Granite State Times

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) recently voted against a resolution that prohibits the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public schools, an issue at the forefront of the recent Virginia gubernatorial race, where Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin upset Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Tuesday's vote. One aspect of Youngkin’s campaign included a promise to ban CRT in Virginia's schools, a platform plank that contributed widely to his polling success.

Hassan declined to comment when the Granite State Times asked about the implications the Virginia outcome will have on swing states in the future. Virginia, partly because of its off-year election, is often considered an indicator of changing politics. With national midterm elections coming up in 2022, it's possible Youngkin's win will give Republicans a foothold as they push back against the push to teach CRT.

"Together, together, we will change the trajectory of this commonwealth. And friends, we are going to start that transformation on day one,” Youngkin said in his victory speech. “There is no time to waste. Our kids can't wait, we work in real-people time, not government time. So on day one, we're going to work. We're going to restore excellence in our schools."

The education issue flared in Virginia when McAuliffe said during a debate that parents should not have a say in what schools should teach, responding to a question about controversy regarding sexually explicit books in a school library. "I'm not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions," he said.

Youngkin opposed that, and used the difference as a way to climb past McAuliffe in the polls.

"McAuliffe wants to suppress and silence parents so his special interest allies can force their radical political agenda into classrooms and tell children what to think instead of teaching them how to think," Youngkin campaign spokesman Christian Martinez told Fox News.

Critics say Hassan showed her support for CRT when she backed, along party lines, the nomination of Catherine Lhamon as assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education.

Max Eden, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said, "No one should be surprised if Lhamon actually enforces CRT, by coercing school districts into 'voluntary' resolution agreements that require 'anti-racist audits, mandate race-focused professional development for teachers or stipulate the hiring of diversity consultants and staff.”

An NBC News Virginia exit poll found that 74% of Democrats and 94% of Republicans believe parents should have a lot or some say in their children's curriculum, while just 23% of Democrats and 3% of Republicans said parents should have not much or no influence on their children's curriculum.