Virginia’s New GOP Governor Ends Vaccine Mandate for State Employees, Mask Mandates in Schools

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin gives the inaugural address after being sworn in as the 74th governor of Virginia on the steps of the State Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 15, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

RICHMOND, Va.—Glenn Youngkin, the first Republican to win the state of Virginia since 2009, was sworn in as the state’s 74th governor on Jan. 15.

Within hours of his inauguration, he signed 11 executive actions including lifting the mask mandate in Virginia schools and “ending divisive concepts, including critical race theory, in public education.”