Pastors, Moms, Parents, ‘These People’ and MAGA Flip Virginia

Glenn Youngkin, Virginia's governor-elect, is seen on election night in Chantilly, Va., on Nov. 2, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Commentary

What occurred in Virginia for the Nov. 2, 2021, election was in some ways an uprising by several demographic groups. Ground zero for Virginia and the nation, was and still is Loudoun County where moms and parents stared down a radicalized School Board and are now actively seeking resignations from Board members.

School District advocacy of Critical Race Theory (CRT) became a core issue in the election. Glenn Youngkin may have won the election, but the fight is not over in Loudoun, and a growing movement across the country has been established with CRT as the defining social issue to be addressed as American citizens passionately work to reclaim their counties.

We are now finding that Attorney General Garland may have overstepped his bounds and unlawfully used counter-terrorism authorities to surveil and monitor parents including the use of FBI aviation resources—some of which are based very close to my house. All of this personally shocks and outrages me since I oversaw programs from 2007–2014 that significantly expanded cybersecurity and cyber surveillance programs of all U.S. Government Departments and Agencies. This expansion was intended to protect Americans, not spy on them.

5 Key Demographics

There were several demographic groups that made a distinct difference in the first Republican gubernatorial victory since the 2009 election of Governor Bob McDonnell, who was taken down by a politicized DOJ/FBI effort immediately after his term. Governor elect Youngkin’s victory established the first time since this previous election where “outside” the beltway counties broke the Blue stranglehold of Fairfax, Prince William (my own county), Loudoun, and Arlington counties on Virginia statewide elections.

I was very involved in Election Integrity activism during this campaign and lived the chaos and excitement of the race. I must complement several demographic groups that strongly influenced the vote in Virginia.

First, the Pastors and other faith leaders who led their flocks to the polls. Pastor Byron Foxx conducted 21 stirring assemblies that fired up this foundational voting base.

Next are the Moms of Virginia—I pointed out in July that Moms will be decisive in the ongoing societal struggle with out of touch school boards, and other seemingly un-accountable county governance bodies.

Next were the parents that turned out in force in Loudoun and other places across the state to speak out against the tenets of CRT.

Next are “these people”—Terry McAuliffe’s unthoughtful, dismissive, and race tinged reference from the past toward those trying to speak at school board meetings. McAuliffe’s comment likely tilted Independents and even Democrats toward Youngkin.

Finally—Youngkin moved toward the Make America Great Again (MAGA) Trump Base.

Youngkin Moves Toward MAGA

In October, Glenn Youngkin met and toured with State Senator Amanda Chase. Chase is very popular with her constituency and is possibly the most recognized MAGA elected leader in Virginia. She leads the National Election Integrity Caucus and is now announced to run in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District against the incumbent, Abigail Spanberger, who won a very close and question-laced victory against former Green Beret Nick Freitas.

Chase is the leading state political figure within Virginia for Election Integrity (and for pushing for freedom against vaccine and mask mandates). Chase will be introducing a Voter’s Bill of Rights to include a complete forensic audit, photo identification with removal of loopholes, and elimination of absentee drop boxes, she said in a recent conversation.

The move toward MAGA and Chase by Youngkin stirred the MAGA followers in Virginia. Chase conducted several gatherings to energize the base. Trump called into one well attended event in Richmond and endorsed Youngkin. The base was now mobilized. The election results were a decisive win for Youngkin.

Lessons Learned

Initially it appeared on election night that the Republicans also gained control of the State House of Delegates. However, there are two races that are now headed for a re-count. There is a key takeaway from the Virginia Race that can be applied nationally. An involved citizenry makes the difference at the county level. The four centers of gravity for citizens to dominate at the county or county equivalent level are the School Board, the County Council, the Election Registrar, and the Election Board (or their equivalents). Exert decisive influence over these four key institutions at the county level and the country will follow.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.