Youngkin to launch bus tour on same day as Obama, McAuliffe event in Virginia

Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin will launch a campaign bus tour on Saturday in the greater Richmond area.

It’s the same day as Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe’s rally with former President Obama and the Youngkin campaign told The Hill that the tour, dubbed the “Win with Glenn Bus Tour,” is an effort to show off its grassroots support.

Additionally, the campaign said the tour through Virginia will purposefully not feature any national surrogates and instead include Virginians whose stories represent the campaign’s message. 

According to details released exclusively to The Hill, the 10-day bus tour will include get-out-the-vote rallies, church services, retail shops, law enforcement events and stops to other establishments like farms and restaurants. 

The tour will consist of 50 stops, 42 localities and 38 counties. 

Saturday’s event is set to take place near a grocery store and will feature a family talking about the cost of living while touting Youngkin’s call to eliminate the state’s grocery tax. 

“What started as a campaign turned into a movement, and that means more fired up crowds for the Win with Glenn Bus Tour across the Commonwealth while 40-year politician Terry McAuliffe relies on big-name surrogates to draw paltry apathetic crowds,” Youngkin said in a statement to The Hill. 

The absence of big-name surrogates at Youngkin’s upcoming events contrasts with McAuliffe’s recent and upcoming events. On Thursday, Vice President Harris stumped for McAuliffe in Prince William County, Virginia. McAuliffe will campaign with Obama on Saturday in Richmond. On Sunday in Charlottesville, he will be joined by Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and the Dave Matthews Band. 

McAuliffe’s campaign is launching its own bus tour on Friday in Northern Virginia, kicking it off with his wife Dorothy McAuliffe, Attorney General Mark Herring (D) and lieutenant gubernatorial nominee Del. Hala Ayala (D). The bus’s first stop will be at a small business and the second stop will be with actor Blake Cooper Griffin at the University of Virginia.

Democrats say the influx of big surrogates will help them to motivate their base to head to the polls. 

Polls show a tight race, with a Monmouth University poll released this week showing both candidates tied at 46 percent support. On top of that, Republican enthusiasm in Virginia is rising. The Monmouth found 49 percent of Republican voters saying they are more enthusiastic than usual to vote in the election, compared to 26 percent of Democrats.