YOUNGKIN JOINS “FINAL 5” TO DELIVER CLOSING MESSAGE IN VIRGINIA ELECTIONS 

ICYMI: Governor Glenn Youngkin joined Fox 5 DC’s “Final 5” with Jim Lokay for a one-on-one interview to deliver a closing message to Virginia voters with less than two weeks until Election Day. 

Youngkin highlighted the commonsense agenda that is delivering for the Commonwealth, the importance of this election to move Virginia forward, and his efforts to help Republicans hold the House and flip the Senate. 

PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT

Lokay: What was one thing that you campaigned on two years ago that now you're looking and saying, we've accomplished that?

Youngkin: Well, first of all, we know that Virginians have been overtaxed. And so, I told Virginians that I would deliver $5 billion of tax relief, and through two budget cycles, we delivered $5 billion of tax relief. That's $2,200 for the typical Virginia family. And, if you're in the military, if you're retired, it's $4,500 because we now exclude up to $40,000 of your retirement benefits from being taxed at all in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Because we want our vets here, I don't want them moving away. And so that was a really important campaign promise. But I also promised to Back the Blue, and we've had record investment in law enforcement. I promised that we were going to raise expectations in education, and we are raising our standards, we're raising the ceiling and the floor. I promised we'd go to work to make sure that government runs more efficiently, and we have. The first year, we found $1.2 billion that had been appropriated that didn't need to be spent. In this past year, another $1.6 billion had been appropriated that didn't need to be spent. So, I feel like we've done a really good job of keeping our promises, but that allows us to have bigger aspirations, to do even more. And that's why on November 7, I hope everybody gets out and votes. I’d ask everybody to send a team to Richmond that can work with me, as opposed to against me, and we can get Virginia moving even faster. 

EMPOWERING PARENTS 

Lokay: One of the big issues that propelled you to the governorship was the idea of parental rights. And we saw that play out in Loudoun County, we saw what was happening there, it still continues to play out in many different ways, shapes and forms. Is that issue one you believe that this new crop of legislators should take to Richmond? 

Youngkin: Absolutely. I think that this is a moment for us to just again reaffirm that, in Virginia, parents have a fundamental right, it’s in our code, to make decisions with regards to their children's education, their care, and their upbringing. And we're going to protect those rights. But what that means is that you now have a team around every child. Yes, trusted teachers or a trusted administrator, but with parents at the head of the table making the ultimate decision with that child, and that's so important for us to continue to empower parents to do that. We also know that when there is a great relationship between a parent and their child, children do better and so we just want to make sure we foster that. I think education will continue to be a top issue forever. Because educating our children is the key to the future, and if they have an excellent education that unlocks opportunities, then families will want to be here, and there will be a great future for our kids.

COMMON SENSE VS. EXTREMISM ON ABORTION 

Youngkin: I’ve tried to be very clear that I am going to support one bill, only one bill, to protect life at 15 weeks, when a child can feel pain with full exceptions in the case of rape, or incest, or when the mother's life is at risk. That's the bill that I'll support. And I think what the other side has tried to do is scare voters into thinking that we're going to do something else. It’s just not true. And they're trying to really sell fear, and we're trying to sell answers and hope, and I think that's what's on the ballot. They don't want any limits, and so it's either no limits or reasonable limits.

COMPETING TO WIN 

Youngkin: Let's be clear, the winner is decided by who gets the most votes. And we have an early voting period and I want to take full advantage of it. So, we jumped out early to encourage people to go vote, sign up for absentee ballots, make a plan to go to the early voting locations. We have a website called secureyourvotevirginia.com, we've invited people to come and make a plan to vote early. So, we're doing everything we can to get people out to vote. Because if Republicans don't show up, we're not going to win. And I think we've got a great record to describe to people. We'll put our record on the table of job growth and empowering parents and working for schools and making sure that neighborhoods are safe. And we want more friends in Richmond to help us do even more.

Paid for by Spirit of Virginia

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