Former president Donald Trump is touting the efforts of his supporters, alleging that they are responsible for gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin's successes in Virginia.
'I would like to thank my BASE for coming out in force and voting for Glenn Youngkin. Without you, he would not have been close to winning,' Trump said in a statement Tuesday night. 'The MAGA movement is bigger and stronger than ever before. Glenn will be a great governor.'
Although the race had not yet been called Trump thanked Virginians, and particularly his 'incredible MAGA voters' for showing up to the polls.
He said: 'It is looking like Terry McAuliffe's campaign against a certain person named “Trump” has very much helped Glenn Youngkin. All McAuliffe did was talk Trump, Trump, Trump and he lost! What does that tell you, Fake News?
'I guess people running for office as Democrats won’t be doing that too much longer. I didn’t even have to go rally for Youngkin, because McAuliffe did it for me. Thank you to the MAGA voters for turning out big!'
Youngkin was declared the next governor of Virginia around 1am on Wednesday. The Associated Press called his victory with 95 percent of precincts reporting, and Youngkin lead McAuliffe by about 2 percent, 51.1 percent to 48.2 percent.
Former president Donald Trump (right on Saturday) is touting the efforts of his supporters, alleging that they are responsible for gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin's (left on Election Day) successes in Virginia
The former president issued a statement thanking his voters and applauding Youngkin, despite the fact that Virginia's gubernatorial race has not yet been called
The former president held a campaign tele-rally Monday night urging his base to vote for Youngkin, despite the Republican candidate's efforts to distance himself from Trump.
Trump alleged that Youngkin's opponent, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, was 'very shady' and an 'apologist for critical race theory.'
'He's an apologist, and that's all you can say on critical race theory. It just entered his vocabulary a while ago, and now it's there, and now he's trying to get out of it because he sees what it's doing to his numbers,' Trump said during the phone call.
'He actually said, 'I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should be teaching.'
McAuliffe, who has routinely criticized Youngkin over Trump's unsolicited endorsements, called out the ex-president during his campaign event on the eve of Election Day.
'Guess how Glenn Youngkin is finishing his campaign? He is doing an event with Donald Trump here in Virginia. I'm here with you and they've got Trump over there,' the Democrat told his supporters Monday night.
'Donald Trump wants to win here tomorrow night so he can next day announce for president of the United States of America. Well, we're going to put an end to Donald Trump's future plans right here in Virginia. I've beaten Trump twice in Virginia, tomorrow we go 3 and 0.'
McAuliffe, who has routinely criticized Youngkin (pictured on Election Day) over Trump's unsolicited endorsements, called out the ex-president during his a campaign event on Monday
Youngkin has kept Trump at arm's length during his campaign, trying not to align himself with the former president or alienate his supporters.
He did not attend Trump's tele-rally, nor was he involved in the rally's planning.
In fact, throughout his campaign, Youngkin has rarely mentioned Trump and instead focused on the issues important to Virginia's voters, such as education and critical race theory teachings in public school curricula.
His final night on the campaign trail, Youngkin rallied in woke Loudoun County - the state's epicenter of anger regarding school curricula and policies.
'We decide that we're going to take the power of our children's education,' he told Monday night's crowd.
'This is a defining moment to the future of our commonwealth. A defining moment where we can stand up and say no to this progressive liberal agenda taking over.'
Youngkin pulled off a stunning upset in Virginia to beat out McAuliffe, the Associated Press projected around 1am on Wednesday morning.
Virginia has now elected its first Republican governor since 2009.
Youngkin took the edge in the race, leading McAuliffe by about 2 percent around 10pm - 50.7 percent to 48.6 percent, or about 63,000 votes - with 94 percent of precincts reporting
Ahead of the victory announcement, Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel put out a statement declaring Youngkin victorious and congratulating him on the win.
'The red wave is here! Congratulations to Republicans Glenn Youngkin, Winsome Sears, and Jason Miyares on their incredible campaigns and hard fought victories.'
'A Republican wave is coming in 2022, and Virginia is just the start,' she said.
Sears is running for lieutenant governor and Miyares is running for attorney general. Both have big leads in their races too, meaning Virginia could be up for a Republican sweep across the board.
Sears, who is currently ahead by about 8 points, would be the first black woman elected to a statewide office in Virginia's history.
Republicans had not won a statewide race in Virginia in 12 years, and President Joe Biden carried the state by 10 percentage points.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, chair of the Republican Governors' Association, also congratulated Youngkin. 'The RGA is thrilled to congratulate Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin on winning a hard-fought race that many wrote off as unwinnable for Republicans.'
President Joe Biden signaled on Tuesday that he believed Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe would be the next governor of Virginia in his nail-biting election with Republican Glenn Youngkin and insisted mounting problems and his poor performance in the polls will have nothing to do with the result.
'We're gonna win,' Biden said in a hushed tone while grinning and leaning into the microphone on stage at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, while polls showed the race at a dead heat before state voting booths closed at 7pm.
'I think we're gonna win in Virginia,' he continued. 'The race, it's very close. It's about who shows up, who turns out.'
If the margin of the final count is within 1%, a candidate can request a recount. If the margin is 0.5% or less, the state will pay for it.
The Republican win will likely cause a panic among the Democrats and could sway voters across the country in what is a bellwether election for an administration mired by mounting problems, including inflation and supply chain issues.
A Republican win would cause a panic among the Democrats and could sway voters across the country in what is a bellwether election for an administration mired by mounting problems, including inflation and supply chain issues
Even Vice President Kamala Harris noted the consequences the Virginia race could spell for Democrats. Four days ago, while campaigning in Virginia for McAuliffe, she said: 'What happens in Virginia will in large part determine what happens in 2022, 2024, and on.'
McAuliffe, 64, previously served as Virginia's governor from 2014 to 2018. Due to the commonwealth's unusual election laws, governors can only serve one consecutive term. He would become the first governor of Virginia in nearly half a century to be elected to two non-consecutive terms.
During his term as governor, he issued a record 120 vetoes, mostly concerning social issues like abortion and LGBTQ rights, and touted his record fighting against the GOP legislature on the campaign trail.
McAuliffe nationalized the race by invoking former President Trump's name perhaps more than any other figure running for office.
Youngkin, 54, is a political newcomer and wealthy businessman who previously served as CEO of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. Though he won Trump's endorsement, Youngkin has distanced himself from the former president, who faired poorly in Virginia in 2020.
Youngkin's personal wealth launched him into the spotlight, as he provided $5.5million to his own campaign.
The Republican has sought to mobilize voters by tying the race to school choice and education issues, holding Parents Matter rallies where he hit out again
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