Democrats in Virginia seemed to be on top of the political world. In last November\u2019s election, they won every statewide office and flipped 13 seats in the legislature, gains that surprised even optimistic Democrats. And they were hopeful they might flip as many as four seats in Congress this year after passing a resolution to redraw the state\u2019s congressional map.<\/p>\n
Standing to reap the benefits of a surge in Democratic power was Abigail Spanberger, the newly elected governor and the first woman to hold the office.<\/p>\n
Six months later, much of that momentum had evaporated.<\/p>\n
Democrats were waylaid on Friday by a Virginia Supreme Court decision striking down a new congressional map that had been narrowly approved last month by voters in a referendum.<\/p>\n
And though the Democrats\u2019 redistricting push began before Governor Spanberger was even elected, the court\u2019s decision was nonetheless a blow to her, the leader of a party that was feeling bullish just a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n
During her campaign, she was initially skeptical of the gerrymandering effort Democratic leaders were undertaking. But after their efforts cleared one hurdle after another, Ms. Spanberger offered public, if measured, support for the proposed map, which led to to criticism from the both sides of the political aisle.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is the leader of the party,\u201d said L. Douglas Wilder, the Democratic governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. And the new map was her party\u2019s priority, which gave her a big, if not necessarily welcome, stake in its fate.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Friday, Ms. Spanberger said she was disappointed by the ruling. She added that her \u201cfocus as governor will be on ensuring that all voters have the information necessary to make their voices heard this November in the midterm elections because in those elections we \u2014 the voters \u2014 will have the final say.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the first few months of her term, Ms. Spanberger has found herself routinely buffeted by lawmakers on her left and right.<\/p>\n
Her relationship with Democratic leaders in the General Assembly has been prickly. Some legislators have openly criticized the changes she has proposed to legislation, accusing her of hamstringing long-sought Democratic priorities.<\/p>\n
After she sent lawmakers her suggested amendments to a variety of bills they had passed, the legislature just sent many of the original versions back, daring her to veto or sign as is. Some Democratic legislators have begun to refer to her derisively as \u201c141,\u201d as if she were an extra member of the General Assembly.<\/p>\n
Republicans have had their own criticisms, faulting her for being too supportive of the Democratic agenda. In pursuing some Democratic goals, even those she campaigned on \u2014 like rejoining a multistate pact to cut carbon emissions \u2014 some Republicans have accused her of betraying her pledges to be a pragmatic, bipartisan leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s got issues with her own Democrat caucus in both the House and the Senate; they do not seem to be reading from the same sheet of music,\u201d said State Senator Glen Sturtevant, a Republican. \u201cBut at the end of the day, she\u2019s the chief executive and the buck stops with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her declining polling numbers<\/a> appear to reflect this growing discontent. Though Ms. Spanberger tried to draw attention to the nuts-and-bolts policies that she signed into law \u2014 like a minimum wage hike and an expansion of paid sick leave \u2014 these were overshadowed by the gerrymandering push, which spurred tens of millions of dollars in political advertising.<\/p>\n On the campaign trail, she said she had no plans to redraw the state\u2019s congressional maps. When Democratic lawmakers introduced the redistricting amendment in the final days of the campaign, she said she was not opposed to keeping the state\u2019s options open.<\/p>\n Once the amendment was put before voters, Ms. Spanberger urged people to vote for it, but she emphasized that it was only temporary and that the important thing was that people had a chance to weigh in. This more measured approach frustrated some of the more full-throated proponents of the redistricting effort, while doing little to endear her opponents.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not like taking the morally principled stance would have been without cost,\u201d said Brian Cannon, a Democrat who helped lead a group opposing the redistricting amendment. \u201cBut it turned out the politically expedient way came with even steeper costs.\u201d<\/p>\n Governors have had bumpy starts before and recovered. Ralph Northam, the last Democrat to hold the Virginia governor\u2019s office, was all but written off early in his term when he was found to have been wearing blackface in a yearbook photo. By the third year of his term, in large part because of his handling of Covid, his public approval had<\/a> recovered considerably.<\/p>\n