RICHMOND — Abigail Davis Spanberger, a former Democratic member of Congress and undercover operative for the CIA, became Virginia’s 75th governor Saturday as the first woman chosen to lead a state that waited until 1952 to ratify the federal amendment giving women the right to vote.
“We will not agree on everything,” Spanberger said. “But I speak from personal experience when I say we do not have to see eye-to-eye on every issue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder on others.”
Spanberger, 46, won a 15-point victory last fall after promising to address the rising consumer costs, job insecurity and lack of access to health care that she blamed on policies enacted in Washington and by the Republican administration of President Donald Trump.
But Spanberger also ran on a record of bipartisanship during her three terms in Congress representing a conservative district, with a reputation for pragmatism that pulled her to the political center at a time of increasing partisan division. Her sweeping win in a swing state drew national attention from Democrats searching for a message that could resonate broadly in the 2026 midterm elections and beyond.
She set a theme of unity for Saturday’s inauguration, which began at noon on the steps of the State Capitol in Richmond — a spot where suffragists demonstrated for the vote more than a century ago.
Thousands assembled on risers — many wearing clear plastic rain ponchos handed out by staffers. Spanberger wore a long coat and gloves in suffragette-white.
“The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me,” Spanberger told a crowd of several thousand who cheered heavily at a mention of suffrage. “I maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who worked generation after generation to ensure women could be among those casting ballots, but who could only dream of a day like today.”
The chilly, occasionally drizzly day held a series of historic firsts. Former state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi was sworn in as the first Muslim and first person of Indian descent to serve as lieutenant governor, taking the oath of office on the Koran. Former state Del. Jay Jones took office as the first Black person elected Virginia attorney general, holding his young son as he was inaugurated.
Politically, the group marks a sharp left turn from the Republican executive branch that governed in Virginia over the past four years. Outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) gave Spanberger the keys to the Executive Mansion on Saturday morning, and in his final speech to the legislature earlier in the week, he urged Democrats to maintain his business-friendly policies and to establish a relationship with the Trump administration.
But Virginia Democrats wield the consolidated power to set any agenda they want. A blue “tsunami” in last fall’s elections — as House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) put it — gave the party a 64-36 majority in the House of Delegates to go with a 21-19 majority they already hold in the state Senate. Democratic leaders have pledged to govern with restraint and to stay focused on an affordability agenda, and the national party is touting the state — and Spanberger — as a standard-bearer ahead of this fall’s congressional midterms.
“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington. You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities,” Spanberger said. She blamed “an administration,” without mentioning Trump, for “gilding buildings” while the social safety net erodes, prices go up and communities live in fear. The crowd grew loud when she said everyday Virginians should drive policy, “not kings or aristocrats or oligarchs.” But she acknowledged that not all Virginians see the same root problems.
“I know that some who are here today or watching from home may disagree with the litany of challenges and hardships I laid out,” she said. “Your perspective may differ from mine, but that does not preclude from us working together where we may find common cause.”
Spanberger pledged to work to lower the cost of housing and energy, reduce gun violence and improve education. Though she mentioned her predecessor — who, by tradition, left before her speech — only to thank him for his service, Spanberger drew one of her sharpest contrasts to Youngkin by invoking immigration. The Republican has played enthusiastic cheerleader for the hardline policies of the Trump administration, and Spanberger drew loud cheers when she spoke directly to immigrants.
“And in Virginia, our hardworking, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say that we will focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors,’ we mean them too,” Spanberger said.
She invoked leaders of the past who called for unity in troubled times, such as Patrick Henry — the first governor of Virginia — who warned in 1799: “United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.”
That, Spanberger said, “is the charge we must answer again today.” Saying Virginians must put aside differences to find solutions for the future, she asked : “What will you do to help us author this next chapter?”
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, another Democrat with a national profile, attended their neighboring governor’s inauguration. “I’m just going to be there to watch history being made,” Moore said in an interview this week. He added that he looks for a “new era of cooperation” between the two states, with shared concerns around issues such as transportation, energy and “protecting our federal workers.” He leapt to his feet in applause when her speech concluded.
Virginia’s incoming leaders were busy even before inauguration day, with Jones on Friday dismissing top lawyersat George Mason University and the Virginia Military Institute — universities where Democrats have accused Youngkin and outgoing Attorney General Jason Miyares of politicizing the boards and kowtowing to efforts by the Trump administration to enforce a conservative ideology.
Spanberger sought resignations from board members at the University of Virginia and has pledged to make appointments there as soon as she takes office. She was expected to take those actions and sign a series of executive orders kicking off her agenda later Saturday.
Spanberger has cast her election as a victory for a long line of women who have broken barriers in Virginia — including her Republican opponent last year, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who in 2021 became the first woman elected to that role. Just as Virginia delayed ratifying the 19th Amendment for 32 years after it passed in 1920, Spanberger’s mother spent years lobbying the state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. It did so in 2020 under the leadership of its first female Speaker of the House of Delegates, Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax).
After being sworn in before spectators facing the Capitol, Spanberger was set to watch a traditional parade and attend an inaugural ball in the evening.
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