Glenn Youngkin won the governor's race in Virginia, defeating incumbent Terry McAuliffe.
Businessman Glenn Youngkin was declared the winner early Wednesday morning in Virginia's closely watched gubernatorial race, defeating former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in an election widely viewed as a bellwether on Democrats' agenda and rule in Washington.
Addressing jubilant supporters at his headquarters in Chantilly, Va. well after 1 a.m., a buoyant Youngkin celebrated the come-from-behind, upset victory of "a campaign that came from nowhere ... and turned into a movement."
In an optimistic, inclusive speech emphasizing freedom from government overreach and unity across racial, ethnic and social barriers, Youngkin vowed, "Together we will change the trajectory of this commonwealth."
In a stunning sweep, the GOP took the top three executive branch spots — governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.
Winsome Sears, a Jamaican immigrant and former Marine, was elected the first female African-American lieutenant governor, and Republican Jason Miyares is the projected winner of the Virginia attorney general race, becoming the state's first Latino to hold that office.
Meanwhile, over at CNN, talking heads credited "dog whistle racism" for Youngkin's victory. This, in the face of the diversity that the GOP takeover has just introduced in the Virginia executive branch. Also, Van Jones dubbed Youngkin "the delta variant of Trumpism."
In more bad news for Democrats, the Virginia House has flipped from blue to red. Unofficial results have the Republicans picking up six Democrat-held seats while losing no Republican-held seats, turning a 55 - 45 Democrat majority into a 51 - 49 Republican majority. A live blog at Blue Virginia shut down in disgust early in the evening last night. As usual, when Democrats lose elections, it's the end of democracy.
UPDATE 8:35 pm – Hard to argue with Ryan Matsumoto on this: “There’s no way to spin this for Democrats – this is a very very bad result for them. Virginia has swung 10-15 points to the right since last November. That type of swing would be devastating for them in the House and Senate in 2022.” And if that happens, kiss our democracy goodbye.
How odd that Democrats seem to think democracy is dead when they lose. Maybe that explains why it's so crucial for them to steal elections.