Youngkin on going 5 for 15 in midterm campaigning: ‘we picked hard races’

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) defended his record in only five of the 15 GOP gubernatorial candidates he campaigned with winning their races in the midterm elections last month. 

“We picked hard races, races where the states were set up a bit like Virginia, where Joe Biden had won by 10 points, and we went to work to try to flip those states,” he told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum in an interview. 

Youngkin said Republican candidates’ performances showed that their message “carries,” but unseating an incumbent is difficult. 

In the midterms, Republicans were only successful in defeating one Democratic incumbent governor, Steve Sisolak in Nevada. GOP nominees failed to win races in key states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 

MacCallum pressed Youngkin on comments that University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato made that the Virginia governor was trying to develop “buzz” for himself nationwide in campaigning with other Republicans. 

Youngkin became increasingly present on the campaign trail throughout the country as the election season continued, traveling to states like Georgia, Maine and Kansas as speculation arose about him being a possible contender for the White House in 2024. 

Sabato told The Washington Post last month after the midterms that the Republican candidates’ losses hurt Youngkin’s prospects as a national figure and denied him momentum for a presidential bid. 

Youngkin tossed aside Sabato’s comments in the interview with MacCallum, saying that it would not be the first time he disagrees with Sabato. 

Youngkin’s comments came as part of a discussion on a variety of topics about his time serving as governor so far, including efforts to cut taxes and increase parents’ influence in education.