Democrat and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger made history on Tuesday night as she defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the Virginia governor’s race, becoming the first woman elected to the governor’s mansion.
“Tonight we sent a message,” Spanberger told supporters during a victory party.
“We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our commonwealth over chaos,” she added.
Spanberger’s campaign message centered on improving the economy and lowering the cost of living for Virginians. She held a steady lead over Earle-Sears in most polls over the last year.
Virginia is home to 300,000 federal workers, many of whom were likely affected by the ongoing government shutdown and by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency to cut programs.
Elsewhere in the state, Democratic candidate Ghazala Hashmi defeated Republican John Reid in the race for lieutenant governor. With her win, she will become the first Muslim woman elected to statewide office in U.S. history.
Democrat Jay Jones won the Virginia attorney general race, defeating Republican Jason Miyares, the incumbent who served one term.
Jones’ win comes as a surprise after violent text messages Jones sent in 2022 surfaced last month. In those texts, Jones suggested that then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, deserved “bullets to the head.” In the message, Jones wrote: “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot.”
Jones, a former state lawmaker, was not in office when he made the remarks, and he apologized to Gilbert and his family, stating, “Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach.”
Jones said in his victory speech that he looked forward to sitting down with Miyares.
“I was held accountable,” Jones said at a debate last month. “But what we have here in Virginia right now is an attorney general who won’t hold the president accountable.”
