Fresh rumors have swirled about Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA)'s presidential ambitions and whether he will put his hat in the 2024 Republican primary race.
The governor is reported reconsidering his previous stance that he will stay out of the 2024 presidential race, according to Axios. Youngkin earlier told reporters back in April that he was solely focused on Virginia's upcoming legislative races and delivering a Republican majority in the Senate while maintaining it in the House of Delegates. He also took a pot shot then at Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a presumptive Republican 2024 presidential candidate, when he said, "Listen, I didn’t write a book, and I'm not in Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina...I am wholly focused on the Commonwealth of Virginia."
That declaration was in reference to DeSantis's book tour, which many suspect was a low-key political gauging of support for an alternative candidate to the current and strong Republican frontrunner Donald J. Trump.
Given DeSantis's months-long trend of falling poll numbers even prior to his formal announcement, some Republican donors have begun to ditch Ron DeSantis and look to Glenn Youngkin as the candidate who can offer a serious alternative to Donald Trump. These donors have begun to encourage the Old Dominion Commonwealth executive to run in 2024 for president.
A top source told Axios that this charm offensive by the donors has had some effect. "He's reconsidering...He'd be in his own lane: He's not never-Trump, and he's not Trump-light," said the source. Another source, a Republican strategist, confirmed that there are ongoing "serious discussions happening on re-engaging in the presidential" race. A senior aide to the governor informed the news outlet that "If the guy flips any seats at all, it's proof that his political machine is ready to go."
This comes after a glitzy video by the governor that proclaimed sentiments like "It's time to usher in a new era of American values. It's our turn to choose life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" which raised eyebrows of a possible intent to run. Axios quotes "a source close to" the Virginian governor who professed that "2028 may be the real play...A lot of these guys consider this a dress rehearsal."
The last time that the Republican party held control over both legislative chambers of Virginia and the governorship was back in 2013. Governor Youngkin has proven to be a popular governor of the state with 57 percent of voters approving of his job performance. The governor was narrowly elected in 2021 on a margin of 1.9 points.
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