The political atmosphere in Loudoun County, Virginia is strongly liberal. In the last presidential election, 61.5% of people in the county voted for Democrats, making it a decisive area for the state of Virginia. This shift in political leaning has been driven by the county's ever-evolving and diversifying public education system. To maintain order during public testimony, the school board implemented new rules requiring speakers to either live in the county or have a child in the school system.
This prompted right-wing commentator Matt Walsh to rent a house in Loudoun to attend school board meetings (Fox reported that he was paying a dollar to a resident to rent a room).In addition to Walsh, many others have moved to the county seat or to the small towns and rural communities of the Loudoun Valley. The county is named after John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun and Governor General of Virginia from 1756 to 1759, and its official motto is I Byde My Time, taken from the coat of arms of the Earl of Loudoun. During World War I, Loudoun County was an important granary for supplying food to European soldiers. In recent years, Loudoun County has experienced a dramatic transformation both demographically and politically. It is now one of the wealthiest counties in the country and has voted for Democrats in the four most recent presidential elections, after becoming a Republican stronghold in 2000 and 2004. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has made increasing environmental sustainability and resilience for the health, safety, and well-being of its residents and businesses a strategic priority. The Loudoun County Public Library Extension Department is an invaluable resource for those who cannot easily access branch services.
Washington Dulles International Airport was built in southeastern Loudoun County, in Sterling, in 1962. In Virginia's heated race for governor, Youngkin has capitalized on the debates that have been stirring up school board meetings and protests in Loudoun County car parks for months. Some Democratic voters in the county believe that those grabbing headlines come from a noisy minority, mostly from outside the county, and don't reflect how Loudoun's voters will cast their ballots come November.
