Glenn Youngkin Makes A Kitchen Table Pitch to Virginians

The GOP nominee has shifted his messaging to try to appeal to centrists and Democrats ahead of the general election.

By
44

DUMFRIES, Virginia—“For the last 15 weeks, I’ve traveled nearly 26,000 miles. I’ve had a chance to visit with tens of thousands of Virginians and what I’ve heard over and over again, over and over, is a sense of frustration, anger, but also hope and optimism,” Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin told a crowd of rally attendees last Monday. 

Youngkin, who won the Virginia GOP’s nomination on May 10, is gearing up for an expensive and hard-fought race against likely Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe, Virginia’s former governor who is expected to win his state party’s primary on June 8. 

The first-time GOP candidate may have boatloads of cash—conservative estimates put his net worth at more than $200 million—but the odds are against him: No Republican has won a statewide race in Virginia in 12 years. 

That said, election analysts are quick to point out that Virginia Democrats have two big hurdles to overcome this fall. One, Donald Trump is no longer in the White House. “There is not a Trump tailwind for the Democrats to ride anymore,” said Chaz Nuttycombe, director of CNalysis, a forecasting group that specializes in Virginia races and state legislative elections. “They would not have the trifecta, which is the House of Delegates, State Senate, and governor, if Trump lost in 2016.”

Keep reading with a free account
Create a free Dispatch account to keep reading Get Started ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
44
By
Comments (44)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Man I guess I hope Denver Riggleman runs third party or something. Maybe I’ll write in. Is the Dispatch ever going to start endorsing candidates? I’m not sure who they would endorse in this election, if anyone. But at some point it would be interesting. A number of Dispatchers (including Audrey maybe?) live in the NOVA area I think so they would be voting in this election.

    Collapse
    1. CWB3

      I hope that Denver Riggleman comes and takes back the VA 5 seat that Bob Good snatched from him in that back-alley joke of a convention. Good is a gross Trump sycophant.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        Ben Connelly

        True. I think I’m voting in that district now (after living there and not voting in it for a few years) unless the district lines get changed.

        Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Paul Britton

    Excellent piece.

    Collapse
  3. Avatar photo
    Pat Riot

    All Democrats have to do is make him keep saying that Trump won the 2020 election by a landslide like he did before. Let's see if they can pull that off.

    Collapse
    1. Ned Lilly

      If you can show me where Glenn Youngkin said that, I'll buy you a popsicle.

      Collapse
  4. Frank Pepp

    His comments on Biden being our President were clearly a dodge. They only addressed the de facto "He's there isn't he?" and not the de jure, "there wasn't massive fraud that got him there."

    No self respecting citizen should vote for this man undermining our Democracy.

    Collapse
  5. Avatar photo
    Jason Gibson

    Very encouraging developments in Virginia. Bout time we get some good news

    Collapse
  6. GregS

    I hope one of these days Trump's endorsement is as toxic (and requires as emphatic an disavowal) as an endorsement from David Duke. You can't control who endorses you, but you can control what you say about it when you get the endorsement.

    Collapse
  7. Anonymous

    Collapse
    1. Vermin8

      I was unaware that Corey Stewart endorsed him. That does not change my vote, but does reinforce my decision not to vote for him.

      Collapse
    2. Avatar photo
      David Eggleston

      I’m no great fan of Glenn’s, but to be fair, Glenn didn’t court Stewart’s endorsement. That was a spite endorsement because Corey hates Pete Snyder, going back to the 2013 convention where Corey saddled the GOP ticket with Bishop Jackson in a fit of pique against Pete. Stewart would have endorsed whomever was polling the strongest against Snyder.

      And as for “Poor Denver,” he was happy to associate with the Segretarians and conspiracy theorists, and accept Trump’s endorsement and money, when they were supporting him. They only became threats to the Republic when they jumped ship and backed Good. I’m trying to remember which Unite the White Rally organizer was a prominent volunteer on his first congressional campaign? Was it Jason Kessler? I personally like Denver Riggleman, but he isn’t going to be the savior of the Virginia GOP.

      Collapse
      1. Anonymous

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          David Eggleston

          And once again, I’m no partisan of any of these folks. I think the best outcome for Virginia would see Del. Cox head off against Sen. McClellan. They’re both genuinely good people, which is rare in politics. I don’t know enough about Youngkin to make that call. And Terry McAuliffe’s just awful. He’s the frozen Clinton concentrate and should never be served to the electorate.

          Collapse
          1. Asher

            I was hoping for Cox against McClellan too. Ah well.

            Collapse
        2. Avatar photo
          David Eggleston

          I remember the Brat Segretarians running around the 2016 Republican Advance bragging that they’d gotten a millionaire who could self-fund to run, so they could wet their beaks, and Denver ran for governor until they’d bled him dry. They then ran his campaign against Dunbar. Then the self-proclaimed “libertarians” jumped ship to Good after Denver performed the gay civil wedding. Because that’s what real libertarians do 🙄.

          Yes, I think it may have been Smith. He was a regular phone-banking for Denver until the WaPo story broke. A number of folks tried to get the campaign to get rid of Smith earlier, but it took a WaPo article to make it happen. But you had a lot of Paulist white supremacists masquerading as libertarians back then. And the first two times Denver ran, he was all Liberty!tm Movement all the time.

          As for the polling, Amanda Chase fell off the radar once Facebook closed her down, and then the race was between Glenn and Pete. If Kirk Cox had been within striking distance of Snyder, he would have gotten Stewart’s endorsement. Or Amanda, if she hadn’t cratered.

          Heck, Glenn’s campaign didn’t even acknowledge Stewart’s endorsement. One campaign staffer sent out an email to a small list announcing the endorsement, and I believe he got fired for doing so. I’m sure the Youngkin camp were happy that Stewart’s PAC kept raining negative ads down on Pete, because it saved them a pile of that filthy Carlyle lucre, but they were not happy to receive an endorsement from Corey.

          Collapse
          1. Asher

            Fair enough. I'm curious as to your source on Smith phone-banking for Riggleman?

            The thought of Corey Stewart endorsing Cox is amusing :)

            Collapse
  8. CWB3

    I had put Kirk Cox on the top of my list. I found Youngkin's election integrity focus to be off-putting. But at least he was not a Trump psychotic like Chase and Snyder. I'll keep an open mind on Youngkin.

    Collapse
    1. Gerald Cuesta

      The trouble with him is that you can pretty much guarantee that if the trump wing gains renewed power, youngkin will be right there with them. These people have to be told no.

      Collapse
  9. Avatar photo
    Rick Schwartz

    I live in VA and didn't vote for Trump but will pull the lever for Youngkin. I think he needs to put greater emphasis on pro-life and pro-2A concerns and less on nationalist concerns. He's done the latter but not the former. You can't just run a moderate race against Terry because Terry can outspend you to get his moderate message to more voters. The liberals here in Northern VA don't like Terry so that will help but Dems will probably win since they haven't lost since 2013.

    Collapse
    1. tla

      I think it'll be interesting to see how effective running on pro-life platform after the SC rules on the Mississipi case because it's going to put people's money where their mouth has been. In purple state like VA, I feel like strong anti-abortion rhetoric is likely to get the vote out amongst pro-choice voters if the SC overturns or severely weakens Roe v. Wade.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        Rick Schwartz

        I don't think anyone in VA on the Republican side will promise a Mississippi type law. They can just promise to stop the pro choice momentum that has flipped laws like making abortion clinics follow the regulations that other medical clinics follow.

        Collapse
  10. Gabej1989

    Great article, very interesting to learn more about candidates who have to thread the needle between Trump-loving GOPers and anti-Trump moderates/Dems.

    Collapse
Load More