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Virginia Governor election: Spanberger vs Earle-Sears
Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA).
Anna Moneymaker | Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Virginia voters on Tuesday are poised to pick their first female governor and weigh in on a scandal-rocked state attorney general’s race.
The race for governor will make history, regardless of whether the winner is Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger or Winsome Earle-Sears, the state’s Republican lieutenant governor.
Virginia is one of 18 states that have never had a female governor. The winner will succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who is term-limited from running again.
Polls of the governor’s race, one of just two such contests taking place the year after President Donald Trump’s election in 2024, have consistently favored Spanberger.
Meanwhile, the state attorney general’s race between Democratic nominee Jay Jones and Republican incumbent Jason Miyares has tightened to an apparent toss-up amid a major controversy.
Jones once appeared likely to dominate over Miyares, polls showed. But Jones’ campaign has come under intense fire since early last month, when his 2022 texts envisioning violence against a GOP political opponent were published by National Review.
Jones has repeatedly apologized for sending the texts, including during his Oct. 16 debate with Miyares.
The scandal shook up elections statewide, with Republican groups spending millions on a flurry of ads attacking Jones, NBC News reported. The texts emerged as Republicans have sought to link Democrats’ rhetoric to acts of political violence, including the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Some Virginia Democrats disavowed the texts, but few if any called on Jones to drop out of the race. Jones joined Spanberger and former President Barack Obama at a get-out-the-vote rally in Norfolk on Saturday.
Earle-Sears saw a fundraising boost as the controversy unfolded, and she sought to capitalize on the scandal in her mid-October debate versus Spanberger. But multiple polls released shortly before Election Day show Spanberger maintaining a double-digit lead over her opponent.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
