Who is Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat who has become the first woman governor of Virginia?

The American state of Virginia has turned blue as voters chose Democratic Party’s Abigail Spanberger to be the next governor. This makes Spanberger the first ever woman to become governor of the southern American state.

Speaking to cheering supporters after the race was called in her favour, Spanberger said: “We sent a message to every corner of the commonwealth, a message to our neighbours and our fellow Americans across the country. We sent a message to the whole word that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our commonwealth over chaos.”

Spanberger’s victory came against Republican Lt Governor Winsome Earle-Sears with many noting that this win gives the Democrats a key victory heading into the 2026 midterm elections.

But who exactly is Abigail Spanberger? Why is her gubernatorial win in Virginia significant? What does it mean for Trump?

From CIA to Congress

Born on August 7, 1979, Red Bank, New Jersey, Spanberger received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a master’s from Purdue University. Service was instilled in Spanberger’s life very early on through her parents. Her father served in the US army, and went on to becoming a career law enforcement officer. Her mother spent her early years in foster care, put herself through nursing school, and worked tirelessly — late nights and weekends — to care for her patients.

In the early 2000s, Spanberger followed in her father’s footsteps; she joined the US Postal Inspection Service where she worked federal narcotics and money laundering cases. Her website states that she investigated child predators, and narcotics traffickers.

In 2006, she joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a Case Officer. During her CIA tenure, Spanberger worked undercover to understand the threats facing the United States, prevent terrorist attacks, counter the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and track transnational criminal organisations.

It was in 2017 that she began her political career. First, she was appointed to the Virginia Fair Housing Board following which she announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Virginia’s 7th congressional district in the 2018 election against incumbent Republican Dave Brat, a Tea Party movement member.

Notably, she along with her fellow Democrats Elissa Slotkin and Mikie Sherrill — who also won the governor’s election in New Jersey — are known as the “mod squad”, a moderate alternative to the progressive.

Spanberger’s run for Virginia governorship

In November 2023, Spanberger announced that she would not be running for Congress again and she set her eyes on the governor’s position.

In Spanberger, Virginia’s voters found a candidate who appealed to their economic anxieties. Rather than focusing on individuals, she trained her sights on the impact of Republican polices on cost of food, healthcare, on businesses hit by tariffs, and on federal workers and contractors fired by the Trump administration.

Speaking on the same, she told The 19th ahead of the polls that her focus was on issues of voters, and less on the cult of personality she believes has come to dominate politics in recent years, which she thinks “is detrimental in the long term.”

“Let’s make it about the policies — make it about why this candidate is not what we want or what we need, or this candidate is what we want or what we need, right?” Spanberger said. “It’s not that they’re the coolest person you’ve ever met. It’s that they’re pursuing the best policies.”

During her campaign, Spanberger projected herself as an antithesis of the chaos and cruelty emanating from Washington. She vowed to work on lowering cost of housing, energy and healthcare. What is even more notable is that she hardly ever focused her attention on Trump. She once even joked to the Associated Press, “I feel like if I say it too much, it’s like Beetlejuice. He’s gonna show up.”

The 46-year-old also made gun violence prevention a signature issue of her campaign and was even quoted as saying that gun violence is “the number-one killer of kids in our country”. Her campaign website states unequivocally that as governor, she would sign legislation including a ban on assault-style weapons.

Moreover, Spanberger stated that she would work against the Trump administration when it comes to enforcing America’s immigration laws. She called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Virginia a “distraction of resources”.

Such has been her work so far that Spanberger also earned an endorsement from former US President Barack Obama. Appearing by her side at one of the last campaign events, Obama said: “Abigail is ranked as the most bipartisan member of Congress from the Commonwealth. She has had bills signed into law by both President Trump and President Biden. That is not easy to do.”

Spanberger’s win and Trump

So, what does the 46-year-old’s win mean for Trump and the Republicans?

Even though Trump’s name was not on the ballot, the wins scored by the Democrats are being seen as a referendum on his second presidential term. And as the BBC reports, this was particularly true in Virginia, home to the Pentagon and many federal workers who have been affected by Trump’s sweeping spending cuts.

In fact, in her election speech, she spoke of the furloughs and mass layoffs affecting thousands of federal workers in Virginia. “Virginia’s economy doesn’t work when Washington treats our Virginia workers as expendable,” she said. “And to those across the Potomac who are attacking our jobs and our economy, I will not stand by silently.”

Many also believe that Spanberger’s win in Virginia as governor serves as a harbinger for the 2026 US midterm elections — when Democrats have opportunities to win back the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.

And while Trump hasn’t spoken on the election yet, it seems it may have rankled his team already. Trump’s campaign manager derided the Republican candidate that went up against Spanberger, Lt Gov Winsome Earle-Sears, as a bad candidate.

“A bad candidate and bad campaign have consequences - the Virginia governors race is example number 1,” Chris LaCivita wrote on X, after the race was called in favour of Democrat Abigail Spanberger.

With inputs from agencies