Topline
Democrat Abigail Spanberger has won the race for Virginia governor, according to the Associated Press, becoming the first woman to ever take the role—marking a key win for Democrats in the first big electoral test in Trump’s second term in office.
Key Facts
AP called the race for Spanberger at 7:59 p.m. EST, with around an estimated 35% of the vote counted.
Spanberger led with 55% of the vote, ahead of Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who polled at 45%.
Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin was ineligible to run for immediate reelection due to Virginia’s state term limits.
What To Watch For
Democrat Jay Jones was narrowly leading incumbent Republican Jason Miyares in Virginia’s attorney general race, another closely watched contest.
Key Background
The gubernatorial election in Virginia has historically drawn national attention in the year following a presidential election, being seen as a gauge for voter sentiment around the party in the White House as one of the few off-year races. In 11 of the last 12 elections for governor in the state, the winners have been from a different party than the incumbent president. Spanberger was ahead of her rival Earle-Sears in most pre-election polls, many of which found her with a commanding double-digit lead. Spanberger also dominated the fundraising campaigns compared to her Republican counterpart, bringing in about $66 million, compared to Earle-Sears’s $35 million, PBS reported. The race for Virginia attorney general shook up after the leaking of a 2022 string of text messages from Jones where he suggested violence directed toward former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican. Jones, who has since apologized for the messages, accused his rival, the incumbent Miyares, of “dropping smears” to damage his campaign. Both Spanberger and Earle-Sears have publicly condemned the messages, with the latter criticising the former for not calling for Jones to withdraw from the race. Republicans have also called for Jones to drop out of the race for attorney general because of his 2022 conviction for reckless driving on a Virginia highway.
Tangent
The federal government shutdown loomed over the races in Virginia, home to a large concentration of federal workers, where thousands of government employees have been either working without pay, been laid off or furloughed.
