RICHMOND, Va. (AP) \u2014 Virginia voters are deciding a history-making race for governor Tuesday that will serve as a barometer of attitudes toward President Donald Trump and Democrats\u2019 attempts to regain their footing on the national stage.<\/p>\n
The first state and local general elections since Donald Trump retook the White House and set into motion a dramatic expansion of executive power will be held Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears<\/a>, a staunch conservative who serves as Virginia\u2019s lieutenant governor, and Democrat Abigail Spanberger<\/a>, a center-left Democrat and former CIA case officer who helped her party win a House majority during Trump\u2019s first presidency, are vying to become the first-ever woman<\/a> to lead the commonwealth. Earle-Sears also would make history as the first Black woman elected governor in any state.<\/p>\n The race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has taken on national dimensions from the start, serving as a testing ground for both parties one year ahead of national midterm elections that could redirect the country\u2019s course for the balance of Trump\u2019s second term. It comes as the state Trump lost in three successive presidential contests has been strained by many of his policies, particularly the steep cuts to the civil service and the ongoing government shutdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n For Republicans, Earle-Sears will show whether a candidate in Trump\u2019s general mold \u2014 though notably without his full-throated support \u2014 can win in a battleground state. For Democrats, Spanberger will signal whether the same center-left approach that worked across the country in the 2018 midterms is the answer in 2026, when the party\u2019s energy has been focused on its progressive base.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the political turmoil coming out of Washington right now, this election is an opportunity,\u201d Spanberger said on her final campaign swing heading into Election Day. \u201cVirginia voters can and will send a message amid the recklessness and the heartlessness coming out of Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans have placed similarly dire stakes on the outcome. \u201cAbigail Spanberger represents the darkness,\u201d Earle-Sears told supporters last weekend. <\/p>\n Spanberger, who gave up her congressional seat to run for governor, has tried to leverage voter concerns about the cost of living and the impacts of Trump\u2019s domestic policy and tax cut law on Virginia\u2019s health care system. She spent millions on television and digital ads tying Earle-Sears to the president, but shied away from Democrats\u2019 2024 dire warnings about democracy that proved not to be persuasive to voters.<\/p>\n Trump has offered only tepid support for Earle-Sears, who three years ago said she wouldn\u2019t back Trump\u2019s return to the White House before recanting. The president did not campaign for her in-person and did not say her name during his only telephone town hall with her supporters Monday night. <\/p>\n The lieutenant governor, meanwhile, has given Trump high marks overall for his performance, but did not mention him at her crowning Saturday night rally, where Youngkin provided the star power in lieu of the president.<\/p>\n Earle-Sears looked to replicate Trump\u2019s attacks on Democrats on cultural issues like transgender people\u2019s participation in sports, but she spoke less about her career-long opposition to abortion rights \u2014 giving Spanberger the opening to emphasize her support for abortion rights in the last Southern state that has not restricted or banned the procedure since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a national right to abortion services.<\/p>\n Earle-Sears also sought to pressure Spanberger for refusing to withdraw her endorsement of Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general, who faced calls to drop out of the contest earlier this fall after disclosure of text messages he sent in 2022<\/a> suggesting the former Republican House speaker get \u201ctwo bullets to the head.\u201d <\/p>\n That race, the contest to replace Earle-Sears at lieutenant governor and all 100 seats in the state\u2019s Democratic-controlled House of Delegates are on the ballot Tuesday. The Democratic-controlled state Senate will face voters in 2027.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n