Democratic former Rep. Abigail Spanberger won Tuesday’s gubernatorial election in Virginia, ending four years of Republican control of the governor’s mansion.
Spanberger was leading GOP Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears 55 percent to 45 percent, when The Associated Press called the race roughly an hour after polls closed. She will be Virginia’s first female governor.
“Tonight we sent a message,” Spanberger said in her victory speech in Richmond, flanked by her husband and three daughters. “We chose our commonwealth over chaos. You all chose leadership that will focus relentlessly on what matters most: lowering costs, keeping our communities safe and strengthening our economy for every Virginian.”
Spanberger will succeed term-limited Republican incumbent Glenn Youngkin, who in 2021 capitalized on parental frustrations over education policy to score an upset victory. Virginia governors are not eligible to run for a second consecutive term. Her victory comes on the same night that Democrats retained the governorship in New Jersey, with Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s victory.
And the good night extended further down the ballot in Virginia, with Democrats sweeping all three statewide offices, including the attorney general’s race, which had been roiled by a texting scandal.
In her victory remarks, Spanberger alluded to her past record of working across the aisle as she vowed to work with those who did not support her campaign.
“I have worked with anyone and everyone, regardless of political party, to deliver results for the people that I serve,” she said.
The off-year elections in Virginia and in nearby New Jersey have been seen as an early test of how voters are feeling about both parties, one year after Donald Trump won a second term and Republicans took full control of Congress.
Republicans had also been hoping to build on electoral gains Trump made in both states in 2024. Instead, Democratic leaders pointed to Spanberger’s win as a sign their party had momentum heading into next year’s midterm elections.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, called the Virginia result “a resounding rejection of Donald Trump’s chaos and a warning sign to all Republican politicians running in 2026 who continue to rubber stamp his failed economic policies.” While Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said it was “time for Republicans to cherish their short time in power — because Democrats are going to keep winning.”
Recent polls had showed the contest for Virginia attorney general, between Republican incumbent Jason Miyares and Democratic former state Del. Jay Jones, tightening significantly following revelations that Jones had once sent text messages using violent language directed toward a political opponent and his family.
Spanberger condemned the texts but resisted calling for Jones to drop out of the race. Republicans focused on the scandal heavily in their advertising, with Miyares even urging Democratic voters as recently as Tuesday to split their tickets. But while the incumbent overperformed the top of the ticket, it was not enough to hold off Jones.
In the race for lieutenant governor, Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi will be the first woman to hold the position after she defeated Republican radio host John Reid. Hashmi, who emigrated with her family from India as a child, will also be the first Asian American and first Muslim to win statewide elective office in Virginia.
Spanberger will take office next year with Democrats in full control of Richmond after the party expanded its majority in the Virginia House. Democrats also control the state Senate, though the next regular elections for the chamber are not until 2027.
Polls in Virginia consistently showed Spanberger leading Earle-Sears, who was plagued by weaker fundraising and ultimately did not receive a formal endorsement from Trump.
Spanberger, who built a reputation as a centrist over her three terms on Capitol Hill, focused her campaign message on the economy. She criticized the Trump administration for its slashing of the federal workforce, including during the ongoing government shutdown, which has affected federal workers and contractors in the commonwealth’s northern suburbs outside Washington.
Addressing Virginians hit by the layoffs, Spanberger vowed to use her office’s “full power” to support them.
“To those across the Potomac who are attacking our jobs and our economy, I will not stand by silently while you attack Virginia’s workers,” she said, before calling on Washington leaders “to make real progress on bringing this shutdown to an end.”
She also vowed that, under her administration, Virginia would continue to be the only state in the South not to restrict reproductive rights since the 2022 Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.
A former CIA operative, Spanberger was first elected to the House in 2018 after flipping a Republican-held seat in central Virginia. She was part of a group of Democratic women with military and intelligence backgrounds, including Sherrill, who made their first runs for office that cycle and helped fuel the 2018 blue wave that flipped control of the House to Democrats.
In Congress, Spanberger warned against Democrats shifting too far to the left. When Democrats were in power and Trump was in the White House, she ranked among the lawmakers most likely to break with their party on votes that divided Democrats and Republicans, according to CQ Vote Studies. Her party unity rates rose once Joe Biden was elected president.
After House Democrats lost their majority in 2022, Spanberger was elected to a role in party leadership as the representative for members from battleground districts.
She didn’t run for reelection last year, in favor of focusing on her gubernatorial bid, a move that likely helped her clear the primary field.
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