McAuliffe Campaigning with Head of Teacher’s Union Was ‘Nail in the Coffin’ in Election, Virginia Moms Tell CNN

CNN’s Pamela Brown sat down with a group of Virginia mothers — none of whom identified as Republican — but voted for Republican Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin.

The group was comprised of one Democrat, two independents, and one who was unaffiliated. Three of the four said they voted for President Joe Biden in the general election, but all supported Youngkin.

The prime concern voiced by these voters was school closures from Covid.

“Our kids are in crisis. The learning loss is real,” said Virginia voter Shawnna Yashar. “So we’re in a situation where our kids are really far behind, and they need a lot of help. They need a lot of additional tutoring, they need a lot of additional time after school to help catch them up and they are still not focusing on that.”

The mothers told Brown that “the education and learning loss” was the number one issue influencing their votes, not Critical Race Theory or vaccine mandates.

“Definitely the education and learning loss was number one for me,” Dana Jackson said. “Everything else was below that.”

“Mandates and CRT did not influence my decision at all,” said Yashar.

Kay Greenwall, who did not raise her hand when asked if she voted for Biden, said that the “nail in the coffin” was Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe campaigning with the former president of the United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten.

“Parents were very angry during school closures at the teachers unions,” said Greenwall. “And for me the nail in the coffin was on his last day of campaigning, he brought the head of the teacher’s union to his rally and she spoke. And it was like someone just poked me in the eye and said you think you want to have a say in your education? Well, you’re not going to. ”

All four seemed pleased that Youngkin kept his distance from former President Donald Trump during the campaign.

“I told him if you bring Donald Trump over into Virginia, I’m not helping you,” said one mom.

Watch above, via CNN.

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