VIRGINIA, USA — In his first bid for public office, Republican Glenn Youngkin has secured a win in Virginia’s gubernatorial race – a contest that experts say is the first litmus test on how voters feel about Joe Biden’s presidency. CBS declared Youngkin the projected winner just after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Youngkin, 54, defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe -- who served as governor from 2014 to 2018 -- 51% to 48%, with 95% of the precincts reporting. The former business executive’s win is being touted as a democratic rebuff in the Commonwealth, which has trended blue over the past several elections. President Joe Biden won the state by 10 percentage points in 2020 against former President Donald Trump.
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Before his foray into politics, Youngkin spent 25 years with The Carlyle Group, a private-equity form based in D.C. He served as CEO from 2018-2020, before stepping down in September of 2020 and announcing his candidacy for Virginia governor in January; he secured the Republican party’s nomination in May.
Youngkin spent his entire childhood in Virginia, moving from Richmond to Virginia Beach in his teens. He graduated from Virginia’s oldest private school, Norfolk Academy, in 1985. He double majored in managerial studies and mechanical engineering during his undergrad years at Rice University and earned an MBA from Harvard in 1994.
Youngkin and his wife, Suzanne, have four children, whom they raised in northern Virginia. He has served on the boards of several nonprofits, including Virginia Ready Initiative – which he founded with his wife -- Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus Advisory Board, the Museum of the Bible, and the Meadowkirk Retreat Center.
Glenn Youngkin will be sworn in as Virginia’s next governor on Jan. 15, 2022.