Overview

• At the campaign’s lone debate, Abigail Spanberger declined to say whether she would rescind Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s directive keeping school bathrooms, locker rooms and sports separated by sex at birth, while Winsome Earle-Sears said she would keep it.
• New reports about registered sex offender Richard “Riki” Cox allegedly exposing himself in girls’ facilities, and emails with an Arlington school board member, focused attention on local policies allowing access based on gender identity.
• Spanberger denounced Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones’s 2022 messages fantasizing about killing former House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his children, but she stopped short of urging him to leave the race.
• Virginia Democrats defended Spanberger’s handling and emphasized that candidates are running separate races, as Republicans intensified messaging and released an ad highlighting her debate exchange on political violence.
• Polling referenced by multiple outlets shows Spanberger with a lead over Earle-Sears, while Republicans argue the controversies could tighten the governor’s race and jeopardize Jones in the attorney general contest.