Election Day is upon us, and by the time this article is published, voters will have decided on the 75th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Amid a tense political climate, I reached out to three of Roanoke College’s political science professors, along with a Virginia resident sophomore, Mitchell Hawthorne, to get an idea of the election’s circumstances and how the future governor may influence educational policies.
To start, it is worth noting that this election is unique in that, regardless of the outcome, Virginia will elect its first female governor. All three professors emphasized that this election is not only influential for Virginians but for all Americans. Dr. Daniel particularly points out that Virginia is “one of the few purple-ish states left in the country”, so the outcome of this election will swing the state, and this will affect how the federal government treats Virginia.
Currently, in the days leading up to the election, all three professors are in consensus that Democrat Abigail Spanberger is most likely to secure the position over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears. Not only do the polls prove to be in Spanberger’s favor, but Professor Vick points out that, historically, Virginia will elect a governor from the opposite party in the White House. Professor Castro Quaglia says that Donald Trump’s disapproval rate of 53.9% in Virginia may also cause people to vote Democratic.
Nevertheless, in his political science class this semester, Mitchell Hawthorne ran a mock campaign for Republican governor candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, where he learned a lot about her education plans. He learned that Earle-Sears will likely follow suit in the educational policies of Governor Youngkin: larger budgets for public education and advocacy against teaching topics like critical race theory. As a future educator, Mitchell is especially interested in whether the future governor will advocate for a long-overdue pay raise for public school teachers.
In addition, the outcome of this election could lead to policy changes that impact both secondary and higher education. Professors mentioned that academic censorship, tuition costs, and campus free speech are just some examples of higher education issues on the ballot. In my discussion with student Mitchell, he found that taking the Political Compass Test helped him to decide on policies to advocate for. Keeping up with political news and talking to professors are also important habits, even after the election results are decided.
Madeline Wall
Staff Reporter
