Former Carlyle Group executive Glenn Youngkin won the Republican nomination for governor of Virginia on Monday.
Virginia is one of two states holding elections for governors this year. Mr. Youngkin, who spent 25 years at Carlyle, most recently as co-CEO, will face the winner of the Democrats' June 8 primary.
After securing his party's nomination, Mr. Youngkin tweeted, "Virginians have made it clear that they are ready for a political outsider with proven business experience to bring real change in Richmond."
The GOP nominee was chosen through the state party's "unassembled convention" using a ranked-choice voting system, with delegates ranking a candidate from their top choice to their last choice. In the sixth and final round, Mr. Youngkin passed the necessary 50% threshold of votes from an estimated 30,000 pre-registered Republicans.
Mr. Youngkin has been endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former President Donald Trump, among others.
Mr. Youngkin has made election integrity a priority. In February, he launched an election integrity task force, saying that "both parties have long raised concerns," and proposing "five commonsense steps to establish legal voting standards for our election processes."
Four Democratic gubernatorial candidates — former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, former state Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan and state Del. Lee Carter — in a joint statement condemned all the Republican candidates for taking a "complete embrace of Donald Trump a step beyond the far right extremism that has become the norm in the Virginia GOP."
Mr. McAuliffe, a former governor prevented by state law from serving a consecutive term, is considered the likely Democrat who will face Mr. Youngkin in the general election Nov. 2. An April poll conducted by Public Policy Polling found 42% of those polled support Mr. McAuliffe, compared with single-digit support for the other Democrats running.
