Democrat Abigail Spanberger is leaning into a daddy’s girl image in the Virginia governor’s race, highlighting how her father inspired her career in law enforcement.
Ms. Spanberger, a former member of Congress who served in the CIA, is out with a new TV ad that seeks to solidify her image as a moderate leader and counter efforts to portray her as a radical liberal ahead of her showdown this November with Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
“You dream that your kids follow in your footsteps and, for me, that dream happened,” Martin Davis, Ms. Spanberger’s father, says in the ad. “My daughter Abigail went into law enforcement just like me.”
He adds, “She worked drug cases and helped take child predators off the street. Then she joined the CIA to keep our country safe.”
The Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, both this year, have traditionally served as off-year referendums on the sitting president, providing a sense of the overall political environment as both parties gear up for midterm elections next year.
Virginia voters also will be voting for lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates.
President Trump lost Virginia in the 2024 election by almost 6 points to Vice President Kamala Harris. Mr. Trump lost Virginia to President Jospeh R. Biden by 10 precentage points in 2020.
The GOP struck back in 2021, when Gov. Glenn Youngkin led a ticket that included Ms. Winsome-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares to a sweep of the statewide races in Virginia.
Democrats are now bullish about their chances this fall, with Ms. Spanberger leading the charge.
She has maintained a lead in the early polling against Ms. Winsome-Sears, who served as an electrician in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1983 to 1986.
In the new ad, Mr. Martin also played up the fact that outside groups ranked his daughter as one of the most bipartisan members of the House, where she held the seat in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District between 2019 and 2025.
“Even though Congress is so divided, she worked with both parties to get things done,” he says. “Service is something I was always talking about — and I guess Abigail was listening — and that’s how I know she’ll make a great governor.
