Democrat Abigail Spanberger makes history as Virginia’s first woman governor

Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race on Tuesday, defeating Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears in a closely watched contest that gives Democrats a major boost heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Her victory also marks a historic milestone, as she becomes the first woman to serve as governor of the commonwealth.

Spanberger’s win flips control of the governor’s office when she succeeds outgoing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin. Celebrating with supporters in Richmond, she declared, “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 world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our commonwealth over chaos.”

On the same night, Democrat Ghazala F. Hashmi won the lieutenant governor’s race, succeeding Earle-Sears. Hashmi’s victory makes her the first Muslim woman to win a statewide office in the US.

Economic message and pragmatic appeal

A former congresswoman and CIA case officer, Spanberger built her campaign around economic priorities, a strategy that could guide fellow Democrats as they seek to challenge President Donald Trump and Republicans in next year’s elections. She carefully framed her arguments against Trump’s policies while investing heavily in campaign ads linking Earle-Sears to the former president.

Spanberger toured communities across Virginia, including Republican-leaning regions, emphasising both economic stability and abortion rights—a crucial issue in the last Southern state yet to impose new restrictions or bans. She criticised Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency and the government shutdown, highlighting their damaging effects on a state with hundreds of thousands of federal employees.

Her approach successfully united Democratic loyalists and drew moderate voters who had previously backed Youngkin, continuing a long-running Virginia tradition: since Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential win, the state has consistently elected a governor from the opposite party of every first-term president in the following year.

The result leaves Republicans once again confronting a setback in a battleground state, with Earle-Sears’s defeat underscoring the challenges facing Trump-aligned conservatives in statewide races.