Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin could gain influence on state boards after losing

The move to block the 11 nominations — which Republicans said was in response to Wheeler not being confirmed — broke a long-standing tradition in Virginia’s General Assembly to confirm a previous governor’s state board nominations without fanfare, regardless of political party.

Garren Shipley, spokesman for House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), said in a statement that the 11 rejected state board members were selected “to give Gov. Youngkin the greatest possible impact on his policy priorities.”

Political analysts say the tit-for-tat maneuver is part of the increasingly partisan environment enveloping Richmond since Youngkin took office.

It nonetheless allows the new governor to advance his agenda another way, through appointments to the vacant seats on the Board of Education, the Air Pollution Control Board, the Water Control Board, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Safety and Health Codes Board.

“If I had to guess, the governor already had this in mind but, now, he has the cover to do it,” said Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, referring to the 11 rejections and the claim by Republicans that Democrats prompted the move by taking the rare step of rejecting a governor’s Cabinet pick.

The governor’s office did not respond to messages for comment. Previously, his spokespeople had said that Youngkin would quickly work to fill the empty seats. Nominees must be confirmed by both the GOP-controlled House of Delegates and the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority.

The greatest impact is likely to be seen on the nine-seat Board of Education, which will soon have a majority of Youngkin appointees. Before last week, the entire board was made up of appointees of either Northam or Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D).

Three members — Jamelle S. Wilson, Anthony Swann and Steward D. Roberson — had their terms suddenly expire years earlier than they expected when their appointments were not confirmed. Anne B. Holton, the state’s former secretary of education and wife of U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), was reconfirmed. The four-year terms for another three members are set to naturally expire in June.

Youngkin has made education his chief priority, setting out on his first day in office to do away with mask mandates inside schools, a goal he reached this week when the General Assembly passed a law enabling parents to opt their children out.

Youngkin also has moved to bar teachers from exposing students to “inherently divisive concepts” such as critical race theory, the academic exercise to examine systemic racism that is not part of Virginia’s K-12 curriculum but has become conservative shorthand for any attempt to teach cultural awareness.

The Board of Education has in recent years supported policies championed by Democrats.

Wilson, who served as the board’s vice president after joining in 2017, said she is proud of the strides she and her colleagues made to facilitate the expansion of prekindergarten classes in public schools…