Can Glenn Youngkin Pull Off Another Magic Trick in Virginia?

CHANTILLY, Va.—The Republican Party’s great hope sat scrunched in the back of his gubernatorial SUV, acknowledging the high-stakes gamble he has undertaken. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has put all his political capital on the line in Tuesday’s statehouse elections, hoping to prove that a bluish state can be persuaded to go for conservative governance and restrictions on abortion.

“I don’t know how to hedge my bets,” said Youngkin, the lanky, affable former private-equity executive elected in 2021. “I don’t believe in it. I think that we are driving towards an outcome that I think is best for Virginia, and therefore I’m going to go to work with everything I have in order to try to deliver.”