In Virginia, 15% of voters listed education as a top issue, and about 7 of 10 of those voted for Youngkin. The focus comes after lengthy school closures during the coronavirus pandemic infuriated some traditionally Democratic voting groups and conservatives targeted school board races nationwide over masking rules and teaching racial justice issues. In recent months, it has become a catch-all political buzzword for any teaching in schools about race and American history. He said he would ban the teaching of critical race theory in Virginia classrooms even though it is not a part of the secondary school curriculum.Ĭritical race theory is an academic framework that centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people. He prevailed on the issue by both pledging to boost education funding and hammering public schools on hot-button social issues like race and transgender rights. Youngkin’s signature issue was an unexpected one - education. Look for more Republicans next year try to model themselves after Youngkin in swing areas - refusing to disavow Trump but not hugging him too closely, and tailoring their messages to both the former president’s most hardcore voters and persuadable suburbanites. About 1 in 10 said he supports the former president too much, and about that many said Youngkin supports Trump too little. Most Youngkin voters, about 8 in 10, said the candidate supports Trump the right amount. Youngkin’s arm’s-length approach to Trump didn’t seem to hurt him with GOP voters. While a majority of voters held an unfavorable view of Trump, about half had a favorable view of Youngkin. He embraced Trump just enough to win the GOP primary and rev up the party base but was also able to target more moderate voters by talking about fiscal management and investing in schools and campaigning without the former president at his side.Īccording to AP VoteCast, a survey of voters, it paid off.
#Night changes key cracked#
But Youngkin seems to have cracked the code.Ī former private equity executive, Youngkin presented himself as a nonthreatening suburban dad in a fleece vest.
Stalemates, court battles could squeeze primary electionĭiversifying states with a large share of college graduates like Virginia have been an unsolvable puzzle for the GOP during the political era dominated by Trump.