Glenn Youngkin is the Republican Party’s nominee in Virginia’s gubernatorial election, after defeating a handful of challengers in the GOP primary Monday. Youngkin, who is expected to face off against former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe in November’s general election, is a newcomer to politics. Here are five things to know about him:
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Youngkin is loaded
As the former CEO of the Carlyle Group, the DC-based private equity behemoth, the 54-year-old’s net worth is estimated at $254 million, according to The Washington Post. He joined the firm while in his 20s, after graduating from Harvard Business School.
2. He leaned on his personal fortune in the race
This $254-million fortune came in particularly helpful during the campaign. According to the Post, Youngkin was the biggest spending candidate in the GOP primary, and he lent his campaign $5 million of his own money.
3. He ran as an outsider
Youngkin, who has never held public office, pitched himself to voters as an outsider. “I’m not a politician,” he says in his campaign video. “I’ve spent the last 30 years building business and creating jobs. … It’s going to take an outsider, a new kind of leader, to bring a new day to Virginia.”
4. He’s not as Trumpy as others, but he’s still Trumpy
Though other candidates in the race were more enthusiastic supporters of Donald Trump, Youngkin still made a play for the MAGA crowd. For example, according to the Associate Press, Youngkin made election integrity the central issue of his campaign—a move that allowed “him to appeal to Trump voters who still believe the 2020 election was stolen from him without having to invoke Trump’s name directly.”
5. He has not acknowledged Biden’s White House win
In an even Trumpier move, Youngkin has so far not acknowledged the reality of Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election, according to the Post.
Luke Mullins is a senior writer at Washingtonian magazine focusing on the people and institutions that control the city’s levers of power. He has written about the Koch Brothers’ attempt to take over The Cato Institute, David Gregory’s ouster as moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, the collapse of Washington’s Metro system, and the conflict that split apart the founders of Politico.
