Virginia's 2021 gubernatorial election results

ABC News projected Republican Glenn Youngkin will defeat former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, in Virginia's gubernatorial election.

Republican Glenn Youngkin, a former private equity executive running his first campaign for political office, will be the next governor of Virginia, ABC News projected.

Virginia's off-year gubernatorial race is always seen as the first major political test for both parties following a presidential election. The matchup between Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who first served as governor of Virginia between 2014 and 2018, and Youngkin, was no exception.

It was the first major competitive race since former President Donald Trump left office, and McAuliffe sought to closely tie Youngkin, a former private equity executive and political newcomer, to the former president throughout the general election campaign. Youngkin, who received Trump's endorsement in May after securing the GOP nomination, had to walk a fine line between fully embracing the former president and his support and keeping enough of a distance so as not to alienate voters who did not back Trump but might have been open to supporting Youngkin over McAuliffe.

Virginia trended blue during Trump's presidency. In 2019, Democrats won trifecta control of government in Richmond by flipping the state legislature. In 2020, the commonwealth rejected Trump by nearly double the vote of the 2016 election. But despite Democrats' gains, the race between McAuliffe and Youngkin had been a toss-up, with the Democrat only leading by a couple points according to FiveThirtyEight's polling average.