Vox Sentences - GOP wins big in Virginia

What the Virginia governor's race means for post-Trump elections; Ethiopia's government declares a state of emergency as rebels head toward Addis Ababa.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Ellen Ioanes.

Virginia is the GOP's blueprint for a post-Trump future

Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

• Republican Glenn Youngkin, a political newcomer, won the Virginia governor’s race on Tuesday, beating former governor Terry McAuliffe — a striking victory in a state that has been trending Democratic over the past decade-plus. [NBC / Alex Seitz-Wald and Henry J. Gomez]
• Youngkin’s victory is significant for another reason: His campaign managed to toe the line between the MAGA mainstays and more establishment Republicans, turning out both sides of the party to propel him to victory. It shows the possibilities for victory to a post-Trump Republican party, and offers a blueprint for how that might be achieved. [NPR / Domenico Montanaro]
• Youngkin played his cards carefully, avoiding some of the bread-and-butter Republican issues like Second Amendment rights and abortion in favor of fearmongering about critical race theory, which is not actually being taught in primary schools, and “election integrity,” nodding toward Trump’s claims of a stolen election while still assuring establishment Republicans that he upheld democracy and believed Joe Biden’s presidency is legitimate. [CNN / Rachel Janfaza, Dan Merica and Eric Bradner]
• Youngkin’s background is in finance; he worked for McKinsey & Company and was an executive with the Washington-based Carlyle Group from 1995 to 2020, during which time he rose through the ranks to become co-chief executive in 2018. He’s worth about $440 million and self-funded his campaign to the tune of $20 million, which gave him a major advantage. [NYT / Trip Gabriel]
• Virginia’s GOP also made major inroads in the Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday, potentially gaining a majority in the state legislature. After four years of Democratic control, Youngkin and the GOP could undo some of the progressive gains Virginia saw under Gov. Ralph Northam. [Washington Post / Meagan Flynn]

Tigrayan forces march on capital, Ethiopia declares state of emergency

• A year into the bloody conflict between Ethiopia’s central government and the rebel Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, the country’s Council of Ministers declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as the TPLF advanced toward the capital of Addis Ababa. [NYT / Declan Walsh and Simon Marks]
• TPLF forces have seized two strategic cities, Kombolcha and Dessie, which clear the path for them to advance toward Addis Ababa. The TPLF says they are advancing on Addis Ababa in order to pressure the central government to lift the humanitarian blockade in effect in the Tigray region, which has pushed the region to the brink of famine. [AP / Cara Anna]
• Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said that the state of emergency will last six months, and urged citizens to arm themselves and fight the TPLF. “Our country is facing a grave danger to its existence, sovereignty and unity. And we can’t dispel this danger through the usual law enforcement systems and procedures,” Justice Minister Gedion Timothewos told state media. [Reuters]
• Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden admonished the Abiy government over what he called “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” over the course of the civil war, in which both sides have been accused of human rights abuses. Biden removed Ethiopia from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which gives Ethiopia tariff-free access to US markets, over the allegations. [Guardian / Patrick Wintour]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. [CNN /  Adrienne Vogt, Aditi Sangal, and Melissa Mahtani]

• The US has added Israeli spyware firm NSO Group to its trade blacklist following its alleged use by nation-states to target activists and journalists. [BBC]

• A new lawsuit alleges the NRA ran shell companies that funded Trump and other Republicans, violating campaign finance laws. [Washington Post / Timothy Bella]

• India’s Bharat Biotech shot gets WHO authorization, the eighth Covid-19 vaccine to do so. [AP / Aniruddha Ghosal and Maria Cheng]

“The NRA has long acted like it is above the law, and it has done so flagrantly in the last several election cycles. We are suing the NRA to finally hold them accountable for actions that corrupted politicians and undermined our democracy.”

[David Pucino, senior staff attorney at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, on the group's decision to sue the National Rifle Association]

Sean Illing talks with John McWhorter, linguist, New York Times columnist, and author of Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America about the societal implications of the way we talk — and don’t talk — about racism. [Spotify]

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