The 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2025, to elect the governor of Virginia. Democratic former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears. Spanberger succeeded Republican incumbent Glenn Youngkin, who was term-limited and ineligible to seek a second consecutive term.
Earle-Sears and Spanberger ran unopposed in their respective party primaries. In April 2025, they were confirmed as the major party nominees. The central issues of the campaign were the economy and affordability, which included the federal layoffs from the Trump administration. Transgender rights and political rhetoric were secondary issues. President Donald Trump's approval and perceived performance on the economy, healthcare, immigration, and other issues were viewed as contributing factors for Earle-Sears's loss.
Spanberger won the general election by 15.36%—the largest gubernatorial percentage margin since 2009. Democrats flipped all three statewide executive offices and expanded their majority in the House of Delegates, creating a Democratic trifecta in Virginia's government for the first time since 2019. Spanberger was elected the first female governor of the state, winning by the largest Democratic gubernatorial margin since 1961. She was sworn in as the 75th governor of Virginia on January 17, 2026.
Background
In the 2021 gubernatorial election, Youngkin defeated former governor Terry McAuliffe by two points, after Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by 10 points. The central issues of the election were the economy and education. In that election, Republicans flipped the three statewide executive offices and the House of Delegates. In the 2023 legislative elections, Democrats narrowly flipped the House of Delegates and maintained control of the Senate. Youngkin, who had a 20% net approval, was ineligible to run for re-election to a second consecutive term due to term limits set in the Virginia Constitution.
In the 2024 presidential election, Republican former president Donald Trump was re-elected, which Democrats hoped would energize their voter base in the off-year elections. Trump's personal popularity and voters' position on the economy were viewed as crucial to which party would win the election. In January 2025, Trump and Elon Musk introduced the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE laid off thousands of federal workers, mainly in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, where 140,000 federal workers resided.
Due to Virginia's Democratic lean, the state was viewed as a likely gubernatorial pickup for Democrats while national circumstances were unfavorable for Republicans. With the exception of 2013, Virginia has not elected a governor from the same party as the incumbent president since 1977. The economy was described as the top issue for voters, while healthcare and education followed. There were economic concerns over tariffs and federal cuts from the Trump administration.
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Winsome Earle-Sears, lieutenant governor of Virginia (2022–2026)
Disqualified
- Amanda Chase, former state senator from SD-11 (2016–2024), and candidate for governor in 2021
- Dave LaRock, former state delegate from HD-33 (2014–2024)
Declined
- Jason Miyares, attorney general of Virginia (2022–2026) (ran for re-election)
- Rob Wittman, U.S. representative from VA-01 (2007–present) (running for re-election in 2026)
Campaign
On September 4, 2024, Winsome Earle-Sears declared her candidacy for governor. She was criticized by attorney general Jason Miyares, who was viewed as a potential candidate, for making her announcement ahead of the 2024 elections. After the 2024 elections, Miyares declined to run for governor, with Earle-Sears being described as the presumptive nominee.
On February 27, former state senator Amanda Chase and former state delegate Dave LaRock entered the primary in opposition to Earle-Sears. They associated themselves with President Trump and criticized Earle-Sears's previous comments about him. Despite the newfound opposition, Earle-Sears was still viewed as the favorite in the primary.
Neither Chase nor LaRock was able to qualify for the primary ballot. Earle-Sears was subsequently announced as the Republican nominee on April 5.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Abigail Spanberger, former U.S. representative from VA-07 (2019–2025)
Withdrawn
- Levar Stoney, mayor of Richmond (2017–2025) (ran for lieutenant governor)
Declined
- Bobby Scott, U.S. representative from VA-03 (1993–present)
Campaign
In 2020, Governor Ralph Northam encouraged Abigail Spanberger to eventually run for governor. On November 13, 2023, she announced her candidacy and did not run for re-election in the House of Representatives in 2024.
In December 2023, Richmond mayor Levar Stoney declared his candidacy. Despite Stoney's candidacy, Spanberger was viewed as the favorite to win the primary due to his low statewide name recognition. There was private pressure from Democrats for Stoney to withdraw from the race to allow Spanberger to win the nomination. In April 2024, Stoney withdrew from the race to "avoid a costly and damaging primary" and unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor.
In December 2024, U.S. representative Bobby Scott, explored the possibility of running for governor, despite doubt from internal sources over whether he would actually do so. In February 2025, Scott hinted he would not run for governor and ultimately did not file a candidacy. On April 3, Spanberger secured the Democratic nomination after no other candidacies were filed.
Third parties and independents
Candidates
Withdrawn
- Donna Charles (write-in candidate), former U.S. Air Force officer and federal civil servant (endorsed Spanberger)
General election
Campaign
This was the first gubernatorial election in the state's history in which both major party nominees were women. President Trump instated tariffs on other nations including Canada and China. The tariffs were expected to increase prices on consumer goods from companies who relied on foreign imports. Spanberger disagreed with the tariffs and said they were "... a massive tax hike on Virginians — plain and simple."
Virginia Democrats highlighted Earle-Sears's conservative positions on social issues and support for tariffs. After the June primaries, the economy emerged as the main issue for both campaigns. Spanberger's campaign message was focused on affordability: she continued to oppose federal layoffs and tariffs from the Trump administration. Earle-Sears pledged to continue Youngkin's economic policies. After Earle-Sears replaced her campaign manager, there were internal concerns from the Virginia Republican Party over how her campaign was managed. By July, Spanberger significantly outraised Earle-Sears, while there was lack of Republican investment in the race compared to 2021.
Earle-Sears's statements on federal workers throughout the campaign were criticized as "self-inflicted wounds" and supportive of President Trump's DOGE cuts. Earle-Sears began to focus on transgender policies in Northern Virginia's schools, which mirrored Youngkin's focus on critical race theory in 2021. On August 21, Earle-Sears's speech at an Arlington County School Board meeting received protests. One protest sign stated, "Hey Winsome, if trans [sic] can't share your bathroom, then Blacks can't share my water fountain." The sign received media attention and condemnation from Spanberger and Earle-Sears. Spanberger continued to campaign on affordability issues, which remained the top issue for voters. She campaigned in Southwest Virginia and attempted to win over rural voters who voted Trump in 2024. By October, Earle-Sears ran mainly on anti-transgender policies in schools. Earle-Sears ran attack ads against Spanberger which resembled the "Kamala is for they/them" ad from the 2024 presidential election. She spent $2 million on anti-transgender and anti-woke ads, which made up a significant portion of her campaign advertisements.
On October 1, a federal government shutdown began, which further affected federal workers and became a central issue by the end of the campaign. According to several polls, the Republican Party was largely blamed for the shutdown. Both Spanberger and Earle-Sears opposed the shutdown, while Spanberger tied the shutdown to President Trump's policies on federal workers. Political violence became another central issue to the campaign after the Charlie Kirk assassination, which Republicans hoped would energize low-turnout voters. The conservative National Review released text messages from Jay Jones—the Democratic nominee for attorney general—which referred to former Republican speaker Todd Gilbert: "If those guys die before me...I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves." He also stated, "Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time." He reportedly fantasized about the death of Gilbert's children.
The text messages were criticized by President Trump, Glenn Youngkin, and other prominent Republicans officials who called for Jones to withdraw from the race. Spanberger condemned the text messages but did not call for him to withdraw from the race. Earle-Sears attempted to tie Jones to Spanberger and spent $1 million on attack ads, which criticized Spanberger's stance on Jones' text messages. Democrats largely defended Spanberger's response to the messages, while the messages themselves received significant media attention. At James Madison University's football game, one fan shouted at Earle-Sears, "Go back to Haiti." The event received condemnation from the university, and the fan was banned from the university.
Former president Barack Obama appeared in two ads for Spanberger's campaign which highlighted abortion rights and economic issues. Obama further criticized President Trump's policies. Other national figures campaigned for Spanberger, including Pete Buttigieg, Andy Beshear, Ruben Gallego, Josh Shapiro, and Wes Moore. Obama and Spanberger held a high-profile rally in Norfolk known as the "Virginia Votes Rally." Obama's speech focused on the economy, democracy, and Trump—most of Spanberger's advertisements continued to tie Earle-Sears to Trump. Trump did not campaign with nor officially endorse Earle-Sears; however, he did support her over Spanberger.
Debate
Both Spanberger and Earle-Sears initially declined to debate. In August, they agreed to meet on October 9 at Norfolk State University for one televised debate.
Topics discussed during the debate included repeal of the car tax, political violence and rhetoric, the federal government shutdown, economic policies on data centers, affordability, transgender policies in schools, reproductive rights, immigration, education, and marijuana legalization. Earle-Sears's debate style was described as "aggressive" as she frequently interrupted Spanberger. Spanberger sometimes "simply stood silent" and did not answer Earle-Sears's questions directed toward her. Earle-Sears made Jay Jones's messages and transgender policies a central part of her messaging.
Spanberger condemned Jones's text messages but did not call for him to withdraw from the race. She declined to state if she would renew her endorsement of Jones. Earle-Sears pressured Spanberger to call for Jones to withdraw from the race. Both candidates attacked each other on political violence and rhetoric. On education, Earle-Sears called for policies that would ban transgender students from bathrooms and sports which do not conform to their birth sex; Spanberger called for local control over transgender policies in schools. Both Earle-Sears and Spanberger called for bipartisan support to end the shutdown.
Earle-Sears, who was not endorsed by Trump, stated, "I will take all endorsements, including the president." According to CNN, Spanberger "went on offense" when she said Earle-Sears previously opposed same-sex marriage; Earle-Sears responded by saying, "That's not discrimination."
Analysis
Political analyst David Richards said Spanberger won the debate: "Earle-Sears' attempts to drag Spanberger into the Jay Jones scandal were unsuccessful. Overall, I'd give Spanberger a small edge because she seemed calmer and more professional." On their separate performances, Richards stated, "Spanberger held her own and came off as much more polished and capable, if not a little cold. Earle-Sears often came across as slightly unhinged."
When Earle-Sears was asked in an October interview about her debate response where she said, "That's not discrimination", Earle-Sears replied, "I was thinking that I was saying, 'I'm not discriminating.'"
Endorsements
Winsome Earle-Sears (R)
- Byron Donalds, FL-19 (2021–present)
- Thelma Drake, former VA-02 (2005–2009)
- Jen Kiggans, VA-02 (2023–present)
- John McGuire, VA-05 (2025–present)
- Rob Wittman, VA-01 (2007–present)
- Bob McDonnell, former governor of Virginia (2010–2014)
- Jason Miyares, attorney general of Virginia (2022–2026)
- Glenn Youngkin, governor of Virginia (2022–2026)
- 3 state senators
- 2 state delegates
- 5 commonwealth's attorneys
- 82 county sheriffs
- Bobby Dyer, mayor of Virginia Beach (2018–present)