Abigail Spanberger elected Virginia governor in a historic first that boosts Democrats ahead of 2026

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Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday, defeating Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to give Democrats a key victory heading into the 2026 midterm elections and make history as the first woman ever to lead the commonwealth.

Spanberger’s victory will flip partisan control of the governor’s office when she succeeds outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Also Tuesday, Democrat Ghazala F. Hashmi won the lieutenant governor’s race and will succeed Earle-Sears. Hashmi is the first Muslim woman to win a statewide office in the U.S.

Spanberger, a former congresswoman and CIA case officer, won with a campaign emphasizing economic issues, a strategy that may serve as a model for other Democrats in next year’s elections as they try to break Donald Trump’s and Republicans’ hold on power in Washington and gain ground in statehouses.

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Got the NJ Governor too.

And looks like Mamdani got 52%, beating every other candidate combined. (Not all reported so far)

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Do you have to win a majority? Plurality? Ranked choice?

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Just a plurality in NY, but getting the majority means republicans can’t use Sliwa not dropping out as an excuse.

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When you’re furloughed from your federal job, you have time to vote

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As a former federal worker, you always have time to vote. It’s one of the given benefits. IIRC you can 2 hours of paid leave on election day to go vote

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Day off to vote needs to be mandatory

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Was Virginia one of the states that was going to heavily redistrict? I wonder if this affects that.

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Deleted by author

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I haven’t heard anything about redistricting from sweater vest but it might have been talked about with other repubs. I doubt VA will do the redistricting thing to carve up more seats, but I wouldn’t mind being surprised by Spanberger.

Edit: I just read they have 3 main agendas this time: protecting same sex marriage, eshrining abortion rights in an amendment, and passing redistricting reform that would then get voted on by the people.

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I think I was confused with another state. Virginia is heavily dem and is looking to redistrict to oppose Texas and others.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/04/virginia-house-of-delegates-winner-00636533

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