Abigail Spanberger Makes History, Sworn In As Virginia's 1st Female Governor

Since Virginia first became a commonwealth in 1776, only men have held the post.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Abigail Spanberger was sworn into office Saturday as Virginia’s first female governor, amid a cold drizzle outside the state Capitol after centuries of men holding the state’s top office.

Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin, also a Republican. It marks a new chapter in Virginia as Democrats pull the levers of power in state government while Republican President Donald Trump sits in the White House in neighboring Washington.

“The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me,” Spanberger said in her address. “I maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who work, generation after generation, to ensure women could be among those casting ballots, but who could only dream of a day like today.”

Spanberger quoted Patrick Henry, Virginia’s first governor, saying, “‘Let us not split into factions, which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.’ That was the charge Governor Henry put to Virginia at the close of the 18th century, and it is the charge we must answer again today.”

Two other Democrats were also sworn in. Ghazala F. Hashmi, the first Muslim woman to serve in statewide office in the U.S., is the new lieutenant governor. Jay Jones is Virginia’s first Black attorney general. He was sworn into his post, notably, in the former capital of the Confederacy.