This article has been updated since it first appeared online.
Abigail Spanberger supporters celebrate at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on Tuesday night.
The suspense killed no one, it turns out. In emphatic fashion, former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger became the first woman to win Virginia’s governorship on Tuesday, headlining an impressive Democratic sweep of all three statewide offices — governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general — while flipping 13 seats in the House of Delegates. Forget the blue wave. This was a red washout.
In unofficial results as of Friday morning, Spanberger defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears by 14 percentage points, seemingly shattering the notion that Virginia remains — at least heading into Tuesday’s election — a purplish swing state; by comparison, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, widely credited with ushering in a “red wave” in 2021, won by less than 2 points.
The night was over, in fact, while Spanberger’s supporters were still waiting in line for drinks at an election night watch party at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. The crowd erupted when NBC called the race at 7:54 p.m., and over the next two hours, Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi would become the first Muslim woman to win statewide election, by nearly 11 points, and running mate Jay Jones, whose violent text messages fantasizing about killing a GOP lawmaker dominated the final month of the attorney general’s race, won in a relative squeaker — 6 points.
“It’s 2017 all over again. You have Republicans who can’t bring themselves to put any daylight between themselves and Donald Trump,” says Bob Holsworth, a longtime political analyst and former humanities dean at Virginia Commonwealth University. “The Democrats just routed them at every level.”
Perhaps most impressive is the run of Democratic gains in the Virginia House since Trump first took office in 2016. In less than a decade, the partisan makeup of the 100-member chamber has virtually flipped: In 2016, Republicans held a massive 66-34 split over Democrats. After picking up 13 seats on Tuesday, Democrats now have a 64-36 edge over Republicans, according to unofficial results.
In metro Richmond, four House seats flipped from red to blue: In western Henrico County’s 57th District, Democrat May Nivar handily defeated incumbent Republican David Owen; in western Chesterfield County, Leslie Mehta eked out a narrow win over Republican Mark Earley Jr. in the red-leaning 73rd; Democrat Lindsey Dougherty upset moderate Republican Carrie Coyer in the 75th District (Chesterfield, Hopewell and Prince George); and Kimberly Pope Adams won her rematch with the GOP’s Kim Taylor in the Petersburg-based 82nd. In Richmond’s three uncontested local races, Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin, Sheriff Antionette Irving and Treasurer Nichole Richardson Armstead were reelected.
Not a single nonincumbent Republican won on Tuesday; in the 13 seats that did flip, all were won by Democratic challengers.
From Youngkin to Earle-Sears to Attorney General Jason Miyares, thought to have the best chance of splitting the ticket this year, all struggled to distance themselves from the president’s federal spending and job cuts, which have had a disproportionate impact on Virginia.
“Sixty-six seats to 34 in the Trump era, and the Republican Party of Virginia can’t bring themselves to criticize what Trump has done,” Holsworth says. “If you want to know who really has Trump Derangement Syndrome, there’s your answer.”
Spanberger, for her part, took the opening. Her campaign focused on economic issues — bringing down prices, the cost of health care and protecting Virginia jobs — while distancing herself from Trump’s culture wars. During her victory speech Tuesday night, not once did she mention the president’s name.
Spanberger also distanced herself from the growing progressive wing of the Democratic Party; while New York City elected a democratic socialist as mayor, Virginia’s governor-elect pledged not to sign a bill repealing Virginia’s right-to-work status. During her time in Congress, she once encouraged fellow Democrats “to not ever use the words ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ again.”
Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger speaks to supporters gathered at the Greater Richmond Convention Center after becoming the first woman to win Virginia's governorship on Nov. 4.
During her six years on Capitol Hill, and the campaign trail this year, Spanberger has remained remarkably consistent.
“Tonight, we sent a message. 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. We chose our commonwealth over chaos,” Spanberger said in her victory speech. “You all chose leadership that will focus relentlessly on what matters most: lowering costs, keeping our communities safe and strengthening our economy for every Virginian — leadership that will focus on problem solving, not stoking division.”
That won’t be easy, of course. A year of federal spending cuts coupled with the government shutdown has Virginia staring at an economic slowdown, if not an outright recession, that’s expected to hit hardest in 2026.
Delivering on promises to lower prices, reduce health care costs and protect jobs will be tough sledding, Holsworth says. Several of Spanberger’s proposals — raising the minimum wage to $15 and her advocacy for paid sick and family leave — will likely cost even more.
“She has a lot of issues that she has to deal with,” Holsworth says. “On one hand, she says she wants to lower costs. On the other hand, the first thing Democrats are going to present her with are bills — minimum wage, paid family leave — and you’re going to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative; in the short term, they are not necessarily lowering costs.”
And despite Spanberger’s mastery at avoiding Trump’s culture wars, the task becomes more difficult as chief executive of now decidedly blue Virginia. Immigrant deportations, attacks on public universities, additional federal spending cuts and Virginia Democrats’ recent redistricting effort will likely require a more robust political defense.
“It’s not her instinct to pick fights,” Holsworth says. “Spanberger talked about the chaos Trump brought to Virginia. She didn’t talk about the threats to democracy; she didn’t talk about ICE in the communities … those weren’t the essence of her criticisms. As governor, she’s not going to be able to avoid the issues that have given rise to that.”
So go ahead and party like it's 2017. In January, the real work begins.
