MARCO ISLAND, FL – EXCLUSIVE – After some high-profile battles with President Biden’s administration the past three years, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin says that President-elect Trump’s decisive election victory earlier this month means he now has “a friend in the White House.”
Youngkin, the popular Virginia governor who’s entering his final year in office, argued in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview that “as a governor who’s been driving pro-business and strong education and safe communities and lower tax rates, we now have someone in the White House who believes in all of that.”
“I look forward to us having the wind at our backs as opposed to in our face,” Youngkin said as he spoke Tuesday on the sidelines of the Republican Governors Association annual winter meeting, which is being held this year at a southwestern Florida waterfront resort.
And pointing to his final year steering Virginia, Youngkin said “I can’t wait to see what we’re going to do having the wind at our back from the Trump administration.”
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Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump shakes hands with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin during a rally at Greenbrier Farms on June 28, 2024 in Chesapeake, Virginia. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
There was plenty of speculation regarding Youngkin potentially serving in a top position in the second Trump administration, but the governor in a recent call with the president-elect made it clear he intends to finish out his term.
But he doesn’t sound like he’s ruling out serving in the Trump administration after he finishes up in Richmond in a year.
“I told the president when I called him and told him that I wanted to finish my term, that I would be available to help him at any time while I’m governor and afterwards,” Youngkin said.
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Youngkin energized Republicans nationwide three years ago, as the first-time candidate who hailed from the party’s business wing edged out former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe to become the first GOP candidate in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in the one-time swing state that had trended towards the Democrats over the previous decade.
The governor instantly became a Republican rock star and speculation stirred about a possible 2024 White House run.
But Youngkin and his party suffered a setback a year ago in legislative elections that grabbed outsized national attention, as Democrats retained control of the Virginia state Senate and flipped the House of Delegates.
While Youngkin wasn’t on the ballot, he had plenty riding on the results, after investing plenty of political capital on behalf of Republican legislative candidates. The results also meant Youngkin wouldn’t have a free hand during his final two years in office to push through a conservative agenda.
Youngkin returned to the campaign trail this year in Virginia and a couple of key battleground states, to help campaign on behalf of Republicans up and down the ballot.
And he spoke at a large rally Trump held in conservative southwest Virginia the weekend before Election Day.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Salem Va., Saturday, Nov 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
While Vice President Kamala Harris carried the Commonwealth in the White House race, her margin over Trump was 4.5 points narrower than President Biden’s victory in the state four years earlier, as Trump and Republicans over performed expectations.
The results appear to have given Youngkin more clout ahead of his final legislative session. Democrats who over the past year were united in opposition to the governor’s proposed tax cuts, may now be receptive to negotiating.
Asked if the Democrats are now ready to play ball, Youngkin said “I’m hoping they are. I think that the recognition that Virginians want to keep more of their hard-earned money has really engaged everyone in a dialogue on how to provide tax relief.”
He argued the election results “demonstrated record job growth which has created surplus after surplus after surplus is driven by pro-business standards.”
And he emphasized that “we’re going to come back with a big tax package again, and we’re going to make sure we’re standing strong for education and strong for public safety.”
“I’m optimistic,” he added, but acknowledged that “it will be a normal legislative process. We have a legislative – we’re a one seat minority in the House and the Senate – so we have to go to work to get things done.”
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia rallies on behalf of GOP legislative candidates ahead of the state’s closely watched elections, in Norfolk, Virginia on Nov. 2, 2023 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
All political eyes will be on Virginia in 2025, as the Commonwealth and New Jersey are the only two states to hold gubernatorial elections in the year after a presidential election.
But Virginia governors, by law, are prevented from running for re-election to a second straight term.
That doesn’t mean Youngkin will disappear from the campaign trail in 2025. He says it’s just the opposite.
VIRGINIA’S YOUNGKIN ENDORSES HIS LT. GOVERNOR TO SUCCEED HIM
“You’re going to see me a lot,” he touted. “We’ve got a very aggressive agenda for being governor in the last 14 months. But part of that agenda that I have is to make sure that we have [Lt. Gov.] Winsome Sears as our next governor. [Virginia Attorney General] Jason Miyares back as our attorney general and a super lieutenant governor who we will pick at our primaries.”
Youngkin predicted that “Virginians are going to make clear that they want to keep doing more of what we’re doing that’s proving record job growth and opportunity and great outcomes in schools and safe communities.”
The 2025 Virginia gubernatorial showdown is shaping up as a contest between Sears and Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer. The winner will make history as the state’s first ever female governor. And Sears, if she wins, will also make history as the nation’s first Black female elected governor.
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears speaks to the crowd during a rally held to announce she will seek her party’s nomination for Virginia governor in 2025 at Chick’s Oyster Bar in Virginia Beach, Va., on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Kristen Zeis/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Youngkin pushed back when asked if Sears, who served in the Marine Corps and made history as the first woman in Virginia to hold statewide office, is too conservative for voters.
“Not at all,” the governor quickly responded. “And Winsome is a commonsense conservative leader. We have been partners literally from day one. We campaigned together. We were elected together. We have governed together. And I look forward to seeing Virginians embrace her as the next governor of Virginia.”
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As for his own political future, Youngkin was less revealing about any future runs for elective office.
Asked about a possible but unlikely run for the Senate in 2026 against longtime Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Waner, or a future White House campaign, Youngkin quickly pivoted to his day job as governor.
“I have a huge year and a few months ahead of me and that’s where my focus is, and I need to finish strong, so Virginia can really continue to soar. And that’s what I’m going to spend my time on.”
After that, he said “we’ll see what’s next.”
Facing a follow-up question, Youngkin stayed on script, saying “we’ll see what happens down the road, but right now my sights are set on finishing strong.”