Governorship of Glenn Youngkin

Youngkin was sworn in as governor on January 15, 2022. He took office alongside his Republican ticket mates, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, the first woman of color elected to statewide office in Virginia, and Attorney General Jason Miyares, the first Latino elected to statewide office in the state.[1] The Washington Post called this ticket "historically diverse"[2] and reported that it was a sign of "inroads" made by the Republican Party "in the African American and Latino communities."[3] Former Democratic Governor of Virginia Douglas Wilder commented after the election that Republicans had "one-upped" Democrats with the historic achievement, which, he said, showed that Democrats "can't take the [Black] community for granted."[3]

Youngkin was inaugurated two years into the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[1] His first week in office coincided with the January 14–17, 2022 North American winter storm.[4][5] The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the morning before his inauguration, Youngkin participated in a community service project at "the Reconciliation Statue along the Richmond Slave Trail in Shockoe Bottom, which was home to the second largest domestic slave market in the United States before the Civil War."[6] Later that night, an inauguration eve party was held for Youngkin at the Omni Richmond Hotel.[6] Another inauguration eve event for Youngkin was later held at the Science Museum of Virginia.[6][7] On the night of his inauguration, Youngkin held a celebratory event at the Richmond Main Street Station.[1][8]

The Washington Post wrote that Youngkin's inaugural address "delivered the blend of religious confidence and boardroom bravado that powered his victory",[1] while The Associated Press characterized the address as one that carried "a tone of bipartisanship and optimism".[7] The Washington Post noted that Youngkin used the address to criticize modern politics as "too toxic", but also wrote that, immediately after the address, Youngkin "stirred partisan rancor" by signing a series of polarizing executive actions.[1] The publication noted that Youngkin's praise for the COVID-19 vaccine "fell flat with the largely mask-free crowd".[1] Along with NPR, it reported that Youngkin's biggest applause was for a line about "removing politics from the classroom".[1][9]

Youngkin began announcing nominations for his sixteen-member cabinet on December 20, 2021, and did not finish the process until after his inauguration.[10][11][12][13] According to The Washington Post, Youngkin assembled his cabinet at a slower pace than prior Virginia governors.[14][15][16] Commenting on this process, the publication wrote in December 2021, "The slow pace has turned the quadrennial parlor game of predicting Cabinet picks into a far more protracted and opaque process [than usual], with lobbyists, interest groups and other Richmond insiders left guessing what the new administration might look like. Youngkin’s practice of sidestepping many policy specifics during the campaign has only heightened the anticipation."[14]

Several news outlets noted that Youngkin's focus on education as a campaign priority was reflected in his decision to begin announcing his cabinet nominees with his choice for Secretary of Education.[10][17][18] Although Youngkin suggested while campaigning for the Republican gubernatorial nomination that he would name his then-opponent Kirk Cox, a former Speaker of the House of Delegates, to the position,[19] he instead chose Aimee Rogstad Guidera, the founder of a data firm focused on fostering student achievement.[10][17][18]

Five of Youngkin's cabinet nominees are women and three are African American.[13] Many of his nominees were brought in from other states,[20] and only a few of his nominees had any prior government experience.[11][16] The Washington Post wrote of these nominees, "Their newcomer status is on brand for Youngkin, who ran touting his lack of political experience as an asset. But it also presents the new administration with a steep learning curve."[1]

Four of Youngkin's cabinet nominees served under previous Virginia governors: Youngkin's Secretary of the Commonwealth nominee, Kay Coles James, served as Secretary of Health and Human Resources under Governor George Allen;[21] Youngkin's Secretary of Labor nominee, George Bryan Slater, served as Secretary of Administration under Governor Jim Gilmore;[22] Youngkin's Secretary of Health and Human Resources nominee, John Littel, served as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources under Allen;[23] and Youngkin's Secretary of Transportation nominee, W. Sheppard “Shep” Miller III, served on the Commonwealth Transportation Board under Northam.[21]

Several of Youngkin's cabinet nominees are from the private sector,[12] while three - James, Littel, and Chief Diversity Officer Angela Sailor - worked for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.[13][21][23] James was the first Black woman to serve as president of the foundation,[21] Sailor was an executive there at the same time,[13] and Littel worked there as a lawyer.[23] Youngkin's Secretary of Commerce nominee, Caren Merrick, served as Chief Executive of the Virginia Ready Initiative, described by The Washington Post as "a nonprofit organization that Youngkin founded in 2020 to fund workforce training for people struggling during the economic shutdown linked to the coronavirus pandemic."[24] Daniel Gade, who ran unsuccessfully as the Republican nominee in Virginia's 2020 Senate election, was named by Youngkin as commissioner of Virginia's Department of Veterans Services, serving under Youngkin's Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Craig Crenshaw.[25] Jeff Goettman, who served as a Treasury Department official in the Trump Administration before becoming the chief operating officer of Youngkin's campaign, was chosen by Youngkin to serve as chief of staff.[15][26][27]

For the role of counselor, a cabinet-level position, Youngkin chose Richard Cullen, an attorney described by The Washington Post as "the ultimate Richmond insider".[1][15] Cullen had been chairman of McGuireWoods, and in the 1990s, served out the remainder of Jim Gilmore's term as Attorney General of Virginia, after Gilmore resigned to run for governor.[15][27] The Washington Post reported that Cullen's appointment was "widely seen as a nod to the establishment class"[1] and theorized that the choice "could suggest that Youngkin does not intend to thoroughly disrupt 'politics as usual' in a state where cozy ties between government and business interests have long been lauded - and derided - as 'the Virginia way.'"[15] The publication further wrote, "At the very least, the choice indicates that Youngkin wants an experienced political hand on his team as he tries to get his arms around the state’s sprawling bureaucracy."[15]

Average gas prices in Virginia reached an all-time high in March 2022, amid national inflation. Although breaking the record high that had been set for the state's gas prices during the Great Recession, the new record set under Youngkin in March was still slightly short of the national average for that point of 2022. Youngkin attributed the inflation in gas prices to the national ban on new drilling permits and to Virginia's recently enacted Clean Economy Act, which requires the state to gradually end carbon emissions.[28][29] In response to market disruptions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Democrats called on Youngkin to declare a state of emergency, which would have allowed the state government to prohibit price-gouging; a year earlier, Youngkin's predecessor, Ralph Northam, had responded to the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack with this strategy. Youngkin dismissed the idea that price-gouging was at fault for inflation and refused to declare a state of emergency over rising gas prices.[28] Instead, he renewed his campaign promise to temporarily suspend a previously approved increase in the state's gas tax.[28][30] Democrats in the State Senate had already voted down legislation that would have enacted a one-year suspension of that tax increase, arguing that the proposed suspension would have deprived the state of revenue for transportation projects while offering insufficient relief to consumers.[28]

A month into Youngkin's governorship, The Washington Post reported that, due to his executive order banning the teaching of critical race theory, the Virginia Department of Education had begun rescinding "a wide range of policies, memos and programs established to further diversity, equity and inclusion in schools".[31] The Virginia Association of School Superintendents, acting on behalf of all public school superintendents in the state, sent a letter to the Youngkin administration in March 2022, asking for a reversal of the administration's efforts to end these programs. The letter, which said that the administration's stance on this issue had been adopted without input from educators, also called on the administration to terminate its tipline for the reporting of "divisive practices".[32][33]