Democrats are celebrating victory in Virginia as their candidate for governor is projected to win at the top of the ticket in Tuesday’s election, turning the state leadership from red to blue.
Voters headed to the polls to cast ballots in what was the first major election since President Donald Trump won a year ago, and Democrats had been looking to get back in the game after a series of brutal setbacks.
While Virginia’s elections do not always serve as a bellwether for the following year’s midterms, the contests on Tuesday have been seen as a referendum on Trump.
Leading up to and on Election Day, the president fired off a series of social media posts begging his followers in the state to show up and cast ballots for Republicans.
With the polls now closed, Democrat Abigail Spanberger is projected to become the state’s next governor, winning the election against Republican nominee and current Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.
She is the first woman governor elected by the commonwealth.
Spanberger is a former House member who represented Virginia’s seventh congressional district until earlier this year. She previously served as a U.S. intelligence officer.
The race has largely focused on the economy and Trump’s policies, as Virginia serves as the backyard to Washington, DC.
CNN exit polling on Tuesday found more than 6 in 10 Virginians said they were dissatisfied with or angry about the way things are going in the country. One in five said that someone in their household was employed by the federal government or as a contractor.
Spanberger has seized on affordability and health care as well as the political turmoil coming out of the nation’s capitol. Heading into the final stretch, she campaigned with former President Barack Obama as well as the state’s two Democratic senators.
With her victory, the governor’s mansion will go from red to blue as Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin departs. He was elected in 2021, but unlike in other states, the governor of Virginia cannot serve consecutive terms, so he was not running.
However, Youngkin campaigned hard for his number two, Earle-Sears. While the lieutenant governor aligned herself with MAGA, she notably did not have Trump’s direct endorsement, even though he praised her candidacy.
Trump instead held a tele-rally on the eve of Election Day with Youngkin to boost GOP turnout, but none of the top Republican nominees for statewide office participated.
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