. >> reporter: amy dodson is not defined by political labels. >> i was not a fan of president trump. i didn't vote for him, and i didn't vote for biden, but i did vote. >> reporter: that makes her an important wild card in virginia, where she cast her vote early this week for one reason above all. >> what led me to vote for glenn youngkin this time around was education. >> reporter: education is a central issue in the final stretch of the closely watched virginia governor's race where the power of the parents movement is suddenly front and center. >> you work for us. >> reporter: in dueling tv ads -- >> terry mcauliffe, putting politics over parents. >> glenn youngkin would bring donald trump and betsy devos' education policy to virginia. >> reporter: terry mcauliffe, the state's former democratic governor, and glenn youngkin, a republican businessman, are locked in a bitter fight over the role of government in schools. >> my name is amy dodson, i have two untstudents at the high sch. >> reporter: during the pandemic, she became an unlikely activist, attending school board meetings,

. >> my name is amy dodson. >> reporter: during the pandemic last year, dodson became an unlikely activist. attending school board meetings for the first time. arguing students should be in the classroom, not learning virtually. >> by myself, i felt very powerless. as a collective group, your voice is stronger and holds more power that we never had before as just an individual parent line up to speak. >> reporter: that's alarming some democrats, like michael, who has been attending school board meetings to provide a counterbalance. >> they're doing a good job of scaring up anger and emotion. when it comes down to walking in the voting booth, that there are enough of us who are able to look at the science, look at education with a level head, and look at this race with a level head. we don't need somebody as extreme as youngkin in the governor's mansion. >> reporter: as early voting is well underway, that view is being tested here in chesterfield county in central virginia, just below richmond. >> thank you. >> reporter: the long-time gop strong hold has gone democratic in recent elections.

. >> amy dodson is one you spoke to who is a true independent. listen. >> i am an independent voter. i have voted any which way you can vote. what led me to vote for glenn youngkin this time around was education. >> it's just one voter. we need to be careful. but advertising is spending a lot of money right there. he's trying to make this about education, about parental rights, about the government not getting in the way. terry mcauliffe we'll get to in a moment. >> she also said something very interesting as we talked to her outside her home in midlothian, virginia. she said, i do not like donald trump, i did not vote for donald trump, but i am going to vote for glenn youngkin. that's the question, how many amy dodsons are out there who didn't vote for donald trump but are going to vote for glenn youngkin. >> another wild card if you're a democrat. you mentioned enthusiasm. this is the yugo poll and only 44% mcauliffe voters, 50% youngkin voters. this is where terry mcauliffe is up here, he's trying to motivate democrats because he's a little ne

. >> reporter: but amy dodson says many voters also see this contest as a check on full democratic control. >> i always like to see a little bit of blend. i don't like any party to roll through without having any sort of challenges. >> how important, jeff, a role are the parents' movements playing a role in this race? >> it is playing a key role. we talked to many parents. first and foremost they are concerned about their children's education. this really has awakened into a growing movement just because we've seen all these loud school board meetings across couthe country. but here it is a sense of a real dedication to curriculum, masking and other matters, but it is bleeding over into this virginia governor's race. this may be one of the first and biggest tests of this parents' movement. glenn youngkin is moving into this. he's holding rallies called the parents' movement. we also talked to democratic parents who are concerned about what they see as extremism here. there is no question the school board meeting actually ending up behind me is going to play a role in this virginia governor