Overview
- With most ballots counted, Abigail Spanberger held a lead of more than 14 points over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears.
- She ran on jobs and the cost of living, backed abortion rights, and pledged to revoke a state-police order on federal immigration cooperation.
- A former CIA officer and three-term congresswoman, she leaned on law-and-order credentials and won support from the Virginia Police Benevolent Association.
- Earle-Sears’ campaign aired anti-trans ads, including claims about locker rooms and pronouns, which Spanberger criticized as fearmongering after citing roughly $30 million in such attacks.
- Analysts pointed to Virginia’s demographic shifts and an open seat due to term limits as factors that gave Democrats a structural edge.