Republican Glenn Youngkin sworn in as Virginia 74th governor

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, second from left, addresses the media as he prepares to signal government orders within the Governors convention room as Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, left, Lawyer Basic Jason Miyares, second from proper, and Secretary of the Commonwealth, Kay Cole James, proper, look on on the Capitol Saturday Jan. 15, 2022, in Richmond, Va.

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Hanging a tone of bipartisanship and optimism, Virginia’s new governor, Glenn Youngkin, pledged to “restore belief in authorities and to revive energy to the folks” after he was sworn in to workplace Saturday.

“Immediately we stand collectively on behalf of Virginians who’ve by no means misplaced religion, even after they suffered loss. Of Virginians who haven't stopped dreaming of a greater life, even within the midst of trials and tribulation,“ he stated in entrance of the historic state Capitol to 1000's of enthusiastic spectators. “My fellow Virginians, the spirit of Virginia is alive and nicely. And collectively we'll strengthen it.”

“Irrespective of who you voted for, I pledge to be your advocate, your voice, your governor,” stated the Republican, a former personal fairness government and newcomer to politics.

Youngkin’s inaugural speech was a part of a weekend of pomp and circumstance in Richmond as Virginia’s newly elected GOP leaders took workplace. Lawyer Basic Jason Miyares and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears additionally had been sworn in through the out of doors ceremony.

The second opened a brand new chapter of governance in a state the place Democrats had spent the previous two years in full management of presidency and occupied the governor’s mansion for the previous eight.

Youngkin acknowledged the devastation attributable to the coronavirus pandemic, together with the greater than 15,000 Virginians who've died, and pledged to guide the state to a “new and higher day.“ Whereas Youngkin encourages these eligible to get vaccinated, amongst his first acts as governor was ending a vaccine requirement for state employees.

He additionally sounded his marketing campaign themes, pledging to chop taxes, “take away politics from the classroom,” elevate instructor and regulation enforcement pay, and increase the financial system. As omicron infections fill hospitals with unvaccinated sufferers in Virginia and across the nation, he vowed to maintain youngsters in faculties, emphasizing the significance of in-person training and acknowledging the toll digital education has taken on working dad and mom, particularly moms.

“We all know that when our kids don’t go to highschool it harms their studying and improvement. So let me be clear — we should maintain our kids in class 5 days per week,” he stated.

References to Virginia’s lengthy historical past and America’s Founding Fathers had been woven via the deal with, however Youngkin additionally acknowledged the nation’s “chapters of nice injustice.“

He credited “barrier-breakers” like former Gov. Doug Wilder, the nation’s first elected Black governor, with main the best way for the inauguration of Miyares and Earle-Sears, who each made historical past themselves. Miyares is first Latino to serve within the place and Earle-Sears is the primary lady of colour to serve in a statewide workplace.

Youngkin stated their election confirmed that “Virginia is sufficiently big for the hopes and goals of a various folks.”

Shortly earlier than the ceremony started, Virginia’s former governors met with Youngkin and outgoing Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam contained in the Capitol. Each residing governor however Youngkin’s opponent in final 12 months’s election, Terry McAuliffe, was in attendance. McAuliffe tweeted that he and his spouse had been “quarantining attributable to an in depth COVID contact within the curiosity of well being and security“ and wished Youngkin nicely.

Youngkin, Northam and their wives — Suzanne Youngkin and Pam Northam — additionally participated in a cordial Government Mansion key trade ceremony. Northam, who like all Virginia governors was prohibited from searching for a second consecutive time period, assured Youngkin that the important thing card he handed over nonetheless labored, regardless of having been chewed up by the household’s canine, Pearl.

Youngkin is the state’s 74th governor and the primary Republican to carry the workplace since Bob McDonnell left it in 2014.

The 55-year-old former collegiate basketball participant, who amassed a private fortune throughout a profession on the Carlyle Group, defeated McAuliffe final 12 months partially by seizing on parental frustrations about faculty closures and references to race in lecture rooms. Whereas Donald Trump endorsed him, the previous president by no means campaigned with him, enabling Youngkin to mobilize the GOP base with out turning off suburban voters in a state that has lengthy trended blue.

Voters additionally elected a GOP majority to the Home of Delegates, leaving the Democrats with only a slender 21-19 majority within the state Senate as a test on Republican ambitions. Earle-Sears will preside over that chamber, with the power to forged tie-breaking votes.

Senate Democrats congratulated the governor and stated they look ahead to working with him however signaled their willingness to battle to guard their social gathering’s achievements.

“Let me be clear: Senate Democrats don't have any intention rolling again two years of super progress for all Virginians — not solely a choose few,” caucus chair Mamie Locke stated in a press release.

Saturday’s ceremony included a conventional blessing of the bottom by representatives of Virginia’s Indian tribes, and a prayer led by Youngkin, who made his Christian religion a key a part of his marketing campaign.

A celebratory parade kicked off after the ceremony. Youngkin then headed to his Capitol workplace, the place he signed 9 government orders and two government directives masking a variety of subjects, from ending the vaccine requirement to establishing a fee on human trafficking. He additionally ordered Virginia’s removing from a carbon cap-and-trade program, a transfer whose full implications weren't instantly clear.

The appointments of his cupboard secretaries, who took their oaths of workplace on the Government Mansion, stay contingent on legislative approval, with a minimum of one opposed by many Senate Democrats.

Saturday’s deliberate festivities included a big downtown social gathering that includes the Zac Brown Band in lieu of what’s usually a extra formal affair. Attendees had been inspired to put on patriotic colours, cowboy boots or a “Glenn vest,” just like the purple fleece kind the candidate favored whereas campaigning.

Youngkin additionally helped Friday to panorama an space alongside the Richmond Slave Path, which commemorates how town turned a serious hub within the buying and selling of enslaved folks earlier than the Civil Battle. He additionally took half in a $10,000-a-ticket candlelit black-tie reception held at a science museum Friday night.

A prayer breakfast preceded the inauguration Saturday morning, and the weekend was scheduled to wrap up Sunday with an open home on the Government Mansion.