Candace Owens Insists Virginia Election Shows America 'Is Tired of Woke'

Right-wing firebrand Candace Owens has said that the victory of Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia gubernatorial election was a triumph against the "woke" politics of the Democrats.

The Associated Press reported that Youngkin is projected to defeat former Governor Terry McAuliffe in a contest which Owens and many conservatives saw as much a battleground for so-called culture wars as it was a harbinger of the 2022 midterms.

Republicans also look set to take control of the House of Delegates, The Hill reported.

GOP Del. Jason Miyares is on track to defeat incumbent Attorney General Mark Herring, while Republican Winsome Sears made history as the first woman and woman of color to be elected to lieutenant governor.

Owens referred to hot buttons issues in a tweet in which she spoke about the first Republican to win a statewide election in the Commonwealth since 2009.

"Democrats went woke against parents in Virginia—parents won," she started her tweet, referring to the key narrative on the campaign trail surrounding how schools handled race, gender and mask mandates.

"MLB went woke against Atlanta—Atlanta won," she added, taking aim at how Major League Baseball had pulled its All-Star game in the Georgia capital in response to the Peach State's voter integrity law.

Referring to another governor's contest that Republicans could win, she added, "Democrats went woke against the taxpayers in New Jersey—and it isn't looking good."

"America is tired of woke," added Owens, who has previously been criticized for her right-wing comments and accused of promoting inaccurate and misleading claims about the COVID-19 vaccine.

In an earlier tweet, Owens had suggested that the discourse about schools was the deciding factor on the campaign trail.

"This is because of parents," Owens tweeted. "Going after children was a step too far. Whether you are Democrat or Republican—we will always agree that our children need to be protected."

Last month in Alexandria, McAuliffe drew the ire of conservatives after he said in a debate with Youngkin, "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach."

Another feature of the campaign for conservatives was the prospect that Critical Race Theory (CRT) would infiltrate the school curriculum.

Youngkin had proposed a ban on CRT in schools, although McAuliffe had insisted this ideology, which examines the causes of systemic racism, had in fact "never been taught" in the state and called it a racist "dog whistle."

PolitiFact found in August that although CRT had been discussed by educators, there was "no evidence" it was being taught in the state's schools.

Youngkin's victory comes amid a slump in the polling numbers for President Joe Biden, who won the state by 10 points in the 2020 election, and will concern Democrats ahead of midterm elections in which they have a tough fight to keep control of Congress.

As Michael Gordon, a Democratic strategist, previously told Newsweek, Youngkin's win is likely to "send shivers up the spine of every Democrat in a genuinely contested race."

Newsweek has contacted McAuliffe's campaign for comment.