Virginia Republicans feel a jolt of confidence following the nomination of a diverse statewide ticket they hope will get them out of 12-year rut of statewide election losses this November.
The GOP in the commonwealth saw its final political hold collapse following the 2019 state legislature elections, when Democrats took control of both chambers after winning the governor’s mansion and both other statewide office two years prior.
FIRST-TIME CANDIDATE GLENN YOUNGKIN WINS VIRGINIA GOP GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION
The Virginia Republican slate has Glenn Youngkin at the top as the gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears, a black woman, as their lieutenant gubernatorial candidate, and Jason Miyares, a Latino of Cuban descent, as their pick for attorney general. The diverse ticket will turn GOP fortunes around this cycle, according to Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Rich Anderson.
“It’s just like it was in 2009. I have not seen the enthusiasm this stratospheric or the turnouts this high in the early days. I was elected to the House of Delegates in the same election when Bob McDonnell was elected as governor,” Anderson told the Washington Examiner. “And it feels like 2009, but only on steroids. We’ve got a superb ticket, so candidate quality counts, Terry is yesterday and Glenn is tomorrow.”
Youngkin, a political newcomer and successful CEO who headed up the D.C.-based Carlyle Group, won a seven-way GOP primary the state party called an “unassembled convention.”
This enabled over 50,000 GOP delegates in the state to register to cast their ballots at 39 separate polling sites through a ranked-choice voting system.
Anderson considered the gathering a success and is pleased political election observers altered their predictions about Virginia’s governor’s race declaring the election is now a competitive one as opposed to a slam-dunk win for the Democrats.
“I just don’t think they know how to process the fact that we’ve ended up with such a diverse ticket. I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome as the state party chair or just simply as a conservative in Virginia. I think it’s going to have broad appeal,” Anderson explained.
“In fact, they beat the Democrats a full 30 days in fielding their candidates, and they’re all over the state right now,” he added. “So, I’m feeling pretty good about it. I feel good about it from the very beginning because when we did this unassembled state convention, we ended up with 54,000 registered certified delegates, which makes it the largest state convention in United States history.”
Virginia Democrats are expected to nominate their statewide ticket on June 8. Terry McCauliffe, who served as governor of Virginia for one term but was prohibited by state law from serving a second consecutive term four years ago, has reemerged with a huge lead and big fundraising numbers.
However, he must still get past the primary, which includes two female state lawmakers in the General Assembly: Virginia Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, who is hoping to make history as the state’s first female black governor, and state Sen. Jennifer McClellan.
Democratic incumbent state Attorney General Mark Herring has a primary challenge of his own: Del. Jay Jones, a black lawmaker who recently slammed Herring for a blackface incident in the 1980s.
According to Anderson, Republicans initially had 17 candidates running for office before the nominations were determined. Seven out of those 17 were candidates of color.
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“And now that we’ve honed that down to our three nominees, two-thirds are minorities, and I think that speaks well for the party, and they are people of capability and people of quality,” he added.
