Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday credited his victory in Virginia to a 'movement' of parents that started in Loudoun County as education became the central issue launching the Republican to victory over former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe.
'I was really overwhelmed by the broad support across the entire Commonwealth of Virginia,' Youngkin told Fox News' Tucker Carlson in the first network interview since he was declared winner of the gubernatorial race in Virginia in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
'This campaign stopped being a campaign a while ago, and it became a movement,' the Republican victor said, adding that 'education really did become a top issue in this election.'
'Parents across Virginia started to recognize that they really did need to have an important, decisive role in their children's education,' he continued.
'And when they heard Terry McAuliffe say… he wants to put government between parents and their children, this ceased to be a campaign and it started to be a movement led by parents.'
Youngkin beat McAuliffe 50.9 per cent to 48.4 per cent in a state that was expected to easily be handed to Democrats after President Joe Biden won it by 10 points in the 2020 presidential election.
Issues involving education became a central focus of the campaign when parents were concerned they were losing say over their children's time at school - including the teaching of Critical Race Theory and the rights of trans students.
'So many people are trying to divide us and tell one group that they should be different than another and it's time for cointiply us to come together,' Youngkin said, adding people on the campaign trail told him they were tired of the divisiveness.
Republican Glenn Youngkin, the governor-elect of Virginia, attributed his victory to a 'broad movement' of parents across the state
During his campaign, Youngkin brought it back to religion, saying all people are equal because God made it that way.
'Here we have in our schools a moment to stop teaching our children about their differences and start teaching them about the things that can bring us together and prepare them for a great life,' Youngkin said.
'And that's what we're going to do in our schools when I'm governor.'