(NewsNation) — Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is traveling to Arizona to stump for Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who is locked in a tight race against Democrat Katie Hobbs.

Youngkin traveling across the country to endorse Lake, a controversial candidate who has vocally supported Donald Trump’s false claim the 2020 election was rigged, has raised questions about what his true political ambitions could be.

Youngkin’s name has surfaced in rumors for a possible presidential bid and his national political star appears to be growing, particularly after The New York Times singled him out in an op-ed.

NewsNation’s Leland Vittert, host of “On Balance with Leland Vittert,” said Youngkin getting called out by the New York Times, and his win in Virginia, is a sign Youngkin should be taken seriously on the national level.

“What Glenn Youngkin did in Virginia is nothing short of extraordinary,” Vittert said. “He, as a Republican, won a state a year later that voted for Joe Biden by more than 10 points. To say that message doesn’t matter in the rest of the country would be naïve at best.”