VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) was elected the 75th Governor of Virginia on Nov. 4, defeating her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
With her win, Spanberger will become the first female governor in the state’s 400-year history.
Spanberger won 54 percent of the vote in the quadrennial election held on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, which called the race at 7:59 p.m. Earle-Sears won 45 percent.
Apart from Virginia’s three major statewide offices, elections were held for all seats in the Virginia House of Delegates. Results are still pending for those races.
Spanberger, now the governor-elect, will take office on Jan. 17, 2026, the date set by the state constitution for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s term to end.
An Expected Outcome
Spanberger had been widely expected to win the election against Earle-Sears. Every major poll taken during the campaign placed her ahead, with her lead averaging 10.2 percent up to election day, according to RealClearPolitics.
In the final days of the race, Spanberger campaigned with former U.S. President Barack Obama, a popular figure in Democratic politics, even as she was comfortably ahead.
“Virginia—Abigail Spanberger cares about your freedoms, she will fight for your rights, and she will work every day to make your life a little bit better,” Obama wrote on social media.
“My #1 focus as Governor will be making life more affordable for Virginians,” Spanberger wrote on social media before election day.
“Anywhere I travel across Virginia, people are talking about affordability,” she remarked at a campaign event with Virginia’s two U.S. Senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, who served as the 69th and 70th Governors of Virginia, respectively, between 2002 and 2010.
In conversation with voters at polling precincts, The Epoch Times observed that affordability was, indeed, a top-of-mind issue for voters.
“The economy is a big deal for everyone, all over the place,” said Diane Stein, a voter in Virginia Beach who voted for Spanberger for governor but supported Republican nominees John Reid and Jason Miyares in the lieutenant governor and attorney general’s races, respectively.
By Arjun Singh
