The 75th gubernatorial election on Nov. 4 marked a historic change in Virginia’s government. A factor that often sways the election is the gender of the candidates. But this year, both runners were women, with Abigail Spanberger defeating Winsome Earle-Sears by over 500,000 votes to secure her spot as Virginia’s first female governor. With her victory, many recognize the change Virginia will witness in the coming years.
“Women tend to support different things than men,” senior Annika Singh said. “We see this in political culture all the time. Women are more likely to support welfare programs.”
Spanberger’s policies center around improving education and making Virginia more affordable. She aims to increase inclusivity within schools, alleviate the teacher shortage through methods including increasing pay, reduce the threat of gun violence on school safety via improved “safe storage laws” and make higher education more affordable through ways such as streamlining financial aid for students. Beyond schools, Spanberger said she will work to boost overall affordability for Virginians. She values lowering the costs of healthcare, housing prices, energy bills and childcare, striving to lift financial burdens off families.
“[Spanberger] has a record of competency in the House of Representatives,” senior Edward Burros said. “She has a more coherent plan for the cost of living. I agree with her plan to sign the bills that Youngkin vetoed about minimum wage and paid leave.”
Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Earle-Sears, is the incumbent lieutenant governor. Earle-Sears advocated for parent rights and increased teacher salaries in schools, as well as lower costs of living to address the housing affordability crisis. She emphasized the elimination of controversial taxes, such as the car tax, and the creation of more jobs for Virginians. She also planned to open state police action centers in cities with elevated crime rates.
“Earle-Sears was not a bad choice,” senior Adelaide Thomas said. “I know her family immigrated from Jamaica, and she’s big on promoting girls to take up roles in politics.”
Earle-Sears’ platform aligned with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s approach on education and fiscal issues. She also expressed support for President Donald Trump’s policies throughout her campaign.
“A big part of Earle-Sears’ campaign piggybacked off of the Trump administration,” senior Bella Breillat said. “Spanberger is focused more on promoting her own party’s values rather than tearing the others down. She’s advocating for funding—we could definitely use that.”
Spanberger enjoyed broad support from a wide variety of voters, including the majority of younger Virginians; a Highlander poll of 274 McLean seniors prior to the election found that 42.3% who are eligible to vote would choose Spanberger, while 10.2% would vote for Earle-Sears. To add to the Democrats’ victory in Virginia, Ghazala Hashmi secured the office of lieutenant governor, making her the first Muslim in that capacity, and Jay Jones was elected attorney general. This strong performance was mirrored in the Virginia House of Delegates, where Democrats gained 13 seats. The diversity of the Democratic candidates spurred positive feedback from McLean students.
“I’m pretty happy that [Jones and Hashmi] won,” junior Parisa Khan said. “It shows how Virginia’s now being more accepting of both genders, as well as people of color.”
Spanberger is expected to focus on affordability as her first priorities in office. In particular, Spanberger plans to use the $572 million surplus from the FY 2025 state budget, a result of Youngkin’s budget decisions, to tackle the lack of accessible healthcare.
“I’m excited to see what Spanberger will do for local businesses and the economy in general,” Khan said. “I’m not super into politics, but I do hope that she improves Virginia and turns the state around.”
