Youngkin walked a tightrope on the right-wing grievances being fueled by conservative media. He said he favors auditing voting machines regularly, without embracing Trump’s lies about widespread voter fraud. He said he would ban critical race theory, but characterized his position as favoring teaching “the good and the bad” of history without pitting children against each other.

Mostly, though, he focused on a broader education message — as well as kitchen-table economic issues such as eliminating the grocery tax and suspending the most recent increase in Virginia’s gas tax — that appealed to voters outside of Trump’s base.

“Youngkin winning shows that ‘Stop the Steal’ isn’t the winning formula for purple states,” a Georgia Republican operative said…

“In Virginia at least, without Trump on the ballot, Republicans are winning back Romney-Clinton voters faster than Democrats are winning back Obama-Trump voters or finding new voters. If that trend holds, there is no math that gives Democrats the House, Senate, or White House,” wrote Dan Pfeiffer, a long-time top aide to former President Barack Obama.