Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger held a press event Friday morning to outline her plans for making housing more affordable in the commonwealth. She also took questions from reporters ahead of the announcement on a range of political topics.
One of those questions focused on the ongoing public feud between the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, and President Donald Trump.
“I have no constructive suggestions there, other than I think they should perhaps both prioritize actually helping the American people and not dragging us all into their drama,” Spanberger said.
She was also asked about Virginia’s campaign finance laws, which have virtually no restrictions.
“Throughout all of my time in politics, when I was running for Congress and now as a candidate for governor, I hear time and time again that people feel like there’s no place for them in the political discussion or discourse,” Spanberger said.
“It’s one of the reasons why, as a member of Congress, I prioritized important ethics reform and campaign finance reform,” she continued. “As a candidate for Congress, I never took corporate PAC money, and I led the charge and wrote the original bill to ban members of Congress from being able to buy, sell or trade individual stocks as a way to certainly contend with any potential corruption.”
Spanberger did not offer specific details about what campaign finance reforms she might pursue if elected governor.
“I continue to be focused on issues of ethics reform and campaign finance reforms, and looking at what can be a better fit moving forward to ensure that Virginians in every corner of our commonwealth know that the people they’re electing are going to Richmond and focusing on how to actually solve problems, how to ensure that they are hearing all sides of an argument on any given issue and making what they deem to be the best decision possible,” she said.
While Democrats continue to criticize Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, for her moral opposition to gay marriage and her appearance at a commencement ceremony at a Virginia school that calls homosexuality and bisexuality “sinful and prohibited,” Spanberger took a moment Friday to acknowledge Pride Month.
“I wish everyone a beautiful, happy Pride Month,” she said. “It’s a time to celebrate what makes us a fantastically vibrant and diverse community, and celebrate all of our community members.”
Earle-Sears has made few public campaign appearances so far — a contrast with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s 2021 campaign.