You’d think that with ten candidates running for the GOP nomination for president, there’d be someone tailor-made for this key GOP donor.
Initially, he thought that would be Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. In fact, he had given a total of $600,000 to DeSantis for his two gubernatorial runs in 2018 and 2022. But when DeSantis signed the 6 week abortion ban last April, Peterffy initiated a breakup. “I have put myself on hold. Because of his stance on abortion and book banning, myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry. He seems to have lost some momentum.”
That same day, he donated a million bucks to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Political Action Committee.
Only problem is? Youngkin isn’t running. In fact, back in April, he definitively said so.
But never say never in politics. After DeSantis’s faulty “Twitter Spaces” announcement just three weeks ago, Youngkin’s aids have been privately telling the press that he was reconsidering that whole decision.
Now Peterffy is generating some serious press coverage in order them to ask the question, why not Youngkin?
“I would like to vote for a person who is most likely to be able to win the general election. And accordingly, we have to pick somebody in primaries that we believe is most likely to win the general. And that is going to be a person that I believe is more likely to be a centrist candidate. I think that Youngkin would be an ideal candidate, although it is not very likely that he’s going to run. Not at this point, certainly,” Peterffy told Fox News, followed by a long sigh.
“Not at this point.” Notice the parsing of the words here. He seems to be wishing into the wind, but the “not at this point” moment is actually code. Peterffy, having been one of Youngkin’s largest donors, is guaranteed to be in contact with him. Youngkin almost certainly himself gave the greenlight to let Peterffy start wondering aloud. Youngkin is organizing a media drumbeat.
The Virginia Governor might be a forced to be reckoned with. He got elected in 2021, following former President Donald Trump’s re-election defeat. It served as one of the few electoral brightspots for the GOP post 2020. The following year, the party has a much poorer than expected showing in the midterms.
Youngkin’s strategy was an in interesting one. In Virginia he campaigned against the implementation of Critical Race Theory in Virginia schools. But he remained moderate on hot-button issues like abortion, for example. He proposed a 15 week abortion ban which falls somewhere in the middle for those who are pro life, but don’t want to go all the way. And during a debate, Youngkin said he would welcome Muslim refugees from Afghanistan to Virginia. Certainly a stark contrast from Trump’s outlook. And Youngkin accepted the former president’s endorsement, but rejected his offer to come to Virginia for an appearance.
But is Youngkin really that moderate? Compared to the rest of the GOP field, one can say somewhat, if only for his non divisive rhetoric. He has rarely weighed in on culture war issues. He did ban the trans bathroom use option, but hasn’t made any efforts on sports or corporations involving trans people.
Still, if you want more moderate, it would ironically be the pugnacious Chris Christie. On immigration, he’s against local law enforcement arresting immigrants for living in his state illegally, feeling that was best left to US customs.
So does Youngkin have a lane? He’s certainly reminiscent of the Republican of yesteryear. Not actually that moderate, he’s just less divisive and reactionary, presenting a more palatable GOP. He’s genial, sure, and comes off as a nice enough guy, but he doesn’t have a lot of charisma or energy. He’s been compared frequently with Mitt Romney.
But still, expect the Virginia Governor to jump in the race. His billionaire buddy is giving him the go-ahead. With DeSantis polling in the mid 20’s and Trump hovering above 60% consistently, Youngkin could be seen as having the right chops for the anti Trump forces to coalesce around. Still, that probably won’t be enough.
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