Democrat Abigail Spanberger has won the Virginia governor race, defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, numerous outlets project.
Spanberger, a former CIA agent who served in the House of Representatives from 2019 to 2025, overcame the headwinds from attorney general candidate Jay Jones, whose politically violent texts threatened to derail Spanberger’s campaign.
Spanberger campaigned against President Donald Trump and his policies to root waste, fraud, and abuse out of the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency. Early results show the Democrat’s strongest support came from the Northern Virginia suburbs near Washington, D.C., home to many federal bureaucrats.
The race changed in early October, when National Review’s Audrey Fahlberg exposed text messages in which Jay Jones, the Democrat candidate for attorney general, fantasized about shooting then-House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican. Jones said that, in the hypothetical situation where he had only two bullets and could shoot Adolf Hitler, Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, or Gilbert, he declared he would use both bullets on Gilbert.
He later fantasized about Gilbert’s children dying in their mother’s arms, and he defended this disgusting death wish by saying, “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
While Jones sent the texts in August 2022, the revelation came less than a month after the political assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Spanberger said she was “disgusted” by the remarks. She added, “as a candidate—and as the next governor of our commonwealth—I will always condemn violent language in our politics.”
The Democrat enjoyed a polling lead against Earle-Sears for most of the race, but the Republican gained steam in mid-to-late October.
