#abigail-spanberger

#abigail-spanberger

The Associated Press called the Virginia governor's race for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger early Tuesday evening. Jay Jones, the embattled Democratic candidate for attorney general and Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, also both prevailed against their Republican challengers. Spanberger, the 46-year-old former congresswoman and CIA case officer will become the first female governor of Virginia. Spanberger defeated the Republican lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears by 56 percent to 44 percent, with 79 percent of the vote counted, according to the AP.

It probably wasn't Bill Nye's political punditry that attracted thirteen hundred people to Charlottesville's hundred-and-thirteen-year-old, flag-and-bunting-clad Jefferson Theatre on the Tuesday evening two weeks before Election Day. The crowd inside had been lined up for hours to hear from Abigail Spanberger, the former congresswoman running for governor, and Pete Buttigieg, her star surrogate for the night. But the Science Guy, who'd got to know Spanberger through discussions on space policy, had the stage first.