What Role Did Education Play in the Virginia Red Wave?

            It is official: Glenn Youngkin won the election to become the governor of Virginia. Former Governor Terry McAuliffe did not concede right away, but he has finally done so. Is it possible that McAuliffe caused himself to lose the election? He made a dumb statement two weeks ago when he said, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Youngkin recognized the statement as a gift and started campaigning on it.

            Parents also heard the statement, and the Mama Bears and the Papa Bears came out to protect their children. Signs at Youngkin’s after-election party identified several groups: Latinos for Youngkin, Parents for Youngkin, Veterans for Youngkin, and others. A large part of the win was the parents who came together to campaign for Youngkin – Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. The message from the Virginia election is that parents demand that they be involved in the education of their children.

            Virginia has been “Blue” for decades, but Virginians elected Republicans as governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general as well as regain control of the House of Delegates.

There are most several conditions that might have helped Youngkin win the election. High on the list is Joe Biden and his disastrous administration. He has presided over disaster after disaster, and his performance had a negative effect on many fronts. However, education played a significant role in the win for Youngkin. Jarrett Stepman made the following comments about education: 

Rarely do education policy or local school board elections become the primary focus of politics, but it’s hard to argue otherwise, given the results of Tuesday’s elections.

In an excellent article in The Wall Street Journal, education policy experts Max Eden and Brad Wilcox explained how Youngkin’s victory makes the GOP the “parents’ party.” …

Education is the primary battleground of this fight because it pits the left-wing institutional machine against parents and democracy. No longer can radical social transformation stay on track behind closed doors. It’s now an open question.

One big takeaway from Tuesday’s elections in Virginia and elsewhere is that parents have awakened to the danger and are filled with a terrible resolve.

The Youngkin win shows that education is important to parents. Parents in Virginia made the Republican Party the party of parents. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in 2022 and 2024.