How Glenn Youngkin clinched victory over Terry McAuliffe

Republican Glenn Youngkin's shocking defeat of Democrat Terry McAuliffe Tuesday in the Virginia gubernatorial contest will almost certainly serve as a blueprint for Republicans in the post-Trump era.

Youngkin’s victory was consistent with late October polls that showed him burning through McAuliffe’s summer lead and claiming a modest advantage on the strength of his message about education and the economy.

Rising prices and drama at school board meetings created the ideal backdrop for Youngkin’s devotion to the kitchen-table issues that McAuliffe was widely perceived as having ignored, as he focused more on racial divisions and opposition to a president no longer in office.

Youngkin managed to eat into McAuliffe's leads in Northern Virginia counties that Democrats have won in nearly all recent elections — including in 2020, when President Joe Biden carried them by sizable margins.

Poll after poll showed Youngkin’s school-focused message catching fire with Virginia parents.

An Echelon Insights poll published on Friday showed Youngkin with a 3-point lead over McAuliffe across the state.