Virginia Governor Race Ramps Up

Virginia can't catch a break from the media. With the race for governor entering its final stretch, candidates are going at each other's throats. Church Militant's Nadia Hazimeh shows you who's throwing shade and who may be accepting illegal endorsements.

Claws are coming out for Virginia's tight gubernatorial race between Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin and Democrat opponent Terry McAuliffe. 

Terry McAuliffe: "I've always valued the concerns of parents. It's why, as governor, we scaled back standardized testing, expanded pre-K and invested a billion dollars in public schools."

Education has become the key issue in this race. Yesterday, Youngkin ripped McAuliffe's ad with his own compilation of McAuliffe rejecting parents' right to decide what their kids are taught. 

McAuliffe: "You do not want 25 parents picking books. We have a board of ed, and we have local school boards who make the decisions about teaching."

In his first term, McAuliffe vetoed a bill that would have allowed parents to prevent kids from studying literature with sexually explicit content. 

A recent Trafalgar poll puts Youngkin ahead by one point. The poll also asked likely voters if they agreed with McAuliffe's education stance. Thirty-seven percent agree and fifty-four percent disagree. Democrats are worried. Obama, Jill Biden, Jen Psaki, Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris are coming out of the woodwork to support McAuliffe. 

An ad of Harris endorsing him is running each Sunday in more than 300 black churches. This kind of direct politicking raises questions about the churches' tax-exempt status. 

Youngkin is looking to further the slight edge he has in the race. He plans on developing a system today to support Virginia's kids, instead of waiting until January.

The 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election will be held on Nov. 2. The Constitution of Virginia prohibits the current officeholder from serving consecutive terms. McAuliffe had his first term from 2014 to 2018.