Democrat Abigail Spanberger has won the race for Virginia governor after a closely watched election which her party hopes could signal a national trend.
The former congresswoman and CIA officer defeated the state’s Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.
Virginia’s leadership usually swings between Democrats and Republicans, meaning the outcome might serve as a bellwether for the electorate’s mood going into next year’s midterm elections.
Democrats also picked up a win in a governor’s race in New Jersey and another in New York City which elected its first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
The race in Virginia was being viewed as an indication of how people are feeling about the national government’s policies.
The southern US state is home to the Pentagon and many federal workers who have been affected by President Donald Trump’s sweeping spending cuts.
Spanberger, a former CIA officer and three-term congresswoman, who campaigned alongside former President Barack Obama last weekend, will become the first woman to lead the state.
“Tonight, we sent a message to the whole world,” the Democrat told supporters at a victory party on Tuesday night.
She declared that her state “chose pragmatism over partisanship and “our commonwealth over chaos”. Spanberger added that her victory “can set an example for the rest of the nation”.
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She will take over after four years under Republican Glenn Youngkin.
Virginia is bordered by the liberal-leaning Washington DC to the north, where many residents work in the nation’s capital or for the federal government. But the state also has large pockets of conservative voters throughout its rural districts, and swing voters.
Spanberger had highlighted the economic impact of Trump’s cuts to the federal government, which have impacted Virginia’s employment, and ran on a platform of increasing affordability.
Fellow Democrat Ghazala Hashmi won Virginia’s lieutenant governor’s race against Republican John Reid. The governor and lieutenant governor do not run on a joint ticket in the state.
Hashmi’s victory makes her the first Muslim woman elected to statewide office in the US.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) hailed Spanberger’s victory as “a resounding rejection of the self-serving and corrupt Trump establishment”.
“It’s time for Republicans to cherish their short time in power – because Democrats are going to keep winning, and we have a vision for this country that’s a lot bigger than building a ballroom,” said DNC chair Ken Martin.
Republican Earle-Sears touted Virginia’s economy under conservative leadership and leaned into cultural topics like transgender issues, which Republicans used successfully as a wedge issue in last year’s presidential election.
Trump had not formally endorsed Earle-Sears, although he encouraged Virginia voters to back all the Republican candidates up for election.
