Youngkin as Hamlet — the plot twists again

The report, citing unnamed “top Republican sources,” suggested that Youngkin — who is focused on the run-up to Virginia’s legislative elections — is taking another look at a run as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ poll numbers slide.

DeSantis reportedly will formally announce his entry in the GOP presidential contest on Wednesday in a Twitter conversation with Elon Musk. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., also kicked off his campaign this week. Former President Donald Trump and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley already are running for the Republican nomination.

Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia political team sought to knock down the story on Tuesday, discounting anonymous comments attributed to “a top Virginia GOP strategist” and a “senior Youngkin aide.”

“Governor @GlennYoungkin is focused on Virginia,” Spirit of Virginia Chair Dave Rexrode said in a post on Twitter. “Anyone who anonymously says otherwise probably isn’t as close to the Governor as they want people to think.”

But the story ignited a Twitter storm of mockery and reinforced assertions that Youngkin is too preoccupied with his potential national ambitions, including as a dark-horse alternative to Trump and other Republican presidential candidates.

“Youngkin isn’t making it any easier on himself by tossing out hints every other day about the presidency,” said Larry Sabato, president of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “It is a reflection of his over-weaning ambition.”

Sabato dismissed as “ridiculous” a comment attributed anonymously to a senior Youngkin aide who reportedly said of the pending legislative elections: “If the guy flips any seats at all, it’s proof that his political machine is ready to go.”

“He’s got to hold the House (of Delegates) and take over the Senate, period,” Sabato said of the governor’s presidential hopes.

Virginia Democrats posted on Twitter Tuesday: “Governor Youngkin spends more time flip-flopping on a presidential bid than he spends actually governing the Commonwealth.”

Olusoji Akomolafe, professor and chairman of the Department of Political Science at Norfolk State University, said Youngkin is smart, but cautious as he assesses the GOP presidential field.

“He’s giving himself the latitude,” Akomolafe said. “He’s giving himself the room to wiggle.”

Youngkin is “watching very closely what is happening with DeSantis and Trump,” he added. If Youngkin decides the timing and circumstances are not right, “he can run for president four years from now.”

Akomolafe added: “Anybody who underestimates Youngkin will be doing that at his own peril — as Virginia Democrats found out not too long ago.”

The Axios story came out a day before Spirit of Virginia was poised to roll out what it described as a six-week, six-figure purchase of digital advertising in political battleground districts in the fight for control of the General Assembly.

All 140 assembly seats are up for election in November in a political landscape transformed by redistricting maps that the Virginia Supreme Court approved in late 2021. During this year’s General Assembly session, Democrats held a 22-18 edge in the state Senate and Republicans held a 52-48 edge in the House of Delegates. Both chambers already are assured dramatic change because of a flood of retirements and intraparty primary challenges.

“The governor’s political team has a singular obsession — win the House and Senate,” Matt Moran, executive director of Spirit of Virginia, said last month after the political action committee announced new hires to focus on the legislative elections.

That focus has been blurred by Youngkin himself. On May 1, during a California conference with the Milken Institute, he initially appeared to take himself out of presidential contention by saying that he would not campaign for the national office “this year.” But that night, Youngkin spoke at the Ronald Reagan presidential library. He recently released a campaign-style ad distilled from his speech.

The speech was part of the “A Time for Choosing” speaker series that also has featured speeches by a number of GOP presidential hopefuls, including DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Scott and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

“President Ronald Reagan changed lives,” Youngkin said in the speech and the ad. “Now it’s our turn, a time to choose life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness over oppression and dictatorial rule. The stakes are high and the consequences couldn’t be greater.”

Youngkin first stoked chatter about a run for national office by breaking a Democratic win streak in Virginia’s statewide elections. In topping Democrat Terry McAuliffe by 2 percentage points, Youngkin became the first Virginia Republican elected governor since Bob McDonnell in 2009.

The governor took his success story on the road in 2022, campaigning with 15 GOP candidates for governor and touting his Virginia campaign as a model — emphasizing parents’ rights in education, lower taxes and support for law enforcement. But only five of the candidates Youngkin backed won, and just one of the five — Joe Lombardo in Nevada — flipped a governorship from blue to red.

In Virginia, he campaigned hard last year for Republicans in three battleground congressional races, but only one won of the contests, in which state Sen. Jen Kiggans, R-Virginia Beach, defeated Rep. Elaine Luria, D-2nd, in a newly drawn district that tilted the odds to Republicans.

Youngkin has not said publicly that he intends to seek the GOP nomination in 2024. For months, he consistently answered the question by noting that he was flattered to be in the conversation, that he has a big job to do in Virginia and that he is focused on the fight for control of the General Assembly in the November elections. Virginia is the only state that bars its governors from serving consecutive terms and the fall legislative elections will be crucial to his agenda’s fate.

While Trump is dominating the GOP field in the polls, his legal troubles and DeSantis’ slippage in surveys have reportedly led some GOP donors to seek an alternative.

In April, Youngkin’s PAC received a $1 million donation from billionaire Thomas Peterffy, the biggest shareholder in an online brokerage. He had been backing DeSantis’ presidential run, but recently said he was putting that support on hold.

In the May 1 appearance at the Milken Institute, Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Baker asked Youngkin: “Are you going to be dusting off that fleece jacket and getting out on the presidential campaign trail later this year?

“No,” Youngkin said, stressing that he is focused on Virginia’s version of the midterm elections.

Youngkin’s political aides quickly sought to knock down the notion that Youngkin had ruled out a run, noting the “this year” caveat. A 2024 start would leave Youngkin little time to mount a campaign, given that the GOP Iowa caucuses are Feb. 5.

Scott, the senator from South Carolina, already is embarking on a $6 million ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire.