Va. Gov., Vega, Trump endorsement, costumes, flags take center stage at Stafford Courthouse

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin came to the Stafford County Courthouse today, where he stood a year ago in the days leading up to his election as the state’s first Republican Governor in 12 years.

He’s hoping the Republican winning streak will continue with Yesli Vega, who is running to unseat Democrat Abigail Spanberger in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. In three weeks, both politicians stood on stage in front of hundreds of supporters in the Governor’s third rally with Vega.

The rally comes as Vega got an endorsement from President Donald Trump, who posted to Truth Social. “Her Radical Left opponent, Abigail Spanberger, is a disaster on crime, will Defund our great Police, and destroy our Second Amendment. Votes with Biden almost 100% of the time. Yesli Vega is a WARRIOR for America First, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement!!,” Trump posted.

While many at the rally were abuzz about the endorsement, a Vega campaign spokesman said Vega did not seek the acknoledgement. Vega made an appearance on the Fox News Channel shortly before Trump posted the approval to social media, were told.

If she wins, she’ll be the first Latina congresswoman from Virginia. “They said Republicans couldn’t win in Virginia. They forgot to ask the voters,” said Youngkin.

Democrats made unprecedented gains across the state from 2005 to 2020, flipping congressional seats and turning the last GOP bastions in Northern Virginia, like Prince William County, from red to blue.

Recent data shows public school students failing in the wake of unprecedented school closures. Youngkin chastised the Democrats in power when Virginia was the first state in the union to close schools and the lawmakers who pushed to keep them closed.

“One-party rule had consequences,” said Youngkin, who assured attendees that Vega would go to Washington to implement many of the same conservative principles he has done in Richmond, including restoring parents’ rights when it comes to their children in public schools.

The Stafford Courthouse has been a hotbed of political activity this week. A volunteer urging veterans to register to vote told us Abigail Spanberger rallied a crowd outside the courthouse on Thursday, October 27.

Meanwhile, early voting is underway until November 5, 2022, the last Saturday before Election Day, November 8, 2022. There’s a spectacle at the respective Democrat and Republican camps where party members had sample ballots.

The GOP is defending its use of the “An Appeal to Heaven” flag, a historical flag first flown by George Washington during the Revolutionary War containing those words and a green pine tree on a white backdrop. Republicans say the flag symbolizes solidarity, conviction, and encouragement, while Stafford Democrats tell PLN the flag represents white Christian nationalism.

Over at the Stafford Democrats booth, two women wore costumes from the TV show “The Handmaid’s Tale” in protest of the Dobbs’s decision to strike down Roe vs. Wade and send the decision whether or not to permit abortion back to state legislatures.

“Our main point is, we feel like women should not be told by the government what they have to do with their bodies,” said Frank Larkins of Stafford, who donned the costume.