Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Winsome Sears and will be the next governor of Virginia
As polls had anticipated, the former congresswoman defeated Republican Winsome Sears, the current lieutenant governor.
Spanberger at a campaign rally/Edit from screenshot.
Abigail Spanberger will be the next governor of Virginia. The Democrat defeated Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears on Tuesday. In this way, the former congresswoman will become the first woman to govern the Old Dominion State.
Spanberger, 46, led in all polls conducted in recent months. While that lead shrank somewhat after the debate, she maintained the lead and ratified it on Tuesday, Nov. 4. With just over 30% of the votes counted, Decision Desk HQ declared the Democrat the winner.
During the campaign, she presented herself to voters as a moderate and accentuated her past at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). She focused on the cost of living for Virginians, speaking particularly about housing and rent. He also portrayed his rival as an extremist and linked her as much as possible to President Donald Trump.
For his part, Sears sought to continue the leadership of the outgoing governor, Glenn Youngkin. The lieutenant governor could not break with the tradition of Virginia, whose voters have a habit of not electing a governor of the same party that is in the White House.
From 1970 to the present, there was only one exception to the rule. It was in 2013, during the Obama Administration, when Democrat Terry McAuliffe defeated Republican Ken Cuccinelli by a margin of 2.5 percentage points.
With Spanberger's victory, Virginia becomes the 19th state to elect a woman as governor. Among those that have not yet done so are Florida, California, and Illinois, among others.
In other high-profile races, Ghazala Hashmi won the election for lieutenant governor. The state senator defeated Republican John Reid. With her victory, Hashmi became the first Asian American and Muslim woman to win a state office in Virginia.
In addition, Jay Jones won the election for attorney general. The controversial Democrat made headlines during the campaign when a conversation was leaked in which he fantasized about the murder of a local Republican politician, Todd Gilbert. Jones narrowly defeated incumbent Jason Miyares in what was the closest race of the day in Virginia.
Who is Abigail Spanberger?
After a few years as a teacher, Spanberger joined the CIA in 2006 as an operations officer. There, she worked gathering intelligence on terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
According to her website, she "worked covertly to understand threats facing the United States, prevent terrorist attacks, counter nuclear weapons proliferation, and track transnational criminal organizations."
The Democrat shocked Washington in 2018, when she defeated Republican Dave Brat in the election for Virginia's 7th Congressional District. It was the seat that had belonged to Eric Cantor, former House majority leader.
Heir to the 3rd Congressional District before it was redrawn in the 1990s, Steve Bannon described the 7th District as a "thermometer of the country." That year, Democrats would regain control of the lower house.
Despite presenting herself as a moderate from a discursive standpoint, Spanberger voted with the Democrats most of the time. For example, in her first term, she went along with Joe Biden's line on 100% of the votes.
In turn, his score on Heritage Action, a conservative index, is 5%, while the average for House Democrats is 10%.
Spanberger served in the House from 2019 to 2025, opting not to seek a fourth term to focus on the governor's race.
LATEST
