Copyright Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
Abigail Spanberger, a former U.S. representative and federal law enforcement officer, will be Virginia’s first woman governor. In a decisive victory, the 46-year-old Democratic candidate beat out Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. The Associated Press called the race just an hour after polls closed Tuesday night. With 35% of the votes counted, she was carrying 55% of the vote to Earle-Sears’ 45%. That’s consistent with public polling throughout the election cycle, which found Spanberger up by between seven and 12 points. Virginia is one of two states in the country with a gubernatorial election in odd years following a presidential election and has historically been watched nationally as a referendum on the party in the White House and a prediction for the congressional midterms. Spanberger spent much of the campaign focusing on economic issues and appealing to centrists and independents as a moderate capable of working across the aisle. Recent polling found that affordability issues like rising costs of rent ranked high among likely Virginia voters. By contrast, Earle-Sears devoted plenty of ad space and campaigning to social issues like transgender kids in sports and locker rooms. Issues like parents’ rights and keeping discussions involving things like gender identity and race out of the classroom helped propel Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to victory in 2021. But four years later, those issues appeared less salient for voters; a poll from Christopher Newport University released last week found that Virginia likely voters were most concerned about threats to democracy, inflation, healthcare and immigration. Tuesday’s election took place against a backdrop of an ongoing federal government shutdown and significant reductions to federal funding and workforce. Spanberger also led Earle-Sears in fundraising throughout the campaign, ending with more than $65 million fundraised to the lieutenant governor’s $35 million as of late last month, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Kate Seltzer, 757-713-7881, kate.seltzer@virginiamedia.com
