CNN

Democrat Abigail Spanberger is elected Virginia’s first female governor, CNN’s Decision Desk projects

By CNN

Published November 4, 2025 8:10 pm

CNN

By Eva McKend, CNN

(CNN) — Abigail Spanberger, a former Democratic congresswoman and CIA officer, will be elected Virginia’s next governor and become the state’s first female chief executive, CNN’s Decision Desk projects.

She beat Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears after running a campaign focused on affordability and addressing local concerns about the impact of federal job cuts and the government shutdown on a state with more than 300,000 US government employees. Spanberger also frequently tied Earle-Sears to President Donald Trump, labeling the Republican as a Trump acolyte even though the president didn’t endorse her.

Her victory will flip control from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and gives national Democrats a boost as they try to respond to the second Trump administration.

It’s also a boost for centrists in the Democratic Party who have fought to establish themselves as a key part of the Democratic coalition due to their ability to win in swing districts and purple states.

Spanberger, 46, is a mother of three who served in law enforcement and the CIA before entering politics. She was first elected to Virginia’s 7th Congressional District after beating former Rep. Dave Brat, who shocked onetime House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a Republican primary, and served three terms before leaving the House this year.

Spanberger came out to huge cheers from her supporters at her election night event Tuesday night after CNN projected the Democrat would win Virginia’s governor race.

“Tonight we sent a message,” she said. “We sent a message to every corner of the commonwealth, a message to our neighbors and our fellow Americans across the country. We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship.”

The first woman governor-elect said, “A few minutes ago, Adam said to our daughters, ‘Your mom’s going to be the governor of Virginia,’ and I can guarantee those words have never been spoken in Virginia ever before.”

“It is a big deal that the girls and the young women I have met along the campaign trail now know with certainty that they can achieve anything,” she said.

In campaign messaging, Spanberger frequently touted her desire to bring people together and keep communities safe. Her law enforcement background led her to receive the coveted endorsement of Virginia’s Police Benevolent Association, even though the same group endorsed the Republican ticket four years ago. The Virginia PBA this year endorsed Republicans for lieutenant governor and attorney general.

She remained a disciplined messenger, focusing on economic issues while hitting Earle-Sears on social issues such as abortion access and same-sex marriage. Her ads aimed to portray Earle-Sears as a strident, inflexible conservative and often used versions of the same clip of Earle-Sears telling an unruly crowd, “I am speaking!”

Earle-Sears tried to recreate Youngkin’s winning playbook from four years ago against Democrat Terry McAuliffe, emphasizing deregulatory initiatives that would expand Virginia’s workforce. But she faced doubts from members of her own party throughout the contest about her campaign strategy and was running in a year when a Republican leads the White House. Historically, the party that doesn’t control Washington most often prevails in Virginia’s gubernatorial election.

An immigrant from Jamaica who served in the Marines, Earle-Sears holds socially conservative views on abortion and same-sex marriage. She made transgender youths’ participation in sports and policies around their use of public-school bathrooms a core focus, frequently appearing alongside concerned parents at news conferences across the state.

Spanberger declined repeatedly to get into specifics on these issues, saying she preferred local schools and districts enact their own policies.

In the campaign’s closing weeks, Earle-Sears sought to tie Spanberger to Virginia’s Democratic nominee for Attorney General Jay Jones after violent text messages he sent in 2022 were unearthed.