Democrat Abigail Spanberger is set to become the first woman to govern Virginia after reclaiming the governor’s mansion from Republicans on Tuesday, US media projected. The victory represents the first major verdict from voters on Donald Trump’s second term.
While New York City’s high-profile mayoral race drew national headlines, Virginia’s election — alongside a gubernatorial contest in New Jersey — was seen as a sharper measure of Trump’s influence and a clearer indication of how next year’s midterm elections might unfold.
Both contests, featuring centrist Democrats against Trump-aligned Republicans, were viewed as a litmus test for whether moderate voters had accepted the president’s aggressive cost-cutting agenda or intended to punish his party in 2026.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has overhauled the federal bureaucracy, shuttering entire agencies and eliminating an estimated 200,000 jobs, even prior to a government shutdown.
Virginia, which ranks second only to California in the size of its federal workforce, was long considered likely to swing Democratic. Polls throughout the campaign consistently showed Spanberger holding a seven to twelve-point lead.
The former CIA officer and three-term congresswoman was projected to defeat Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a Marine veteran and staunch Trump supporter, by a comfortable margin, potentially extending into double digits.
“Throughout the year, Virginians have seen our economy under attack, jobs ripped away, and prices skyrocket,” Spanberger wrote on social media before polls closed. “They’re tired of the chaos. They’re ready for a Governor who will be laser-focused on growing our economy and lowering costs — a Governor who will put them first.”
A Tighter Race at the Top –
Positioning herself as a defender against Trump’s federal downsizing, Spanberger pledged to be “a governor who will stand up” for the thousands of federal workers affected by layoffs under Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Earle-Sears, meanwhile, sought to energise conservative voters, following the playbook of outgoing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin. Her campaign emphasised culture-war issues, including transgender athletes and abortion, rather than economic concerns.
In a historic first, Ghazala Hashmi was projected to defeat Republican talk-show host John Reid in the Virginia lieutenant governor’s race, becoming the first Muslim woman to win a statewide election in US history.
In New Jersey, Democratic former Navy pilot Mikie Sherrill was also favoured to win but faced a tighter contest against Republican businessman Jack Ciattarelli. Trump’s decision to freeze funding for the Hudson Tunnel project — a vital link between New Jersey and New York — was considered a boost for Sherrill, who has vowed to “fight this tooth and nail.”
Across the United States, Tuesday saw elections at multiple levels of government. In Pennsylvania, voters selected new state supreme court justices, while Californians weighed in on redistricting through Proposition 50.
Governor Gavin Newsom led the effort to redraw congressional districts in California in response to Trump’s push in Texas for a rare mid-decade redistricting, aimed at securing five additional Republican seats in a closely divided US Congress. Approval of Proposition 50 in left-leaning California would likely offset the impact of Texas’s manoeuvre, maintaining the balance of power.