Taking a page out of Governor Younkin’s playbook, all Republican Pa. Senate candidates sign an anti-critical race theory pledge that Youngkin backed before his big Virginia win.
According to Fox, GOP candidates in the Democrat-led state are looking to recapture the magic that led to Youngkin’s historic win in Virginia by signing an anti-critical race theory (CRT) pledge, a document created by the group 1776 Action, which focused heavily on schools and CRT issues.
Among other things, the 1776 Action Pledge says the founders should be celebrated, children should not view each other according to race, and civics education shouldn’t “coerce” students to support “contemporary policy positions.” It also says it’s “immoral and deeply harmful to our society” to teach children to hate the United States.
When Youngkin signed the pledge, he did so with a promise to restore “excellence to Virginia Schools”:
“We must re-establish expectations of excellence in our schools. We must. We’ve watched our children suffer. We’ve watched families be burdened because our schools aren’t working for us.”
The Pa. GOP has fully embraced this approach, with all of its candidates proudly declaring their intention to fight CRT in the weeks leading up to the Pennsylvania Senate general election, which begins a week after the state’s May 17 primary. Candidates David McCormick, Kathy Barnette, Mehmet Oz, Jeff Bartos, and Carla Sands all tell Fox News Digital they signed the pledge, and have all released statements similar to Youngkin, denouncing CRT in schools.
Democrats argued last year that the GOP focus on critical race theory by Youngkin and others was nothing more than race-baiting. But Republicans continue to say it’s a threat to both schools and U.S. politics more broadly. A recent Fox News Poll showed that 74% of voters are either “extremely” or “very” concerned about “what’s taught in public schools,” including 71% of suburban women and 80% of moms.
While Pa. isn’t as blue as Va. was when it turned, the GOP there is hoping that Youngkin’s strategy of focusing on the issues the people there care about will lead to a similar upset.