Attendees listen as former President Obama joins former Congresswoman and current Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger at a rally Nov. 1 at Chartway Arena in Norfolk.
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Several last-minute surprises shook what political observers thought would be a quiet race in Virginia.
The commonwealth’s gubernatorial race — one of two elections held in the year following the presidential election — is often seen as a temperature test of what voters think of Washington’s leaders.
Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate and former congresswoman, maintained a lead in the polls from the start of the race against the Republican candidate, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
But this year, while the main concerns of voters are energy prices, housing affordability and jobs, the rest of the race has become a referendum on everything from political violence to redistricting.
Here, public media journalists from across Virginia bring us each issue.
DOGE and the federal government shutdown
Former President Barack Obama joins former Virginia congresswoman and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger at a rally Nov. 1 at Chartway Arena in Norfolk.
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The challenges The situation facing Virginia’s 320,000 federal workers and hundreds of thousands of federal contractors arose well before the October 1 government shutdown. Earlier this year, during Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts, thousands of Virginians were laid off.
Commonwealth Democrats are hoping voters’ anger over layoffs and furloughs will carry them to victory Tuesday night. On the campaign trail, Spanberger talks about defending federal workers in the face of “chaos coming from Washington.” At a campaign event Thursday, Spanberger put it this way: “The stakes in this election are serious. »
As the holiday stretches into a second month, Virginia Republicans also saw a political opening in the shutdown. “My opponent, all summer, has been playing political football with federal workers trying to say she loves them more than anyone,” Earle-Sears said on the debate stage, before criticizing Spanberger for encouraging congressional Democrats to resist any funding deal that didn’t include continuing health care subsidies.
But Earle-Sears didn’t shy away from the federal workforce cuts imposed by the Trump administration. She said she believes the allegations of “waste, fraud and abuse” and says the impact of the layoffs in Virginia will be minimal because of the economic strength she and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin have managed over the previous four years.
Political violence
The former Del. Jay Jones, Democratic candidate for attorney general, is pictured Sept. 12 at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond.
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A scandal in the race for attorney general has had repercussions. At the beginning of last month, SMS of 2022 show Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general and former member of the Virginia legislature, describing hypothetical violence against a political opponent.
Earle-Sears and other Republican candidates have attempted to link the text messages to the Charlie Kirk assassination, portraying Democrats as politically violent.
Spanberger condemned the posts and political violence in general, but did not withdraw or double down on his support for Jones. “It’s up to voters to make an individual choice based on that information,” she said during the gubernatorial debate.
Jones’ Republican opponent, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, is calling on Spanberger voters to split their tickets.
Electoral redistricting
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, Republican candidate for governor, chats with clerks and minority and majority leaders as they attempt to overturn his decision during a special session of the Virginia General Assembly, Wednesday, Oct. 29, at the Capitol in Richmond.
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Democrats in the Virginia Legislature threw another wrench in the campaign last week by calling a surprise series of meetings after North Carolina became another state to redraw its congressional map to favor the Republican Party at the request of President Trump.
The Virginia Legislature on Friday proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow redistricting before the 2026 midterm elections. Because it must be approved again by lawmakers next year before voters can finalize the amendment next spring, its success depends on Spanberger winning his race and Democrats maintaining control of the House of Delegates.
The extent to which the redistricting plan changes voters’ minds remains up for debate. Nearly a million voters cast ballots before Democrats announced their plan, while the redistricting session took delegates off the beaten path in the final full week of campaigning.
Earle-Sears, who presides over the state Senate as lieutenant governor, was also recalled to Richmond. She still managed to organize events around the stateand a news conference on the steps of the Virginia Capitol, while a small crowd held “Winsome For Governor” signs.
Spanberger has made few public comments on redistricting, beyond pointing out general support.
Transgender youth
Republican candidate for lieutenant governor John Reid shows Republican candidate for governor Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears at a news conference before a special session of the Virginia General Assembly Oct. 27 at the Capitol in Richmond.
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Republicans have made transgender youth in Virginia a major issue in their electoral campaign.
The controversy over transgender athletes and bathrooms in Virginia schools really came to a head when Republican Glenn Youngkin made it a focal point of his 2021 campaign for governor. This arguably helped him become the first elected Republican governor in more than a decade.
But even though Republicans will spend millions on ads around transgender students in 2025, a recent poll shows it’s a top concern for 3 percent of voters. The economy and fighting Trump’s policies are at the forefront of most voters’ minds.
Spanberger said she was probably ahead on the issue because Republicans “despise children.”
“Particularly the efforts to heavily politicize a group of children who need a little grace, and the adults around them to be considerate,” the former MP said.
“I’m not taking a stand because it’s the easiest thing to do. Of course, it’s not easy. I get abused for it,” Earle-Sears said. saidcomparing his support for cisgender students to the civil rights movement.
Jahd Khalil covers Virginia state politics for VPM News, Marguerite Barthel Covers northern Virginia for wamu, and Brad Kutner is the Richmond bureau chief for Radio IQ.
