In the early hours of Nov. 3, Republican Glenn Youngkin, now the governor-elect of the commonwealth of Virginia, took to the stage at his campaign election night watch party to promise a conservative renewal in governance in a state that had moved to the left in recent years.

Youngkin’s victory over former governor and Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe was an unexpected upset and amounted to a political earthquake in a state that had voted for President Joe Biden by a double-digit margin the year prior, and it took place in Washington, D.C.’s backyard.