As we looked toward the midterm elections this fall and then beyond to 2024, both political

parties are facing tough questions about exactly what strategies will resonate with voters.

Back in November, though, there was this test case for them.

In the first round of major elections, since Joe Biden's win a year earlier, all eyes

were on Virginia's governor's race.

Yes, the race was in Virginia, but Democrats saw it as a test of Joe Biden's presidency

that could offer broader insight into how voters were feeling around the country.

Some, including the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, Terry McCullough, saw

it as a bellweather of Republican strengths, a way to predict whether Donald Trump could

return.

If we don't win this thing, this is Donald Trump's comeback, and people need to wake up, and

I know we have elections every year in Virginia, and people get tired, but this is very important.

But for Republicans, it wasn't just about Trump.

Out of the White House and in the minority in both chambers of Congress, some saw it as a

chance to test a new Republican strategy, one less centered around the former president.

And in Virginia, the face of that new strategy was Republican candidate Glen Youngkin.

The same stuff that's happening in our school districts is happening in their school districts,

and we have a vote, and we are about to send a message to the entire country.

He doesn't come out of politics.

He's another one of these fabled businessmen that some people think we need outsiders

and business people to be our executives.

That's David Montgomery.

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