Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) urged Republicans to take advantage of early voting to pry away seats claimed by Democrats in state houses and in Congress during an appearance at a conservative summit in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday.
“The rules are the rules, and I didn’t write them, I inherited them, and we’ve got to go compete,” Youngkin told radio host Erick Erickson at “The Gathering,” a conservative conclave hosted annually by Erickson. “And we’ve got to get Republicans off the sidelines and not take the risk of missing. And I’m so tired of going into Election Day down thousands if not tens of thousands of votes because we’re so far behind in early voting.”
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Virginia Republicans are running early voting campaigns modeled on the success of their sister party in Georgia.
The beneficiary of that state’s Republican turnout in 2018, Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), joined Youngkin on stage Saturday.
“Quite honestly, the other side has been beating us at this game the last several cycles,” Kemp said. “We used to kill them in early voting and absentee voting here in Georgia. Then we got complacent … The rules are the same for both sides, so we have to take advantage and get our people out there early, and allow us to get the persuadable [voters] and independents.”
When asked by Erickson about what appears to be a growing cultural divide between northern Virginia, home to the western suburbs of Washington, D.C., and the rest of the state, Youngkin said his goal in the 2021 gubernatorial election was simply to “lose northern Virginia less badly” than Republicans had in years past while generating strong turnout in red areas.
“This is a battleground, but we have to make sure we’re speaking to everybody,” the governor said.
One of the big mistakes Republicans make, Youngkin said, is talking only to the people who are already going to vote for them instead of the people who may need some persuading. He related his experience meeting with a group of Hindu business owners in Virginia that the GOP had previously ignored.
“The chairman [of the group] looked at me and he said, ‘Glenn, we’re for you. We agree on just about everything — small business, low taxes, low regulations, religious freedom, educational excellence, backing law enforcement.’ And I said, ‘Excellent, that’s what we’re running on.’ And he said, ‘We want you to know we’re for you, but you’re the first Republican to come see us in 10 years.’ This is our issue. So we’ve got to go campaign and can’t concede a single vote.”
Youngkin also criticized Democrats for, in his view, drifting too far to the Left, and urged conservatives to stick to their values, including support for police and respect for the rights of parents.
“We know that commonsense conservative values and policies work,” he said. “We know that parents should be in charge of their children. Kids belong to families, not the state. And we know that when you back the blue, when you have more law enforcement instead of less law enforcement, crime goes down. These are just basic truths. So let’s go into communities that have traditionally not voted for Republicans and let’s convince them that they should.”
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Some Republicans have floated Youngkin as a potential White House contender in 2024, citing his success in flipping the Virginia governor’s mansion from blue to red, and his popularity among conservatives in his home state. The Washington Post reported Friday that media mogul Rupert Murdoch has repeatedly encouraged Youngkin to run for president in 2024. Youngkin and Murdoch have spoken at least twice in person about the possibility of a presidential bid, the newspaper reported, citing two people with knowledge of the discussions.
Youngkin has brushed off those rumors, saying he remains focused on boosting Republicans in Virginia. The issue did not come up at the summit Saturday evening.
