Glenn Youngkin, the Republican gubernatorial candidate who once referred to Asian Americans as “yellow Virginians,” has won the Virginia governor’s race, CNN reports.
CNN and several other news outlets project that Youngkin will win over his Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe. Youngkin currently holds 50.7 percent of the vote, CBS News reports.
Youngkin came under fire in July 2021 when reporters at The American Independent discovered he had referred to Asian Americans as “yellow Virginians” in an interview. He had used the slur while discussing American unity on Chris Arps’ “Water Cooler Politics” podcast.
“I so look forward to being governor and actually working hard to unleash the potential of all Virginians, of all Virginians, so that people — so that our children can run as fast as they can,” Youngkin said in the April interview. “So that all Virginians — Black Virginians, brown Virginians, white Virginians, yellow Virginians — can all achieve their aspirations and their ambitions. And this is what America is about. This is what Virginia should be about.”
Many Asian American Virginians demanded an apology from Youngkin, which did not come. On Tuesday, Youngkin received only 34 percent of the Asian vote in the Virginia governor’s race, The Washington Post reports. Terry McAuliffe received 66 percent of the Asian vote.
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