Support for abortion rights costs VA Gov. Youngkin control of General Assembly

VIRGINIA (DC News Now) — One day after his party failed to gain control of the General Assembly, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Wednesday that he will try and work with Democrats to help improve the lives of Virginia residents.

The governor said in his first statement since Election Day that he was disappointed in the election results where Democrats kept the State Senate but retook the House of Delegates, defying his push for more conservative ideals including a 15-week ban on abortion.

“I’m a little disappointed to be clear,” said Youngkin in a news conference in Richmond. “And I think it underpins the fact that Virginia is clearly a state that has historically moved back and forth from control of one party in the legislature to control of others.”

With 140 total seats in the General Assembly up for grabs, Democrats took back control of the House of Delegates with a 51-person majority and held the state Senate.

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After Youngkin crisscrossed the state to get out the vote for Republicans, Youngkin all but disappeared on election night with no victory party and no comment from top party officials.

One person who was glad to see Youngkin and the Republicans lose big was Radhika Murari of Reston, whom the governor helped unify Virginians.

“If there’s one thing that unifies Virginians, it is not letting big government get into our personal business,” she said. “In Virginia, we are where democracy started and we won’t let people impinge on our personal freedoms.”

Larry Sabato, the founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said that the governor is going to have to learn to govern with Democrats to get anything accomplished for any kind of legacy.

“I think the abortion rights issue is the cause of what happened last night in Virginia,” Sabato said. “So Gov. Youngkin now is an automatic lame duck. He’s got two years remaining on his one-four-year term as governor. He’s going to have to rely on executive actions and orders because very little of what he wants will pass the legislature.”

Murari said Youngkin campaigned on being a “moderate” Republican who was willing to work with others to make Virginia better, but believes the governor was more about pleasing hard-core conservatives when he took power.

“I think reasonable moderate Republicans who really have a vision for a stronger Virginia and a stronger country do still work together with Democrats,” she said. “And I think if Youngkin wants to be a governor for all of us, he will come to the table with Democrats and moderate Republicans who, by the way, need to take their party back.”

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