Thursday | October 28th, 2021

It’s Thursday, October 28th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:

1) Virginia Governor’s Race All Tied Up

The Topline: The Virginia Governor’s race between Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe, once considered a surefire win for Democrats, is now in a dead heat.

Quote Of The Day: “We don’t have time to be wasting on these phony, trumped-up culture wars, this fake outrage that right wing media pedals to juice their ratings.”

– President Barack Obama, campaigning for Terry McAuliffe (D).

Anna Moneymaker/Staff/Getty Images

Background

Virginia has been a fairly solid blue state for the past decade, and hasn’t had a Republican Governor since 2009 and hasn’t gone red in a presidential election since 2004.

In the 2020 presidential election, Virginia went for Biden by 10 points.

Because this is the first major election since President Joe Biden took office, many view it as a referendum on the job he’s doing.

A victory for Republicans – or even a close loss – would give them confidence nationally heading into the 2022 midterms.

The Numbers

The last several polls in Virginia show a statistical tie.

Polls in September all had McAuliffe (D) up by 5 to 10 points, but there’s been a rush of Independent voters moving to Youngkin (R).

The polls also show a significant number of suburban women leaning Republican.

Education

Education has become the key issue in this race. 41% of voters now say this is what they care about most.

At the beginning of the year, outside of the Republican base, not many voters prioritized education issues like COVID lockdowns, LGBTQ policies, and critical race theory in classrooms.

As the year has progressed, there’s been a massive increase in the number of Independents and Democrats who say they’re upset over how public schools are operating, and it’s reflecting poorly on Democrat officials, who’ve largely stood by the schools.

Daily Wire Point: The shift in Independents moving to Republicans also coincided with The Daily Wire’s report about Loudoun County public schools allegedly covering up sexual assault in the district. The scandal appears to have been another driving factor in motivating the Republican base and swaying those on the fence.

Karl Tapales via Getty Images

2) FDA Panel Recommends Pfizer Vaccine For Kids

The Topline: This week, an FDA advisory panel

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