Election results are in and Republican Glenn Youngkin will become Virginia’s next governor. 

The news announcing Youngkin’s victory came early Wednesday morning.

The gubernatorial race this year was highly anticipated. According to CNBC, Virginia saw its highest voter turnout since 1997. Roughly 3.2 million Virginia residents voted on or before Election Day. 

“I could tell when I put my ballot in, there had been a lot of people [who voted],” said Stasia LaRoche, social studies teacher.

Apart from being widely anticipated, the race was also widely covered. Nearly all national news media covered the election results of the Virginia governor’s race, and most front pages Wednesday were splashed with photos of Youngkin.

The state of Virginia also spent significant time and financial resources to ensure that voting was widespread and widely accessible.

“[The voting process] was super easy, and I waited until late on voting day,” said LaRoche.

Alongside the campaign issues, voting has also become modernized. 

“I didn’t stop anywhere from picking up a ballot, to voting, to putting my ballot in the machine,” said LaRoche.