On the night of Nov. 4, 2025, Virginia voters made history by electing its first female governor and first Muslim lieutenant governor.
From the very beginning of the polls opening yesterday morning, Democrat Abigail Spanberger led the race by a wide margin over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears. Spanberger’s race was one of the earliest called for the Democrats.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Democratic state senator Ghazala Hashmi easily defeated Republican conservative talk show host John Reid. Hashmi is now the first Indian to hold statewide office in the commonwealth, as well as the first Muslim woman to win a statewide race in the entire country.
Over in the attorney general’s race, it was neck and neck for a while, with Democrat Jay Jones managing to snag a win at the last moment. Jones narrowly beat Republican incumbent Jason Miyares, the first Cuban American in statewide office.
Voters in Arlington said they came out to make their voices heard, especially during this tense election season happening during a government shutdown. Virginia has the highest number of federal employees in this area, and many of them are not working right now.
“I’m a furloughed federal employee right now. There’s one party that specifically has complete control over the government right now, and I don’t have a job because of that,” said Dru, 36, a furloughed federal worker who also works in software. “It’s pretty safe to say I have to exercise my rights to do something about that.”
“I think the biggest thing for me is keeping our democracy democratic, whereas most Republicans seem to just fall in line with Trump,” said Elizabeth Foshe, 27, a graduate student at George Washington University.
“I think people are turning out because they want to see that victory,” Foshe added. “They want to see their vote towards someone who actually is going to win and support their policies.”
“Good government is boring government,” said Chris Buchheit, who works in the Department of State. “You want people who are effective administrators, people who understand the issues, and are able to bring people together in a way that’s less concerned with violent rhetoric.”
“For the last 20 years of my life, I’ve never been able to vote for something. I’ve only ever had to vote against something. It’s always the lesser of two evils,” commented Dru. “Give me something to vote for.”
Virginia saw a record number of voters this election season. The results could set the tone for next year’s midterms in the battle for control of Congress.
