Democrats dominated up and down the ballot Tuesday in a sweeping referendum on President Donald Trump’s first year of his second term. The party’s statewide nominees won across the board, and House Democrats not only expanded their majority but came close to a veto-proof margin.
Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger — the first woman to be elected the chief executive of the commonwealth — defeated her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, by more than 15 points.
“Tonight, we sent a message — we sent a message to every corner of the commonwealth; a message to our neighbors and our fellow Americans across the country; we sent a message to the whole world — that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our commonwealth over chaos,” Spanberger said during her victory speech Tuesday night.
Earle-Sears gave a concession speech from her party in Leesburg.
“Life has ups and downs; you must never stay down; there is nothing down there,” Earle-Sears said to her supporters.
Earle-Sears said she called Spanberger but reached her voicemail, leaving a message asking the governor-elect to represent “all of us, and not just some of us.”
Spanberger thanked Earle-Sears for her service during her speech.
“Her military service and her years of service here in Virginia deserve our respect and our gratitude, and I ask that you join me in wishing her and her family well,” Spanberger said.
Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi defeated her Republican opponent, John Reid, by 11 points, and Attorney General-elect Jay Jones defeated Republican incumbent Jason Miyares by seven points.
Jones, who was embroiled in scandal for most of October, received some of the loudest applause of the night.
“Thank you to everybody who knocked on doors, who helped get out the vote, who gave their time and their money and their effort to support this campaign, everyone who didn’t give up on this campaign,” Jones said during his victory speech.
The Republican Attorney General Association applauded Miyares and noted that he outperformed the other Republican nominees.
“RAGA went all in for Jason Miyares, and we significantly outperformed the top of the ticket despite the harshest of political headwinds, from the federal government shutdown to Don Scott’s sham special session to change the narrative last week,” said RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper.
Spanberger’s performance is historic, but another memorable win from Tuesday night belongs to Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, who appears to have expanded his majority in the 100-chamber House of Delegates from 51 to 64 seats.
“Tonight we shocked the world, we sent a message of love and hope over fear and cruelty,” Scott said to the crowd at Spanberger’s party. “That is the message that the commonwealth of Virginia sent, not only to the nation, but to the entire world.”
Republican House incumbents who lost Tuesday include Dels. Bobby Orrock, Amanda Batten, Carrie Coyner, A.C. Cordoza, Geary Higgins, Ian Lovejoy, Kim Taylor, Mark Earley, Chad Green, Paul Milde, David Owen, and Chris Obenshain.
Democrats also won an open seat previously held by Republican Del. Baxter Ennis, who did not seek reelection.
“Tonight was an earthquake election in Virginia,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams. “Democrats ran winning campaigns across every corner of the state, clinching nearly every target race and netting the biggest House majority in nearly 40 years.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin is scheduled to comment on the race on Wednesday morning.
House Republicans have not released a statement at the time of this story’s publication.
