BREAKING: Abigail Spanberger Wins Virginia Governor’s Race

Democrat Abigail Spanberger has won the Virginia governor’s race, defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, numerous outlets project.

Spanberger, a former CIA agent who served in the House of Representatives from 2019 to 2025, overcame the headwinds from attorney general candidate Jay Jones, whose politically violent texts threatened to derail Spanberger’s campaign.

Spanberger campaigned against President Donald Trump and his policies to root waste, fraud, and abuse out of the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency. Early results show the Democrat’s strongest support came from the Northern Virginia suburbs near Washington, D.C., home to many federal bureaucrats.

Jay Jones

The race changed in early October, when National Review’s Audrey Fahlberg exposed text messages in which Jay Jones, the Democrat candidate for attorney general, fantasized about shooting then-House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican. Jones said that, in the hypothetical situation where he had only two bullets and could shoot Adolf Hitler, Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, or Gilbert, he declared he would use both bullets on Gilbert.

He later fantasized about Gilbert’s children dying in their mother’s arms, and he defended this disgusting death wish by saying, “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”

While Jones sent the texts in August 2022, the revelation came less than a month after the political assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Spanberger said she was “disgusted” by the remarks. She added, “as a candidate—and as the next governor of our commonwealth—I will always condemn violent language in our politics.”

Spanberger did not clarify whether she still supports Jones after the texts, despite repeated questioning about it during the debate.

When former President Barack Obama spoke with Spanberger at a rally Saturday, Jones appeared on the same stage beforehand.

The Democrat enjoyed a polling lead against Earle-Sears for most of the race, but the Republican gained steam in mid-to-late October.

Lowering Prices?

Spanberger campaigned on lowering prices for Virginians, but her preferred policies and record do not match that.

The Democrat has said she would return to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a climate program that, critics say, increased energy prices in Virginia and led to increased greenhouse gas emissions.

The RGGI, an inter-state agreement, charges power plants for emissions and uses the money to prop up renewable energy. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, attempted to exit the initiative, calling it a “hidden tax” on electricity. Virginia’s withdrawal remains in limbo after a judge blocked it. The administration has a stay, allowing the state to remain out of it for now. Spanberger has pledged to rejoin it.

Environmentalist groups supporting the RGGI contributed to the Democrat’s campaign. The Virginia League of Conservation Voters gave Spanberger for Governor $1.38 million, and the Clean Virginia Fund contributed $700,000, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

She also voted in lockstep with her party for COVID-19 spending, which arguably increased inflation.

Transgender Issues

Virginia parents have expressed concerns about boys and men in girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, and boys competing in girls’ sports. Spanberger has suggested that parents, administrators, and school districts should make decisions whether to allow boys access to girls’ spaces and sports on an individual basis.

Yet this position arguably does not match Spanberger’s record in Congress. She sponsored and repeatedly voted for HR 5, the Equality Act, which would have mandated that schools allow boys in girls’ bathrooms and on girls sports teams, in the name of fighting discrimination.

Spanberger repeatedly refused to answer questions about transgender policy during the debate.

These questions gained new relevance in the Old Dominion this year. Richard Cox, a man who claims to identify as a woman, has been convicted of sex crimes involving children and currently faces charges of exposing himself to women and girls in locker rooms.

Meanwhile, Loudoun County Public Schools brought a Title IX case against teenage boys when they complained about a girl’s presence in their locker room. This took place at the very same school where a male student sexually assaulted girls in a girls’ bathroom in 2021.

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