Virginia moms and dads say Youngkin victory a win for parental rights

Concerned parents celebrated the victory of Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday night, hailing the win as a victory for parental rights in education.

Yael Levin-Sheldon, a Virginia mother of two boys and communication officer at No Left Turn in Education, told Fox News that Youngkin's victory is "a win for parents all over the Commonwealth."

"Glenn Youngkin's victory showcases the Commonwealth's desire to elect a public servant instead of a political servant," Elizabeth Perrin, a Virginia mother, told Fox News. "What we have seen is the importance of family values and parental rights in our education system.

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"It has been great to see how the importance of our children's education and the parents matter movement has brought so many people together," Brandon Michon, a father of three who has spoken out at Loudoun County School Board meetings for months, told Fox News on Tuesday night. "This is Virginia's opportunity to raise the bar, and we will be doing it with Glenn Youngkin as governor."

"Parental rights in education were on the ballot this election," Laura Zorc, director of education reform at Building Education for Students Together (BEST), told Fox News. "Parents (Republican, Independent, and Democrat) across the country have been saying, ‘We don’t want your politics in our schools.’ Tonight, parents delivered on their promises to vote these elites out of office."

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"This election has demonstrated that education is a salient political issue, and one that is likely to persist for the foreseeable future," Nicole Neily, a Virginia mother and president of Parents Defending Education, told Fox News. "If politicians ignore it — or denigrate voters and parents — they do so at their peril."

Youngkin's victory "means that Virginians heard us, that we matter, that our children matter," Patti Menders, a mother and president of the Loudoun County Republican Women's Club, who has spoken out at school board meetings, told Fox News in an interview at the Youngkin victory rally. 

"Youngkin wants the best for our children, and I think he's going to thank Loudoun for all the work they did to make that the issue," Menders added.

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Youngkin shot up in the polls after his Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, said, "I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach." A Fox News poll found that a majority of Virginia parents say that parents "should be telling schools what to teach." Youngkin consistently rebutted this narrative, championing parents' rights to decide how their children are educated.