2025 Virginia gubernatorial election

The 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2025, to elect the next governor of Virginia. The election was concurrent with other elections for Virginia's statewide offices, the House of Delegates, and other local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin was ineligible to run for re-election, as the Constitution of Virginia prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Neither former Democratic U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger nor Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears received opposition in their primaries, which led to an earlier campaign. In early April 2025, Spanberger and Earle-Sears were confirmed as the major party nominees. Spanberger defeated Earle-Sears by 527,271 votes — the largest gubernatorial margin for either party since the 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election. She won by approximately fifteen points, which was considered a landslide. In the aftermath of the 2024 Presidential Election, President Trump and Elon Musk enacted the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which laid off many federal workers. The 2025 October federal government shutdown further affected federal workers, while backlash was directed toward the Republican Party and Donald Trump during the shutdown. The issues surrounding federal workers helped boost Spanberger in Northern Virginia which contributed to her large victory margin due to President Trump's and Republican unpopularity on the issue. Most electoral pundits saw the election as a referendum on President Trump ahead of the 2026 midterms. Spanberger's campaign ran strongly on affordability and the economy which was considered the top issue for voters. In contrast, Earle-Sears focused heavily on transgender issues. Earle-Sears' campaign was unable to turn out low-propensity voters and retain Trump 2024 voters, while Spanberger retained most Harris 2024 voters and did well with the college-educated demographic. According to the CNN exit poll, President Trump held a -20 net approval rating in the state with 39% job approval: Spanberger won 92% of voters who disapproved of Trump, while she won first-time and third-party voters comfortably. In addition, Spanberger won Latino voters by 34 points and did well with Black and Asian American voters when Trump made significant improvements with minorities in the 2024 Presidential Election and in the state itself. Trump's unpopularity on the economy, immigration, and other issues hurt his standing with voters in Virginia. On Election Day, Spanberger won by 15.36% points which was an improvement from Harris' 5.78% win in the 2024 Presidential Election in Virginia. Her victory margin outperformed expectations from polls who expected Spanberger to win more modestly. Spanberger was elected the first female governor in the state's history, winning the largest gubernatorial margin for Democrats since the 1961 Virginia gubernatorial election. Her final vote margin is about 2 million votes, which is the largest gubernatorial vote total in Virginia's history. She is scheduled to be sworn in the 75th governor of Virginia on January 17, 2026.