McAuliffe and Youngkin release dueling ads
The latest in Virginia politics.
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“I can’t promise you I won’t concede,” Youngkin says when pressed by an attendee at a recent event
Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin was recently pushed by an attendee at an event to answer if he would concede the race in November if the results show he lost.
“Can I get a promise that you will never concede because you are going to win the election? You are going to win it. But it may not be shown that way,” the questioner said at the event last week. Youngkin made no such promise in his response.
“I believe we’re going to get 50%-plus in order to win. And I believe we’re going to find ourselves with the ability to look forward and actually move Virginia to a great place. I can’t promise you I won’t concede, because I’m going to actually do what’s best for Virginia.” Youngkin said in response.
The question for Youngkin comes after Republicans continue to be undecided on whether to accept the results of the 2020 election. Youngkin has stated multiple times that Biden is the legitimate president, but he also recently spoke at an election integrity event where there was no press allowed. His campaign said the nominee would be discussing voter ID laws.
After it was recently reported that Youngkin’s campaign is recruiting poll watchers for the upcoming election, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA) asked if the Republican nominee would accept the election results this November.
A spokesperson for Youngkin responded by pointing out that the Democratic Party is also recruiting poll observers, but did not address the question from the DPVA spokesperson.
Youngkin was asked the concession question two days later at the event according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
“Sir, if I end up finding myself in a circumstance where we’ve lost but what’s right for Virginia is for me to concede, I’ll concede,” Youngkin continued at the event last week. “But I’m looking forward, to win — and I do believe we will.”
Youngkin has been playing catch-up since the start as he has been polling slightly behind McAuliffe in a state that voted for the Democratic presidential nominee by 10 points last year. He has to drive turnout in his own party’s base while attracting Independent and moderate Republican voters that may have stayed home or switched parties during Trump’s presidency.
A Pew Research Center survey showed that Biden won Independent voters by nine points nationally.
Talking about election integrity remains popular within the core faction of the Republican Party. A poll in May reported that 53% of national Republicans believed Trump is the “true president”, compared to 25% of all Americans.
“Youngkin’s refusal to unequivocally commit to conceding in November is yet another reminder that when he said Donald Trump represents why he’s running, he meant it,” said Manuel Bonder, a DPVA spokesperson and the first person to raise the question towards Youngkin about conceding if he loses.
To defend themselves from election integrity participation attacks by the Democrats, the Youngkin campaign has repeatedly pointed to comments from the early 2000s when Terry McAuliffe, the current Democratic gubernatorial nominee, made statements about George Bush stealing the 2000 election.
According to his campaign spokesperson Renzo Olivari, McAuliffe would concede in November if the results show a Youngkin victory. “Terry is not a conspiracy theorist — of course he will respect the will of the voters.”
Terry McAuliffe released a new ad highlighting the hidden video footage of Glenn Youngkin discussing abortion
“Glenn Youngkin’s been caught, caught on video admitting his far-right agenda,” the narrator says.
Youngkin’s campaign released the following statement and video in direct response to McAuliffe’s new ad.
“Terry McAuliffe said he’s proud to be endorsed by radical groups that support taxpayer-funded abortions up until the moment of birth,” said a spokesperson for Youngkin. “The majority of Virginians do not support McAuliffe’s extreme pro-abortion agenda. Glenn Youngkin supports funding for women’s health centers, believes that fewer abortions is a good thing, and supports exceptions for rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is in danger.”
McAuliffe touts slate of support from anti-Trump Republicans
In what has become a common theme during the last four years, anti-Trump Republicans are endorsing the Democratic candidate in a high-profile race. A long list of Virginia Republicans announced their support of Terry McAuliffe over his Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin Tuesday.
Conservative analyst Bill Kristol is the most high-profile cross-over for McAuliffe on the list. He served in Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush’s presidential administrations and has been supporting Democrats since Donald Trump became president.
Kristol is also a founding director of a group called ‘Republicans Voters Against Trump‘ and has openly said he will not support Republicans that align too closely with the former president. He endorsed Biden in 2020.
Kristol represents a key demographic that Virginia Republicans will need to win in November.
Youngkin is forced to walk the tightrope of not alienating the Trump-loving base while also keeping the moderate faction of the party, people like Kristol, satisfied. He has to bring new voters to the Republican Party in a commonwealth that saw Democrats make enormous gains during Trump’s presidency by flipping the state legislature and voting for Joe Biden by 10 points.
Kristol doesn’t specifically cite Trump in his endorsement statement that was released through the McAuliffe campaign. “We’ve lived in Virginia for 35 years. Most of our kids and grandkids live here,” the statement from Kristol reads. “We need a governor who takes public health seriously and keeps our economy strong. I’m confident Terry McAuliffe will do both. I have no such confidence in the Republican nominee. Mr. Youngkin seems unwilling to take on the most extreme wing of his own party on vaccinations, and he’s embraced reckless fiscal policies that have failed elsewhere.”
Former Republican state Delegate David Ramadan is another new endorser of McAuliffe. Ramadan has been very vocal with his distaste for Trump and any Republicans that supported him. The Virginia Republican Twitter account blocked Ramadan in 2018 after his criticism of the former president and his supporters.
“As co-founder and co-chairman of the Business Development Caucus in the Virginia General Assembly, I worked closely with Terry to advance a pro-jobs economy,” Ramadan said in his endorsement of McAuliffe. “Terry is a committed public servant who always puts what is right for Virginia and our economy first, and he’s shown that again with his leadership on COVID-19 and vaccines.”
Another former delegate that co-founded the Business Development Caucus (BDC) with Ramadan pushed back against his statement, however. “As co-founder & Chairman Emeritus of the Business Development Caucus & as Director of BDC Founders PAC let me be clear,” tweeted Mike Watson, a former Republican delegate from Williamsburg. “Terry McAuliffe & his [administration] fought against the BDC pro-jobs agenda at every opportunity & we reject any suggestion otherwise.”
Unruly crowd causes Spotsylvania School Board meeting to adjourn after 13 minutes - Free Lance-Star
By AdeleUphaus
Monday evening’s meeting of the Spotsylvania County School Board ended after 13 minutes with no business conducted when the audience became unruly.
Chairwoman Dawn Shelley told the crowd multiple times that they were out of order. Members of the audience yelled back, “You’re out of order.”
Virginia lawmakers say their law was not intended to mandate masks, contradicting Northam’s order - Washington Post
As students prepared to head back to the classroom in Virginia, two state senators sent a letter to school officials saying districts are allowed to make their own decisions about pandemic safety guidelines. The letter came a week after the state implemented an indoor mask mandate for schools.
Sens. Siobhan S. Dunnavant (R-Henrico) and Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax City) sent the letter on Aug. 18 to superintendents and school boards, arguing that a law the two had sponsored earlier this year on the return to in-person learning had been misrepresented by Gov. Ralph Northam (D) to implement a mask mandate.
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