in the first month of 2022, and, from every sign, it appears my Democratic friends are determined to stick to their guns when it comes to both their agenda and how they intend to sell it. In other words, America has not heard the last of the Woke Police.

The 2021 elections, especially in Virginia, could have served as a wake-up call for Democrats. When Terry McAuliffe announced he thought parents should not be telling schools what to teach, the voters spoke loudly and clearly that they felt differently. Attempts to make Republican Glenn Youngkin into the Old Dominion’s version of Donald Trump fell flat as he scored a solid victory.

You might think that after the events of 2021, Democrats would be inclined to engage in some self-reflection. You would be wrong. How do we account for the largest increase in the inflation rate in a generation? President Biden has decided Sen. Elizabeth Warren has it right. Defying logic, gravity, and common sense, they have placed the blame on “meat conglomerates.” Why the cost of a steak would cause spikes in the cost of so many other items, including gasoline, is a carefully guarded secret. Why don’t Democrats in a position of leadership make clear they will not submit to viewpoints held by such a small percentage of the public?

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Commentary: Pramila Jayapal, the Loser of the Year

For three months, as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal was firm in her threat: “We will agree to the bipartisan [infrastructure] bill if, and only if, we also pass the reconciliation bill first.” She was the driving force and the public face behind progressives’ mission to use the infrastructure bill as a cudgel to force Sen. Joe Manchin, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and other centrist Democrats into passing Build Back Better. She repeatedly appeared on “The Rachel Maddow Show” to give attention to her strongarm tactics.

Time and time again in August, September, and October, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was forced to back down from votes on infrastructure because of Jayapal. When a reporter told Jayapal that some people believed she was “bluffing,” Jayapal, who has nearly 100 members in her caucus, said, “Try us.”

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Arizona Gov. Ducey and Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Differ on Putting Cameras in Classrooms

Leading Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake voiced support for putting cameras in schools in order to allow parents to monitor what educators are teaching their children, and Gov. Doug Ducey responded by criticizing the idea. 

Ducey said during a press conference that it could lead to “predators” monitoring children, the Arizona Capitol Times reported. “We’ve got young kids in these classrooms,” he said. “We want to protect them from predators, of course.” 

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‘Who Better to Help Make That Change But Me?’: Virginia Lieutenant Governor-Elect Winsome Sears Says Democrats Are Losing Grip on Two Key Demographics

Winsome Sears, the Republican lieutenant governor-elect of Virginia, told The New York Times that Democrats are at risk of losing Black and immigrant voters.

As an immigrant from Jamaica and the first black woman elected to statewide office in Virginia, Sears told the NYT she was the perfect person to kickstart her demographic’s political realignment in America.

“The message is important,” Sears told the outlet. “But the messenger is equally important.”

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Youngkin Lists Key Factors of His Victory, Reiterates Promises at Republican Party of Virginia Advance

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin kicked off the Republican Party of Virginia’s (RPV) Advance (Republicans don’t retreat) by reviewing the party’s recent win and expressing hopes for future political and legislative wins.

“We did it,” Youngkin told the crowd. “Friends, after a long day of pain, let’s just be clear: we turned Virginia red.”

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Democratic Virginia 2021 Postmortem Finds Equating Youngkin with Trump Didn’t Work; Youngkin had More Positive Image than McAuliffe

A post-election report from ALG Research and Third Way found that Democrats’ losses in Virginia in November are due to both national and Virginia-specific challenges. Key findings from a swing-voter-focused study group included lackluster national brand for Democrats, the importance of education, and the failure of the Youngkin-equals-Trump messaging, combined with Youngkin’s positive persona and proactive issues.

“We’re not saying this was a mistake, or that Terry had a better message he left on the table. We don’t know. But we do know that if our most-effective message in 2022 is that Republicans equal Trump, we’re going to get creamed,” the report states.

“[Focus-group members] liked [Youngkin], related to him, and thought he was going to do something good for them,” the report states.

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Virginia Governor-Elect Youngkin’s Top Campaign Promises in Education, COVID-19, Economics, Law Enforcement, and Elections Policy

Glenn Youngkin in crowd during a rally

Glenn Youngkin will be Virginia’s next governor, part of a near-complete Republican takeover of Virginia’s government. In 2022, Republicans will be governor, attorney general, and lieutenant governor. They will also likely hold a two-seat majority in the House of Delegates, although two close races may go to recounts. However, they will not hold the Senate, where Democrats have a 21-to-19 majority. Still, if one Democratic senator flips on a vote, that would create a tie that lieutenant governor-elect Winsome Sears would break. Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), who House Republicans nominated for Speaker, has said that Republicans do have a mandate, but he is also aware of the need to work across the aisle with the Senate.

All that gives political novice Youngkin strong Republican support to launch efforts to fulfill his campaign promises, but also sets him up for serious challenges to get his policies across the finish line. Still, Virginia governors have extensive power to set policy and funding priorities, and Youngkin will also have executive authority, which will allow him to fulfill some key promises without legislative buy-in.

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Preparing to Take Power, Newly Elected Virginia Gov. Youngkin Announces His Transition Team

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin announced his transition steering committee and advisors on Wednesday. The group includes Republican legislators, Republican Party of Virginia officials, and the three previous Republican governors of Virginia. Former Democratic Governor Doug Wilder is also on the list; he aimed several attacks at opponent former Governor Terry McAuliffe during the campaign without ever endorsing Youngkin. The list also includes Sentara Chief of Staff Aubrey Layne, who was a cabinet official to both Governor Ralph Northam and McAuliffe.

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Commentary: Virginia Paves the Way for Trump’s Return

There has been a great deal of discussion of the widespread Republican victories last week, many of them belaboring the obvious. Fundamentally, the United States is a political society based on personal freedom, a free market, and on democratically legislated and responsibly enforced laws. The current administration’s belief in virtually unrestricted immigration, higher taxes, authoritarian regulation—including COVID vaccine mandates, and a heavy redistribution of wealth from those who have earned it to those who have not—are all antagonistic to the ethos that the United States has had for all of its history. In the circumstances, some sort of reversal was almost inevitable and is the off-year American electoral custom. 

Those who were surprised by the Republican victory in Virginia and the near-dead heat in New Jersey had not recognized the extent of the affront to traditional democratic voters of the Sanders-woke-leftward lurch.

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Commentary: McAuliffe’s Defeat Shows Abortion Extremism Doesn’t Win

Terry McAuliffe

I woke up Wednesday morning so grateful that my state, Virginia, had voted out abortion extremism. Abortion activists were supposed to sweep Terry McAuliffe back to the governor’s mansion. McAuliffe spent millions of dollars on ads blasting Glenn Youngkin for being pro-life and brought in outside speakers, including former President Obama, to campaign on the issue of abortion. Instead of keeping Virginia blue, these efforts may have propelled Youngkin to victory. The 5% of voters who said abortion was their top issue in the 2021 election backed Youngkin by a 12-percentage-point margin. 

Some policy analysts seem shocked by how abortion radicalism blew up in McAuliffe’s face, but they shouldn’t be. More than three quarters of the American people support significant restrictions on abortion and are making their voices heard at the polls. Instead of listening to them, McAuliffe pandered to an extreme base that makes up a tiny portion of the electorate. 

Protecting the most vulnerable is a winning issue, it should be a bipartisan issue, and Youngkin’s success paves the way for a wave of pro-life candidates in 2022 to win in purple and blue states by calling out the extreme pro-abortion views of their opponents. 

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Only Two Prominent Dems Think McAuliffe Was Too ‘Woke’ for Virginia

AOC and James Carville

Many Democrats have claimed failed gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe’s lost Tuesday’s election because he failed to appeal to the party’s progressive wing. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), for example, said the campaign was not progressive enough, and complained that the progressive wing of the party was left out of McAuliffe’s bid for the governorship.

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AOC Complains Progressives Weren’t Invited to Help McAuliffe Campaign

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) complained on Instagram that the far-left wing of the party was not called in to help failed gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. 

“I know that Virginia was a huge bummer,” she said, “and honestly, if anything, I think the results show the limits of trying to run a a fully, 100 percent fully moderated campaign that does not excite, speak to, or energize a progressive base. And frankly, we weren’t really even invited to contribute on that race.” 

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Grassroots Kills Richmond Casino Despite Nearly $2 Million in Campaign Spending

Richmond voters decided against the One Casino + Resort proposal 51.44 percent to 48.56 percent of votes in Tuesdays’ referendum, according to unofficial results at The Virginia Public Access Project. That’s despite $1.9 million in funding for the campaign, and major endorsements including Mayor Levar Stoney, rapper Missy Elliott, and actor Jamie Foxx. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe endorsed the casino, and his opponent governor-elect Glenn Youngkin approved of the proposal. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) was the only major figure to speak against the proposal.

“They had everything you could want. Massive endorsements from everybody, all the big shots,” Paul Goldman said.

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McAuliffe Campaign Closes with Gaffes, Scandal

Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s campaign for Virginia governor, which has endured more than a month of scandal leading up to Tuesday’s election, remained true to form during the final weekend of the race.

McAuliffe spokesperson Christina Freundlich accidentally looped in a Fox News reporter on what was supposed to be an internal campaign email. Fox had reached out to McAuliffe’s campaign for comment about why it had retained Marc Elias, a known election litigator, for $60,000. Ostensibly, the hire was for the purpose of litigating the results of the election should McAuliffe lose.

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School Board Politics Underlie Virginia Beach House Races

Virginia Beach has several competitive House of Delegates races where Republicans hope to make gains that will help power them to a House of Delegates majority.  GOP candidates are focusing on a mix of law-and-order and education policy in a city where school board politics underlie several of the local House races.

In HD 83, Attorney Tim Anderson is challenging Delegate Nancy Guy (D-Virginia Beach), a former school board member. In the past, Anderson has endorsed and legally represented School Board Member Victoria Manning, a member of a conservative minority faction on the school board. Manning herself has pushed for recalls of her fellow school board members, including Vice Chair Kim Melnyk, who is challenging Delegate Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach) in HD 84. Additionally, 2020 school board candidate Jeffrey Feld is challenging Delegate Barry Knight (R-Virginia Beach) in HD 81.

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Commentary: Virginia’s Governor Race a Referendum on Education Reform

Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin

Loudoun County, Virginia, an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C., represents the contentious zeitgeist bedeviling the body politic. As I reported elsewhere last year, the Loudoun County school board has become ground zero in an escalating culture war in which concerned parents oppose leftist indoctrination posing as curriculum.

The latest salvo—launched in the heat of a dead-even gubernatorial race in Virginia, and in the wake of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s much-criticized memo suggesting that disgruntled parents opposing school boards pose a national security threat—is captured in a Washington Post column with the provocative headline “Parents claim they have the right to shape their kids’ school curriculum. They don’t.”

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Commentary: Low Characters of the Elites in Ludicrous Situations

sock and buskin masks

Reflecting on the unfolding disaster that is our social and political life in the United States during the consulship of Biden, I cannot help but think of Aristotle’s description of the structure of Greek tragedy. Obviously, the parallels are not exact. For one thing, tragedy as Aristotle understood it was a quick affair, its action over within a single day. Our national tragedy, by contrast, seems to lumber on indefinitely.

Then there is the question of the character of the protagonist. Aristotle’s chap is “a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty.” Sound like Joe Biden? Almost, maybe, but not really. Rudy Giuliani was not talking through his hat when he invoked the specter of the “Biden crime family,” as the words “laptop,” “China,” and “10 percent for the big guy” remind us.

There are many other differences between tragedy in Aristotle’s sense and the disaster we are suffering through. Still, when I think about the development Aristotle traces from ἁμαρτία (the tragic flaw) through ἀναγνώρισις (recognition) to περιπέτεια (the sudden reversal of fortune) to καταστροφή, the “catastrophe” that ties up the loose ends and consummates the action, I think “We’re somewhere on that road,” though exactly where is hard to say. Have we achieved the enlightenment of recognition yet? I am not at all sure about that.

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Third-Party Candidate for Virginia Governor Gives Left-Leaning Voters Another Option

Although most of the talk around Virginia’s 2021 gubernatorial race has focused on Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe, voters will have a third name to choose from on their ballots next week – Princess Blanding.

“I am a working class Virginian and the only candidate who will fight to uplift the voices and address the needs and concerns of the working class, our Black and Brown community members and our most marginalized community members,” Blanding told The Center Square in an email. “I am the only candidate that will put people over profit and politics to ensure that liberation is a human right, not a privilege for all Virginians.”

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Virginia Education Department Promotes Pro-Critical Race Theory Book, Despite McAuliffe’s Claims the Curricula Isn’t Taught in the State

Young girl in pink long sleeve writing

The Virginia Education Department promotes pro-Critical Race Theory books despite claims from state officials, including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, that the curricula is not taught in its public schools.

The state’s Department of Education (DOE) promotes pro-Critical Race Theory (CRT) content on its “What We Are Reading” tab on its website, which compiles a list of resources from the Office of Equity and Community Engagement to recommend reading and develop its own work, Fox News first reported.

The list includes titles such as “Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education” that “acts to further spur developments in education policy, critical pedagogy, and social justice, making it a crucial resource for students and educators alike,” according to its description.

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New Polls, Ads, and a Stunt from The Lincoln Project Point to a Nail-Biting Finish for Gubernatorial Race

GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin crept past Democrat Terry McAuliffe in polling averages on Friday, thanks to a Fox poll that showed the Republican ahead by eight points, well outside the three point margin of error. A Washington Post poll released Friday showed a tighter race, with Youngkin trailing McAuliffe by one point. Youngkin now leads the Real Clear Politics polling average by a hair — 0.9 percentage points. That’s setting Virginians up for a nail-biter on Tuesday evening, but depending on how close the results are, the winner might not be clear for days, since mail-in-ballots can be counted if they’re received by noon on Friday.

“Youngkin has as good a shot as we’ve seen in a decade. Also, attorney general tends to run two-to-three points ahead of governor for us,” Prince William County GOP Vice-Chair Willie Deutsch said. “I’m confident we have a legit shot but I wouldn’t put much money on anyone.”

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‘Will Your Daughter be Next?’ Brutal Ad Targets McAuliffe After Alleged Loudoun County Rape Coverup

An ad launched by the American Principles Project, which describes itself as “the premier national organization engaging directly in campaigns and advocacy on behalf of the family,” blasts Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe in connection with the rape of a girl in Loudoun County. 

“In Loudoun County, Virginia a 15-year-old girl was brutally raped by a male student wearing a dress in the girl’s bathroom,” the ad says. “Democrats covered it up. A few weeks later, the same male student raped a 14-year-old girl.”

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Youngkin: Trump Not Coming to Virginia Before Election

Former Governor Terry McAuliffe is campaigning for reelection with the help of national Democrats, even the currently-unpopular President Joe Biden, but GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin says he wants to keep the race focused on Virginia. Youngkin is largely avoiding the in-state presence of national Republicans, and he highlighted the contrast between the two campaign strategies in comments about his bus tour. On Thursday, Youngkin said that former President Donald Trump would not visit Virginia before the election.

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Money Keeps Pouring into Virginia’s Gubernatorial Race

Virginia’s gubernatorial candidates together raised $28.3 million in the first three weeks of October. Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe raised $12.9 million, with $1.9 million cash on hand. GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin raised $15.4 million, with nearly $7.9 million cash on hand at the end of the reporting period, according to The Virginia Public Access Project. Youngkin’s fundraising includes another $3.5 million in self-loans, for a total $20 million that he has loaned himself throughout the campaign.

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Commentary: New Virginia Poll Shows McAuliffe Plus One, Democrats Panic in Final Stretch

Once upon a time, Republicans were rocked to sleep with notions of momentum and enthusiasm in the closing weeks and days of a campaign.

In 2006, George Allen was thought to have sufficiently recovered from a 20+ point slide in order to eke out a 2-3 point win — only to lose by 0.4% (just 11,000 votes) after 30,000 votes were found in Hampton Roads.

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Teachers Union President Backing McAuliffe Promotes Article Claiming Parents Don’t Have a ‘Right’ in What Kids Are Taught

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten shared an article that claimed parents do not have a right to shape what their children learn in school.

“Great piece on parents’ rights and #publicschools,” Weingarten commented on the article by The Washington Post. The piece describes movements by parents to influence what schools teach their children as “paranoid” and a “frenzy,” and it characterizes parental involvement as an obstacle of sorts to children “[thinking] for themselves.”

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Group’s Anti-McAuliffe Ad Barred from Airing on Virginia TV

The conservative group Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) said earlier this week that an ad attacking Democrat Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was deemed too explicit for television in Virginia. 

“Numerous Virginia high schools’ libraries included books with pornographic content. IWV created an ad to raise awareness about this issue—but the ad was REJECTED as too explicit to run during the 11 p.m. hour on TV in Virginia,” Kelsey Bolar, the group’s Senior Policy Analyst, said on Twitter.

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McAuliffe Campaign Brings Out ‘Big Guns’ in Final Weeks

Gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, seeking his second non-consecutive term Virginia’s Governor, has been campaigning with powerful Democrat Party allies during the final stretch of his campaign against Republican Glenn Youngkin. 

President Joe Biden will campaign for McAuliffe this week in northern Virginia, a typical stronghold for Democrat. Biden previously stumped for McAuliffe on July 22. 

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Democrats Descend on Churches in Virginia in Souls to the Polls Campaign Urging Parishioners to Vote for Terry McAuliffe

Democratic leaders are targeting church goers to get out the vote, endorsing Democratic incumbent Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who is slightly behind in the polls for the first time after making controversial remarks about parents not having a say in their children’s education.

Some argue the Souls to the Polls campaign violates IRS rules governing tax-exempt entities such as churches.

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Youngkin Draws Thousands in Blue-Leaning Richmond Suburb

GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin stopped in Henrico on the first day of his Win with Glenn Bus Tour on Saturday evening. In his speech, attorney general candidate Delegate Jason Miyares (R-Virginia Beach) touted the need for reform in Virginia’s parole board, while Youngkin focused on his goal to lower the cost of living with a list of top economic priorities. But education took the front seat in both candidates’ speeches.

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Former President Barack Obama Stumps for Gubernatorial Hopeful Terry McAuliffe in Richmond

Former President Barack Obama joined Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s capital on Saturday. From the steps of a library in the center of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), McAuliffe, Obama, and other top Virginia Democrats reminded the young crowd of key Democratic victories, including expanded abortion access, felon voting rights restoration, Medicaid expansion, and legalizing gay marriage. Threatening that progress, they said, is GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin.

McAuliffe said he would work for Virginians in a bipartisan way.

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Virginia Supreme Court Dismisses Petition to Appeal in McAuliffe Signature Lawsuit

The Virginia Supreme Court refused a petition to appeal the dismissal of a lawsuit over the missing signature on Terry McAuliffe’s election paperwork. On Wednesday, attorney Peter Hansen argued in a writ panel that the Court should take up the appeal, saying that McAuliffe failed to file a valid declaration of candidacy, and that when the City of Richmond Circuit Court dismissed the case, it did so based on speculation.

“Unfortunately, the trial court effectually made up facts. There’s nothing in the evidence, nothing in the record that suggested that Mr. McAuliffe was present when he didn’t sign the declaration. There’s nothing in evidence that suggests he raised his hand as if taking an oath, and that’s what ‘sworn to under my hand’ means,” Hansen told the panel.

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Education Group Launches Million Dollar Ad Campaign Against Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate McAuliffe

Free to Learn Action, an advocacy group intent on removing politics from the classroom in America’s public schools, launched a one million dollar ad campaign against Virginia’s Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe Thursday.

“The ad highlights the devastating consequences of allowing partisan political agendas to seep into schools while also undermining parents’ roles in their child’s education,” the organization said in an email. 

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Virginia’s Educational Policy Debates Rattle Isle of Wight County Public Schools

The Isle of Wight County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jim Thornton has received multiple death threats, and two members of the school board have announced their departure within the past month. The board and district leaders have come under fire from some parents for decisions about masks, transgender policy, and library books — issues that are being debated in school board public comment periods across Virginia. Thornton told Wavy.com the district is introducing cultural awareness training for teachers this year as part of several equity initiatives.

“We’re not telling them what to believe. We’re sharing information for them to process,” Thornton said.

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Monmouth Poll: Youngkin and McAuliffe Tied Among Registered Voters

Virginia’s gubernatorial race is a tie among registered voters, according to a new Monmouth University poll, which found that Republican Glenn Youngkin has made gains against Terry McAuliffe since the university’s September poll.

“Youngkin (46 percent) and McAuliffe (46 percent) hold identical levels of support among all registered voters. This marks a shift from prior Monmouth polls where the Democrat held a five-point lead (48 percent to 43 percent in September and 47 percent to 42 percent in August),” the poll’s press release states.

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IRS Rule Appears to be Flouted in Pro-McAuliffe Video Starring Kamala Harris Played at Virginia Churches

Hundreds of churches across the state of Virginia have been airing a political ad featuring Vice President Kamala Harris encouraging churchgoers to vote for Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia gubernatorial race, for which early voting has begun.

The video is raising questions about the legality of the ad being shown in houses of worship. The vice president calls upon Virginians to “raise your voice through your vote,” specifically, a vote for Democrat McAuliffe, whom Harris refers to as “the leader Virginia needs at this moment.”

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Virginia’s Gubernatorial Hopeful Youngkin Campaign Responds to Stacey Abrams Campaigning for McAuliffe

The campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin blasted its Democrat opponent Terry McAuliffe for campaigning with failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. 

“Terry McAuliffe said he was proud to be endorsed by radical ‘defund the police’ groups, and now he’s campaigning with the radical Stacey Abrams, who said the election was stolen from her, compared law enforcement officers to terrorists, opposed enforcing our immigration laws, and supported defunding the police,” Youngkin spokesperson Macauley Porter told The Virginia Star. “Virginians are seeing that Terry McAuliffe is too extreme for Virginia and will reject his anti-police, liberal agenda at the polls.”

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Prominent Liberal Watchdog Group Files Hatch Act Complaint Against Jen Psaki

A prominent liberal watchdog group filed a Hatch Act complaint against White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday, saying her apparent endorsement of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McCauliffe during a White House press briefing may have violated federal law.

“By mixing official government business with support of a candidate for partisan political office in the weeks before the election and engaging in political activity while on duty, Ms. Psaki appears to have used her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election, political activity that is prohibited by law,” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said in its complaint filed with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).

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Trafalgar Poll Shows Tied Gubernatorial Race, Fox Poll Shows Widening McAuliffe Lead

A Fox News poll released Thursday found 51 percent support for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and 46 percent support for GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin among likely voters. A Trafalgar Group poll released the same day found Youngkin and McAuliffe practically tied among likely voters, with 48.4 percent support for Youngkin, and 47.5 percent support for McAuliffe. Real Clear Politics’ (RCP) polling average still places McAuliffe slightly ahead by 2.2 points.

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Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate McAuliffe Endorses Richmond Casino Proposal

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe has endorsed the ONE Casino + Resort proposal that Richmond voters are currently considering.

“I mean, think about what’s going to happen here in Richmond,” McAuliffe said in a Twitter video Thursday. “Construction: 3,000 jobs. 15,000 permanent jobs. $50 million in revenue that will help schools, hospitals, everything else. I’m so excited.”

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