Glenn Youngkin: Who's the Republican candidate for governor in Virginia?

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The previous co-chief govt of the private-equity agency Carlyle Group, a worldwide funding agency, Youngkin defeated six different nominees within the state’s Republican major earlier this yr.

Now, he is vying to be Virginia’s first Republican governor since Bob McDonnell left workplace in 2014.

After rising up in Richmond and Virginia Seaside, Youngkin attended Rice College, the place he studied engineering and performed basketball, in addition to Harvard Enterprise Faculty. He has labored in finance and spent 25 years on the Carlyle Group. Youngkin has additionally served on the boards of a number of nonprofit organizations and co-founded the Virginia Prepared Initiative — which was in-built response to Covid-19 and helps Virginians discover new jobs.

Youngkin has from the beginning put a heavy emphasis on cultural points necessary to the Republican base.

The GOP candidate says he desires to chop taxes, prioritize small companies and increase financial progress following the Covid-19 pandemic. He is centered on combating crime, says he desires to “defend – not defund” regulation enforcement and eliminate crucial race idea in faculties.

Youngkin additionally has embraced “election integrity” as a key situation — threading the needle of acknowledging Republican considerations in regards to the integrity of the vote with out absolutely embracing Trump’s false claims a couple of stolen 2020 election. But, Youngkin didn’t acknowledge Biden’s presidential win till after he received the nomination in Might.

Since profitable the Republican nomination, Youngkin has tried to pivot to different points, a mirrored image of the fantastic line he has to stroll to enchantment to each Trump’s base and to average voters in Virginia and has centered his consideration and promoting cash on introducing himself to voters, highlighting his upbringing in a sweep of softer biography-focused adverts that don’t point out Trump.

“For too lengthy now we have been advised there is just one strategy to do issues in Richmond,” Youngkin says in one of his ads. “I am Glenn Youngkin. I am not a politician. … It is a new day right here in Virginia. And the long run belongs to us, not them.”

As of late, together with through the second and closing debate of the Virginia governor’s race, Youngkin as soon as once more sought to maintain his social gathering’s most distinguished member, Trump, at arm’s size.

He mentioned that “there wasn’t materials fraud” within the 2020 election and it was “certifiably truthful.”

He did not carry up Trump himself through the debate, and at one level identified that it was his opponent, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe, who was repeatedly referencing the previous President.

Previously, nevertheless, Youngkin’s tried to attract on help from figures in Trump’s broader political world.

A number of members of his workers are veterans of Trump’s presidential campaigns and, forward of the Republican major, Youngkin ran a TV advert with footage of Trump praising him by title throughout a White Home occasion on commerce.

In current weeks, Youngkin has made headlines for his stance on vaccine mandates.

The Virginia gubernatorial candidates’ break up on vaccines — McAuliffe would require them for college students, lecturers and well being care staff and would help companies that imposed mandates; Youngkin says he encourages everybody to be vaccinated however opposes mandates — has emerged as a central issue in 2021’s marquee governor’s race.

Whereas Youngkin says he encourages all Virginians to get vaccinated in opposition to Covid-19, and even put out a public service announcement persuading Virginians to get the vaccine, he opposes necessary vaccinations.

“I’ve gotten the vaccine; my household has gotten the vaccine. It is the easiest way for individuals to maintain themselves secure. And I in truth have requested everybody in Virginia to please get the vaccine. However I do not assume we must always mandate it,” Youngkin mentioned Tuesday.

In current weeks, Youngkin and McAuliffe have sparred over plenty of points together with Covid-19 vaccine mandates, parental rights and schools.

In the case of parental rights and faculties, Youngkin wasted no time turning a remark made by his Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, into an assault advert aimed toward invigorating base GOP voters and fogeys.

The second got here through the second and closing debate between the 2 late final month. “I am not going to let dad and mom come into faculties and really take books out and make their very own determination,” McAuliffe mentioned over what must be taught in faculties. The previous governor later added, “I do not assume dad and mom must be telling faculties what they need to educate.”

The feedback, after getting appreciable decide up inside conservative media, shortly grew to become a Youngkin advert and have already turn into a staple of Youngkin’s pitch within the closing weeks of the race to steer the Commonwealth.

“When you had any doubt — any doubt in any respect — about Terry McAuliffe’s rules, he laid them naked final week when he mentioned, he mentioned dad and mom should not have a proper to be concerned of their child’s schooling,” Youngkin mentioned earlier this month.

His marketing campaign hopes it can function a rallying cry that would harness the current Republican give attention to schooling points, starting from what must be taught in public faculties to points round transgender college students. However the final objective is to chop into McAuliffe’s help with swing voters in key areas just like the vote-rich Northern Virginia suburbs close to Washington, DC.

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