'Lame duck': GOP gov fails to close 'largest economic development deal in Virginia’s history'

28 March 2024

When Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin beat former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe in November 2021, the then-co-Chief Executive Officer of the private equity firm Carlyle Group, became one of the wealthiest governors in the United States, according to Forbes.

This week, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports, "Ted Leonsis, owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals, announced a deal with Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to keep the teams in Washington until 2050" — shattering Youngkin's longtime hope of moving the teams' home to his state, as he failed to close the "largest economic development deal in Virginia’s history."

"It’s easier and better to do business in Washington D.C. than it is to do in Virginia," Leonsis told Bowser on DC's Capital One Arena floor during a game this week.

In a Wednesday, March 27 interview with The Washington Post, the sports teams owner added the fact he had "a better experience" doing business in the nation's capital than in the Virginia city — just a few minutes from DC — "was really, really surprising and eye-opening."

The Post's Gregory S. Schneider reports, "Those words sting in a Virginia that boasts of being twice named by CNBC as the best state for business under Youngkin’s Democratic predecessor, Ralph Northam. It finished at No. 2 last year."

Schneider notes, Led by Finance and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman L. Louise Lucas(D-Portsmouth), the Senate blocked a bill that would have authorized the arena and stripped language from the state budget. Though some House Democrats initially voted for the arena, the project was unpopular in Alexandria and never built a strong constituency in the General Assembly, where even some Republicans did not support it."

The Republican governor told the Post, "I so fundamentally believe that this is a giant mistake that we didn’t have to make. The Senate didn’t have to do this."

Still, Schneider adds, Youngkin "has presided over a resurgence of job growth as the nation emerged from the pandemic shutdowns, and with state revenue overflowing," he has "won bipartisan support for a total of $5 billion in tax cuts over his first two years in office." Furthermore, the GOP leader managed to work "across the aisle to secure increased funding for mental health services and teacher pay," the Post reports.

"For all this and more, the Governor can hold his head high," Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears said in a statement.

However, Robert Holsworth, a Richmond-based political analyst told the Post, Youngkin is "a total lame duck right now. He has shown tremendous political inexperience," Holsworth added.

Schneider emphasizes, "What remains to be seen is how much the project’s failure damaged Youngkin’s own political stature."

Pointing to Youngkin's failure to secure GOP wins across the state in 2023 — ultimately losing control of the General Assembly to Democrats — the Post reporter notes, "Amid the national attention and appearances on Fox News and other right-wing media, Youngkin wobbled on the home front. His stoking of culture wars pleased the GOP base but sometimes fizzled as policy, such as abortive efforts to create a tip line for parents to complain about teachers and principals and a rewrite of state history standards that was widely criticized as racially insensitive and inaccurate."

The Washington Post's full report is available at this link (subscription required).

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