The Conversation (0)
Breanna Robinson
Nov 03, 2021
On Wednesday, Republican Glenn Youngkin became the governor of Virginia in a high stakes blow to President Joe Biden and Democrats—and social media had mixed reactions.
Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate, had campaigned with both Biden and former President Barack Obama, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Youngkin from prevailing.
Youngkin had an early lead after the polls closed that carried out throughout the evening. McAuliffe missed out on vital counties that Biden won over in 2020.
“All righty Virginia, we won this thing. How much fun,” Youngkin said in his speech.
He also addressed schooling and said the following, in part: “We are going to introduce choice within our public school system... Friends, we’re going to embrace our parents, not ignore them. We’re [going to press] forward with a curriculum that includes listening to parents’ input.”
Here’s what people had to say in appreciation about the win.
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Our parents and children are the winners! It’s a great day in Virginia and America. Congratulations to… https://t.co/p1cwlCWETJ— Mercedes Schlapp (@Mercedes Schlapp) 1635934580
🚨 POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE 🚨 Glenn Youngkin WINS in Virginia! New Jersey too close to call! Biden Remorse ‼️— Kayleigh McEnany (@Kayleigh McEnany) 1635937775
Congratulations @GlennYoungkin and @WinsomeSears - this is a victory not only for Virginia but for America! This n… https://t.co/IdA4XZJoHq— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1635941720
Huge congrats to @GlennYoungkin on the victory in Virginia and to @Jack4NJ for his valiant, and as yet undecided, race in New Jersey.— Mitt Romney (@Mitt Romney) 1635944285
Congratulations to @GlennYoungkin & Suzanne! A great victory for Virginia, and for our Nation. A powerful wind… https://t.co/YCopmjX71Y— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz) 1635916226
God Bless Virginia!— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@Sebastian Gorka DrG) 1635949113
Welcome, Virginia, to the LGB community.— Ben Shapiro (@Ben Shapiro) 1635949893
Congratulations to all the moms and dads in Louden County, Virginia 😊and across the state. Your voices were heard a… https://t.co/CXdcVRz0HB— Sara A. Carter (@Sara A. Carter) 1635950357
Virginia’s results are a prime example as to why you don’t mess with parents and their kids.— Ryan Fournier (@Ryan Fournier) 1635945986
Not only did Republicans sweep statewide officeholder positions in Virginia yesterday, Republicans FLIPPED the VA H… https://t.co/xKUHKbMKrn— Ronna McDaniel (@Ronna McDaniel) 1635943144
Others had reservations about what the win meant.
This weekend, America will turn back its clocks one hour and Virginia will turn its clocks back a 100 years.— Dave Matt (@Dave Matt) 1635941136
Virginia is an alarm. It's up to the good people of this nation to wake up now— or hit the 12-month snooze and wak… https://t.co/3fmYHYUCOa— John Pavlovitz (@John Pavlovitz) 1635943596
It’s very upsetting what happened in Virginia and it is a huge wake up call for all of us. Democrats have a lot of… https://t.co/QxZcLeBOSH— Nathalie Jacoby (@Nathalie Jacoby) 1635948330
Imagine being Black and living in Virginia. Knowing that the *idea* of teaching your history triggered so much whit… https://t.co/jeSYOJfcqy— Kate 🤍🇺🇸 (@Kate 🤍🇺🇸) 1635947875
Although last night did not go as Virginia planned, we must remain focused in our efforts in 2022. We cannot let wh… https://t.co/34w3VVYuL7— Mike Harvey (@Mike Harvey) 1635947693
So I guess the voting machines in Virginia work perfectly again until a Republican loses?— Tony Posnanski (@Tony Posnanski) 1635944986
Republicans ran a vile racist campaign in Virginia, and won. The targets of their ire were Stacey Abrams and Toni… https://t.co/TuB9T5aMjI— Maya Contreras (@Maya Contreras) 1635944333
In the Virginia gubernatorial results, “education” is the new “economic anxiety.” Call it what it is: racist backlash.— Alex Berg (@Alex Berg) 1635943947
A lot of people voted out of fear of a curriculum that isn’t being taught in schools and they don’t even know what… https://t.co/JJp2MG6Hf1— Torrey Smith (@Torrey Smith) 1635941316
Youngkin, like Trump, got far on a big lie. On the campaign trail, he kept promising to ban critical race theory, w… https://t.co/9y3BHNObDm— Barbara Malmet (@Barbara Malmet) 1635941114
The Republican’s eagle-eyed concentration on whipping up parents’ worry and outrage about culture war concerns in Virginia’s schools proved more effective than McAuliffe’s all-out campaign to depict Youngkin as a Trump adherent.
Youngkin falsely claimed that critical race theory – an analytic perspective through which scholars study how the law reproduces racial inequality – is pervasive throughout the state’s educational system (it isn’t even taught).
He also managed to walk a political tightrope by accepting Trump’s endorsement yet never mentioning him in stump speeches or inviting him to campaign with him in person. He created enough ambivalence to appeal to moderate Republicans without casting aside Trump’s supporters.
Further north in New Jersey, Phil Murphy, the Democratic governor, fought to win re-election against his Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli. This race is too close to determine, but Ciattarelli is narrowly ahead at less than 1 per cent lead with 98 per cent of ballots counted for.
If Murphy can hold onto his position as governor, he will become the first Democrat re-elected as the state’s governor in 44 years.
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