by Justin Soutar
Trump fans in general and Republicans in particular who were bitterly
disappointed by the results of last year’s elections in New York City, New
Jersey, and Virginia are now eagerly searching for strong leaders who can
decisively win future elections. The Commonwealth of Virginia recently concluded
four remarkable years under one such leader.
Glenn Youngkin towers head and shoulders above the field of contemporary
Virginia governors and their accomplishments. Confident, energetic,
indefatigable, and laser-focused on achieving his stated goal of making the Old
Dominion the best place in the nation to live, work, and raise a family in the
twenty-first century, he accomplished more in four years than his four most
recent predecessors combined. In short, he made Virginia great again.
Entering the Richmond governor’s mansion in January 2022, Youngkin inherited
a state that was losing population and tax revenue, that was failing
economically and educationally, where personal and religious freedoms were
curtailed. As he put it, “Virginia was losing.” Governor Youngkin’s independent
thinking, unfailing common sense, incredibly hard work, authentic
bipartisanship, and selfless dedication to public service led to innovative
approaches, smart laws, and sound policies that transformed Virginia into a
beacon of excellence, prosperity, and freedom. In his final State of the
Commonwealth address in January 2026, he triumphantly declared, “Virginia is
winning!”
The positive effects of Glenn Youngkin’s great leadership will continue to be
felt in the Commonwealth for years to come. In the course of his extraordinary
administration, Governor Youngkin signed more than 2,000 bills into law, the
vast majority with bipartisan support—an astonishing achievement. Furthermore,
he served without pay, donating 100 percent of his salary to charities.
He cut income taxes and business regulations to stimulate investment and
economic growth and handed billions of dollars in tax relief to ordinary
Virginians. The $156 billion invested in Virginia during his term, which resulted
in more than 100,000 new jobs, exceeded the total amount invested under the
previous six governors combined. He balanced the budget and generated record
revenue surpluses for the state through sales and use taxes. He raised the
state minimum wage to $12.77 an hour.
He secured millions of dollars in federal funding for abandoned mine land
development, turning economically struggling southwest Virginia into a hub of
nuclear energy research and technology. His Energy Plan rejected arbitrary renewable
energy mandates in favor of a flexible, “all of the above” approach to
modernizing and expanding Virginia’s electrical grid. He created the largest
offshore wind energy farm in the western hemisphere. He set policies for the
responsible development and use of artificial intelligence.
He repealed misguided public health mandates imposed during the COVID-19
pandemic. His “Right Help, Right Now” program made mental health care more
accessible and affordable. He enacted the largest education budget in Virginia
history, raised teacher pay, put parents back in charge of their children’s
education, banned cell phone use in public school classrooms, and kicked boys
out of girls’ locker rooms.
He distributed hundreds of development grants to communities large and small
across the Commonwealth, boosting Virginia’s recreation and tourism industries
to new heights. He eliminated thousands of foreign nationals and illegal
immigrants from the state’s voter rolls in 2024, for which he was sued by the
Biden administration’s Department of Injustice, with the U.S. Supreme Court
ruling in his favor.
He forbade state employees from using TikTok for official business due to Chinese
Communist Party control of the social media platform. And under his leadership,
the Virginia State Police seized thousands of pounds of fentanyl and other
illegal drugs, arrested dozens of MS-13 gang members, and investigated unlawful
teen abortions without parental knowledge facilitated by a high school in
Northern Virginia.
That just scratches the surface of Glenn Youngkin’s accomplishments as Governor
of Virginia. None of them may have happened. As a successful businessman, a solid
family man and a devout Christian running for governor of a state Biden had won
by ten points the previous year, with no previous political experience and former
President Donald Trump’s endorsement, Youngkin wasn’t expected to win the 2021 gubernatorial
election. But former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe’s foolish claim in a pre-election
debate with Youngkin, “Parents shouldn’t be telling schools what to teach their
kids,” was wildly unpopular with Virginia parents, which helped ensure
Youngkin’s surprise victory.
With a record like this, it’s no surprise that Glenn Youngkin has set his
sights on the White House. If he has a canny political strategist, just as Bush
had Karl Rove and Trump had Dick Morris, his presidential bid may very well be
successful. Such a strategist will help him raise the campaign money he needs,
increase his visibility on the national stage, and focus on key issues that
really matter to voters.
Republicans and Trump supporters looking to win the 2028 presidential
election would do well to unite around Glenn Youngkin as Trump’s successor. While
they are two different men, there are many parallels between Trump and
Youngkin. His legendary work ethic, traditional family values, strong Christian
faith, unsullied integrity, longtime business experience, excellent communication
and debating skills, practical governing style, and promises made and kept are
unmistakably similar to Trump’s.
The popular and phenomenally successful MAGA Republican governor of a
Democratic-leaning state will be a strong candidate who will attract many
independent and some Democratic voters, as Trump did. He is a great leader who not
only can win, but knows how to win. He can be trusted to carry the Trump legacy
forward into the next decade. He is also relatively young, around 60. And
unlike younger presidential hopefuls J. D. Vance and Marco Rubio, whose real
and alleged differences of opinion with Trump are constantly and unfairly
exploited by dishonest and irresponsible secular media, Washington outsider
Youngkin carries no such baggage.
Additionally, those seeking to break the current Democratic stranglehold on
Virginia should not discount the possibility of Republican presidential
candidate Glenn Youngkin carrying his home state and its thirteen electoral
votes. In any case, America has not had a president from Virginia in more than one hundred
years.
Donald J. Trump has been the greatest President of the United States since
Ronald Reagan. If anyone can fill his enormous shoes, it is certainly Glenn
Youngkin.
Copyright © 2026 Justin D. Soutar.
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