Big Night For Democrats In VA: See Latest Election Updates, Reactions

Voices from across the political spectrum are reacting to a historic election night and a shift in the balance of power. On Tuesday, Virginia elected not only its first woman governor, but its first Black attorney general and the first Muslim woman to win a statewide office in the United States.

In a state hit hard by federal employee layoffs and the government shutdown, voters seemed prime for a change in leadership, boosting Democratic control in the House of Delegates.

Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday, defeating Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to give Democrats a key victory heading into the 2026 midterm elections and make history as the first woman ever to lead the Commonwealth.

In an interview with WUSA9, former Gov. Jim Gilmore, a Republican, said Virginia's choice for governor reflected voters' frustrations about federal layoffs, the government shutdown and continued inflation.

"This was just not the Republicans' night," he said.

Stephanie Uhl, a 38-year-old Defense Department employee, said the federal government shutdown was one reason she voted for Spanberger. Explaining that she is working without pay, she said, “I can afford (it) just fine,” but added that she's bothered “that it affects so many other people.”

Had she won Tuesday's election, Earle-Sears, 61, would have become the first Black woman to be elected as a governor in the United States.

Also Tuesday, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi won the lieutenant governor's race and will succeed Earle-Sears. Hashmi is the first Muslim woman to win a statewide office in the United States.

And in a night of firsts, Democratic challenger Jay Jones defeated Republican Jason Miyares to become the state's next attorney general. Democrats also retained control of the state legislature.

On Wednesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said during a news conference that he plans to work with Spanberger on a smooth transition to her administration. He also said he believed the federal government shutdown “had a major impact” on Tuesday’s election results, according to a WWBT report.

“I firmly believe … the government shutdown was a big factor in this election,” Youngkin said.

Spanberger, 46, promised to protect Virginia’s economy from the aggressive tactics of President Donald Trump’s second administration, which has culled the civil service, levied tariffs and shepherded a reconciliation bill curtailing the state’s already fragile health care system.

CNN’s exit poll found that Spanberger won 61 percent of the vote from those who have a federal worker or federal contractor in their household, compared to 52 percent support from those who do not.

Stephen Farnsworth, a political-science professor at the University of Mary Washington, told WTOP anchor Nick Iannelli and Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller on Tuesday that the Democratic candidates capitalized on a distaste toward Trump’s administration.

“This was very much a repudiation of the Trump policies and their painful impact on Virginia,” Farnsworth told WTOP. “An awful lot of votes are cast in Northern Virginia, and a lot of those people are connected to the federal government.”

David Richards, chair of the University of Lynchburg’s Political Science Department, also told WTOP he believes the win was less about Trump and more about Spanberger.

“She definitely was somebody who would remind people that she was not Trump, etc., but she didn’t dwell on that. She really talked much more about those pocketbook issues,” Richards said on Tuesday. “I think this idea of simply bashing Trump is not going to work in the midterms, and I think we’ve seen that tonight.”

In the race for lieutenant governor, Hashmi defeated Republican talk-radio host John Reid, the first openly gay man to receive a major party’s endorsement for statewide office in Virginia.

Hashmi is a former college professor who won the nomination after prevailing in a crowded June Democratic primary.

“This was possible because of the depth and breadth of the opportunities made available in this country and in this commonwealth," Hashmi said in her victory speech.

In a statement on social media, Reid thanked voters for the "incredible opportunity" to run and fight for Virginia.

"Though this chapter ends, my journey continues in a new direction tomorrow. I wish everyone the very best," he said.

In the race for attorney general, Jones ousted Miyares after Jones was criticized during the campaign, after text messages he wrote in 2022 endorsing violence toward a political rival were made public.

He is a former member of the state House of Delegates, representing a district around Norfolk for two terms.

Megan Berryhill, 39, told The Washington Post the text messages were part of the reason she did not cast her ballot for Jones.

“There’s a lot of negative, vitriolic type of speech happening, and I found that this time, it tended to be more on the Democrat side,” Berryhill said after voting in Woodbridge.

Clarence Dylan, 56, said he was not fazed.

“We’ve all said something stupid online, so I’m willing to forgive lapses like that,” he told the Post while voting in Alexandria.

In the state House of Delegates, Democrats are expected to maintain control and expand their narrow majority by several seats.

Democrats are expected to have at least a 62-seat majority, their largest Virginia House majority since 1989, according to a HuffPost report citing the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the arm of the party that works to elect Democrats to statehouses.

As of about three hours after the polls closed, Virginia House Democrats had flipped 11 seats.

"We invested early and aggressively to make this victory a reality, running candidates in all 100 districts," the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said in a post on X.

State Sen. Lamont Bagby, the state party chair, said in a statement obtained by NBC News that "Virginians turned out in force to support candidates who embody the very best of who we are — champions of fairness and truth over the forces of bigotry and deceit."

The Associated Press contributed reporting.