How conservative media and activists impacted Virginia’s election

Youngkin's stance on education was boosted by the work of conservative media and activists, who revealed major flaws and incidents occurring within the Virginia school system, which emboldened an increasing number of parents to speak out against the path that the public school system is heading down.

"Our investigative reporting shined a light on what radical ideologues are doing in Virginia schools — and last night, Virginians made their voices heard. We're proud of our work and look forward to building upon it next year," said The Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro.

Reporting from The Daily Wire focused mainly on Loudoun County, which for months has been embroiled in controversy regarding a transgender bathroom policy, sexual assault cases, and critical race theory teachings.

Back in March, the county first came under fire for a list compiled by a group of current and former teachers in Loudoun County, comprised of parents who disagreed with the teachings of the school system, including racial teachings.

This group was used in part to "infiltrate," use "hackers" to silence parents' communications, and "expose these people publicly."

In June, a school board meeting resulted in one man being arrested as the board was fielding questions about their controversial 8040 policy, which allows transgender students to go by their preferred name, and use their preferred bathroom.

In October, it was revealed that the man who was arrested was Scott Smith, the father of a sexual assault victim at a Loudoun County high school. His ninth-grade daughter was sexually assaulted by a male student wearing a skirt. That student was transferred to another school, where he assaulted another female student.

The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh attended a school board meeting in September in Loudoun County, after becoming a resident of the county and bringing a lease agreement to the meeting, and called the board members "child abusers" and "predators" for indoctrinating children "into your insane ideological cult. A cult which holds many fanatical views, but none so deranged as the idea that boys are girls and girls are boys."

On top of the reporting from Loudoun County giving Youngkin an edge in the education department, opponent Terry McAuliffe said in September debate that "parents should not be telling schools what to teach."

That was arguable the tipping point with many parents. McAuliffe has also called critical race theory teachings a "racist dog-whistle" echoing a statement from Loudoun County earlier this year. Despite saying that the topic was not taught in schools, Christofer Rufo revealed that the schools were directed to implement those teachings while McAuliffe was governor.

McAuliffe had been the top contender for much of the race. Midway through October though, just days after a school board member in Loudoun resigned over accusations that the school board covered up sexual assault cases, the numbers began to edge towards Youngkin. On October 27, the same day parents demanded resignations from the board and superintendent, Youngkin took the lead.

The reporting done by The Daily Wire, Rufo, and others clearly had an effect on voters, where parents began to view Youngkin as the choice to correct the education system that was proven to be broken months leading up to election day.

Education proved to be a large issue important to voters. In an exit poll conducted by The Washington Post, Education was matched only by the economy, with Glenn Youngkin winning voters who said education was their top issue by 11 points.

In Loudoun County, McAuliffe's won by only 9.5 points, 55 to 44.5 percent. Donald Trump lost the county in 2020 by 25 points, marking a loss of over 15 points to the Republicans this election.

"Our investigative reporting was impactful in Virginia because we did the job the mainstream media refused to do: hold radical politicians accountable and stand up for Americans. Virginia is not the only state where radicals are imposing their ideology on children and families. We're going to continue investing in our investigative reporting team — stay tuned," said The Daily Wire's co-CEO Jeremy Boreing.