(HorizonPost.com) – According to the Washington Examiner, a Republican victory in Virginia’s legislative elections next month could help to position Governor Glenn Youngkin for a possible run for the White House in 2028.
Youngkin has invested a lot of time and money in ensuring that Republicans can take control of both chambers of the General Assembly in the November election, which would require flipping the state Senate and defending or expanding the Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of Delegates.
The governor has spent vast sums of his fundraising efforts to help the Republicans expand seats in the General Assembly and has led the push to boost early voting numbers among Republican voters who have traditionally ceded the early voting advantage to the Democrats.
Veteran Virginia political analyst Bob Holsworth told the Washington Examiner that the stakes are very high for Governor Youngkin in next month’s elections. He said a victory would catapult the popular governor “onto the national stage” while a defeat could mean that Youngkin’s election victory in 2021 “was a one-off” caused by frustration over the pandemic.
All 140 General Assembly seats are up for election on November 7 but only a handful of races will decide which party will control the legislature, Holsworth told the Examiner. He said the six or seven Senate seats and eight or nine House seats are competitive enough to swing control.
Democrats currently hold a 4-seat majority in the Virginia state Senate while Republicans hold a 4-seat majority in the House of Delegates. Another four House seats are currently vacant.
Next month’s election will be the first under the new map drawn after Virginia’s redistricting in 2021.
Issues like education, crime, and abortion factor heavily in the election, as the governor has been spearheading a push to enact a 15-week limit on abortion that he said Republicans will pass if they retain the House of Delegates and take back the state Senate.
If Republicans can gain control of both chambers, Youngkin’s final two years in office could also give him a boost into presidential politics in 2028 as he will be better positioned to enact policies that are popular among Republican voters nationwide.
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