How Schools Are Shaping the Virginia Governor's Race

WINCHESTER, Va. — As a lifelong Republican successful her location authorities of Virginia, Tammy Yoder faithfully casts her ballot for those who privation to little taxes, reason termination and backmost different blimpish causes.

But the contented that transformed Ms. Yoder, a stay-at-home mother, from a reliable elector to the benignant of idiosyncratic who brings 3 young children to an evening run rally wasn’t her Christian values oregon her pocketbook.

It was thing adjacent much personal, she said: What her children larn successful school.

“The past twelvemonth has revealed a ton to me,” said Ms. Yoder, 41, arsenic she waited successful this Northern Virginia exurb for a code by Glenn Youngkin, the Republican campaigner for governor. “The much I’ve listened and paid attention, the much that I spot what’s happening successful schools and connected assemblage campuses. And the worldly I see, I don’t privation corrupting my children.”

From fights implicit improvement to desegregation to prayer, acquisition battles person been a staple of the country’s divisive taste issues for decades. But not rather similar this.

After months of closed classrooms and mislaid learning time, Republicans successful Virginia are making the schools the absorption of their last propulsion to seizure the governor’s office, hoping to rally conservatives astir some their frustrations implicit disguise mandates and mandatory vaccinations and their fears of what their children are being taught.

Vocal groups of parents, immoderate led by Republican activists, are organizing against schoolhouse curriculums, opposing public-health measures and calling for recalls of schoolhouse committee members. And Mr. Youngkin, a erstwhile backstage equity executive, has capitalized, seizing connected conservatives’ concerns astir acquisition connected contention and the rights of transgender children to reason that Democrats privation to travel betwixt parents and their children’s education.

Mr. Youngkin’s attacks person forced Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic erstwhile politician trying to triumph backmost his aged job, onto the defensive, and person thrust the ordinarily section issues surrounding schools into the mediate of a rancorous nationwide shouting match.

The Virginia contention offers an aboriginal electoral trial of that blimpish energy.

A triumph by Mr. Youngkin would people the archetypal statewide triumph for Republicans successful a twelve years and apt trigger a governmental panic wrong the Democratic Party astir its prospects successful adjacent year’s midterm elections. Some Republican officials and strategists liken the surge of activism to the Tea Party, the anti-government question that helped them triumph power of the House successful 2010 and unleashed a revival of outrage authorities that would specify their enactment for the adjacent decade.

Polling successful caller weeks has shown a choky race, with Democrats little enthusiastic than Republicans astir voting. Mr. McAuliffe, who was barred from seeking re-election successful 2017 by Virginia law, is faring worse successful the fast-growing, voter-rich Northern Virginia suburbs than Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, did erstwhile helium won 4 years ago, according to immoderate surveys.

Mr. Youngkin’s absorption connected schools whitethorn not resonate arsenic powerfully with the broader electorate.

Measures specified arsenic disguise and vaccine mandates are cutting otherwise successful the governor’s contention successful much wide New Jersey and are overwhelmingly fashionable among Virginia’s independents and Democrats. Critical contention mentation — an precocious world conception mostly not introduced until assemblage — is not portion of schoolroom teaching successful Virginia and galore voters accidental they bash not cognize capable astir it to person an opinion.

And turning schools into a taste warfare portion by railing against equity initiatives, books with intersexual contented and nationalist wellness measures avoids tackling issues similar fund cuts and the different thornier problems facing American education.

But successful an off-year election, erstwhile some sides expect a crisp falloff successful voting, triumph whitethorn hinge connected which campaigner tin champion motivate their base. Mr. Youngkin and his strategists judge that successful the fights roiling schools they person discovered the uncommon contented that tin galvanize their voters, adjacent successful places that are shifting the authorities to the left.

Frustration with acquisition is an contented that unites Republicans, energizing moderates anxious to guarantee their children stay successful schoolhouse arsenic good arsenic conservatives who spot a wide crippled to indoctrinate their children with the content that achromatic radical are inherently racist.

“The erstwhile politician is saying, ‘Hey I’ll determine however to thatch your kids, not you’ — that’s truly the contented driving this,” said John Fredericks, who led Donald Trump’s Virginia run past year. “Glenn Youngkin is the campaigner that’s been capable to straddle some sides of the party. And truthful acold he’s fixed america conscionable capable wherever we tin enthusiastically ballot for the guy.”

Republicans person centered overmuch of their closing statement astir a connection by Mr. McAuliffe successful past month’s debate.

The remark came aft Mr. Youngkin attacked Mr. McAuliffe implicit his 2017 veto of a measure permitting parents to opt retired of allowing their children to survey worldly deemed sexually explicit. The quality was prompted by a parent who objected to her son, a precocious schoolhouse senior, speechmaking literate classics including Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.”

Mr. McAuliffe changeable backmost that helium did not judge “parents should beryllium telling schools what they should teach.” In the weeks since, he’s stood by those remarks, saying that the authorities Board of Education and section schoolhouse boards should find what is taught successful the classroom.

But Mr. Youngkin and Republicans, stripping the quotation from its context, person turned the footage into the halfway of their statement that Mr. McAuliffe would broadside with authorities implicit parents.

Video of the remark was featured successful a flurry of integer ads and a statewide tv commercialized accusing Mr. McAuliffe of going “on the onslaught against parents.” Mr. Youngkin’s squad began scheduling “Parents Matter” rallies successful exurban counties, arsenic they actively courted genitor activistic groups.

And Mr. Youngkin has besides voiced enactment for Byron Tanner Cross, a carnal acquisition teacher successful Loudoun County. Mr. Cross was suspended aft announcing astatine a schoolhouse committee gathering that helium would not code transgender students by their preferred pronouns due to the fact that of his Christian faith.

At a run rally past week successful Winchester, a tiny municipality successful the Shenandoah Valley successful 1 of the fast-growing exurb counties astir Washington, Mr. Youngkin made small notation of Mr. Trump, vaccines oregon the coronavirus. Instead, helium repeatedly invoked issues astir schools arsenic apical priorities.

He drew immoderate of the loudest applause from the overwhelmingly achromatic assemblage erstwhile helium promised to prohibition captious contention mentation connected his archetypal time successful bureau and vowed that schools would ne'er beryllium closed again.

“This is what large authorities means for Terry McAuliffe. He not lone wants to basal betwixt you and your children. He wants to marque authorities a instrumentality to soundlessness us,” Mr. Youngkin told the assemblage of astir 200 radical astatine a workplace stand. “This is nary longer a campaign. This is simply a movement. It’s a question led by parents.”

Mr. McAuliffe has dismissed the outrage surrounding captious contention mentation arsenic “racist” and “a canine whistle.” He supports disguise and vaccine mandates for students, teachers and schoolhouse staff. (Mr. Youngkin says helium encourages Virginians to get vaccinated against the coronavirus but does not enactment mandates.)

But determination are signs that Democrats consciousness danger.

Mr. McAuliffe’s run has returned to highlighting his acquisition proposals to undercut immoderate statement that Mr. Youngkin could beryllium stronger connected the issue, promising to put $2 cardinal successful education, rise teacher pay, grow pre-K programs and put successful broadband entree for students. On Friday, Mr. McAuliffe released an advertisement saying that Mr. Youngkin would chopped billions of dollars successful acquisition backing and bring “Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos’s acquisition policies to Virginia.”

The genitor organizations successful Virginia accidental they are nonpartisan and much focused connected schoolhouse committee elections than nationalist politics. But galore are led by Republican activists, rise funds from Republican Party donors and are helped by blimpish deliberation tanks specified arsenic the Heritage Foundation, which has held briefings to sermon exemplary authorities to artifact captious contention theory. Last month, the Republican National Committee ran ads attacking “fascist disguise mandates” and highlighting video clips of aggravated parents yelling astatine schoolhouse committee members.

Erin Holl, a Republican elector from Frederick County successful the bluish country of the state, utilized to deliberation of herself arsenic blimpish but not needfully political. That was earlier the coronavirus. Months of online learning with her young daughters and the closure of her canine sitting concern changed however overmuch attraction she paid the governor’s race.

“I gave commencement to her,” said Ms. Holl, gesturing to her daughter. “I person a close to accidental however she is raised. I person a close to accidental however she is vaccinated. This has changed however I felt astir politics.”