[86][87] In September, a Democratic-aligned group sought to diminish Republican turnout by running ads in conservative parts of Virginia attacking Youngkin's lack of an NRA endorsement.

[96] The legislation discussed by Youngkin and McAuliffe during their debate exchange had originated when a conservative activist attempted to have the book Beloved by Toni Morrison removed from high school curricula in Virginia.

"[114][116] The Washington Post noted that while critical race theory specifically refers to "an academic framework that examines how policies and laws perpetuate systemic racism in the United States", the term has been reappropriated by conservatives "as a catchall symbolizing schools' equity and diversity work.

"[115] Youngkin's stance on critical race theory has been condemned by leaders of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus,[115][117][118] and according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch, has "alarmed many educators" in the state.

[118] Former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Bill Bolling, a Republican, condemned Youngkin's repeal of public school mask mandates, saying that it introduced "unnecessary controversy, confusion and litigation" and calling it "in direct conflict with an existing state law.

[135][142][143] Although Youngkin suggested while campaigning for the Republican gubernatorial nomination that he would name his then-opponent Kirk Cox, a former Speaker of the House of Delegates, to the position,[144] he instead chose Aimee Rogstad Guidera, the founder of a data firm focused on fostering student achievement.

[145] Kay Coles James, who was the first Black woman to serve as president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, joined Youngkin's administration as Secretary of the Commonwealth.

[136] Youngkin's nominee for Chief Diversity Officer, Angela Sailor, was an executive at the Heritage Foundation and held multiple roles in George W. Bush's presidential administration.

In response to Youngkin's vetoes, The Washington Post wrote, "Typically a governor signs both versions, allowing both sponsors bragging rights for getting a bill passed into law.

[186] In August, a nonprofit watchdog group, American Oversight, and a law firm, Ballard Spahr, joined in bringing a second lawsuit against the Youngkin administration, seeking access to the emails.

[189][190][191] A spokesperson for Youngkin described the amendment as an attempt at "holding [the board] to account" for their handling of two sexual assaults that had occurred in that county's school system a year earlier.

"[194] The Washington Post noted that Youngkin's actions fit into a national trend among Republicans, writing that "at least 300 pieces of legislation" curtailing the rights of transgender Americans had been introduced throughout the country in 2022, mostly focusing on children.

[194] Several legal scholars and Democratic politicians have argued that Youngkin's model policies fail to meet these criteria, and as a result, may be in violation of Virginia law.

[203] The newspaper summed up Youngkin's political style by calling him "a genial but aggressive culture warrior who has treaded cautiously with Trump and cozied up to election deniers.

Youngkin claimed that this would have made Virginia's policy on the public funding of abortion services consistent with the federal Hyde Amendment, which allows it only in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the mother's life.

[247] The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Youngkin's policy diverged from private sector trends favoring telework options[246] and could lead to challenges for state employees in rural areas with particularly long commutes.

[254][255][256] In 2022, Youngkin signed a bill downscaling the Marcus alert system, which had been established by Northam about two years earlier in response to both the George Floyd protests of 2020 and the 2018 killing in Richmond of Marcus-David Peters.

Because the newly available credits were made applicable retroactively for anyone who would have earned them earlier in their sentences, about 550 inmates convicted of violent crimes were set to be released once the law took effect in July 2022.

[285][286] As his campaign's senior economic advisor, Youngkin hired Stephen Moore, who had helped oversee significant tax cuts in Kansas several years earlier when Sam Brownback was in office as that state's governor.

[297] Although the budget signed by Youngkin in 2022 passed with bipartisan support, it was opposed by several Democrats who argued that too much of the state's record surplus was spent on tax cuts at the expense of funding for affordable housing, mental health services, gun violence prevention, and transportation.

[315] A major subject of opposition among Republicans during the campaign was a state law signed in 2020 by Youngkin's predecessor, Ralph Northam, requiring that all Virginia public schools adopt regulations affirming of transgender students.

"[119] This same executive order cancels the Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative,[115][319] a program that had been developed and proposed by the Northam administration in an effort to both close the racial achievement gap and better equip students with modern job skills.

[320][322][324][323] Shortly after Youngkin and other conservatives first began speaking out against the Virginia Math Pathways Initiative, The Washington Post reported that the actual nature of the program had been "obscured...[by] prominent Virginians and copious coverage from right-wing news outlets" as "outrage built online" among those opposed to it.

[288][332] That year, he introduced a budget amendment, which succeeded in the General Assembly, requiring that the state's public colleges and universities promote "free speech and diversity of thought on [their] campuses.

"[218][288][333] In August 2022, Youngkin enlisted the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative think tank, to assist in revising Virginia's educational standards for history and social sciences.

[336] The proposal was not adopted by the Virginia Board of Education, after it received what The Washington Post described as "overwhelming pushback from parents, teachers and community members who characterized the new standards as lacking context, being politically motivated and even being 'whitewashed.

'"[337] That publication wrote that the proposal "places less emphasis on the perspectives of marginalized peoples, removes suggested discussions of racism and its lingering effects, and promotes the workings of the free market, with limited government intervention".

[258] According to WRIC-TV, a Virginia ABC News affiliate, it has been argued that the bill signed by Youngkin "has no legal impact because it largely reiterates existing federal law.

[291][292] This exceeds the amount that had been allotted for these needs in Northam's outgoing budget proposals but is a small fraction of the $25 billion that the Virginia Department of Education says it would take to fully replace the state's oldest schools.

Youngkin's proposal to introduce such penalties in Virginia was inspired by a recommendation made in 2021 by the state legislature's nonpartisan Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.