{"id":413753,"date":"2026-01-17T22:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T22:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/413753\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T22:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T22:22:08","slug":"spanberger-sworn-in-as-virginias-first-woman-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/413753\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanberger sworn in as Virginia\u2019s first woman governor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abigail Spanberger has been sworn into office as Virginia\u2019s first female governor. Spanberger was sworn in at noon Saturday amid a cold drizzle outside the state Capitol after centuries of men holding the state\u2019s top office.<\/p>\n

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Abigail Spanberger inaugurated as Virginia\u2019s first female governor<\/p>\n


\n Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger arrives for inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol in Richmond Va., Saturday Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Steve Helber, Pool)(AP\/Steve Helber)<\/p>\n


\n Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger arrives for inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol in Richmond Va., Saturday Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Steve Helber, Pool)(AP\/Steve Helber)<\/p>\n

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) \u2014 Amid a cold drizzle, Democrat Abigail Spanberger was sworn into office Saturday at the state Capitol as Virginia\u2019s first female governor after centuries of men holding the state\u2019s top office.<\/p>\n

The inauguration of Spanberger, who defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin<\/a>, marks a new chapter<\/a> in Virginia as Democrats pull the levers of power in state government while Republican President Donald Trump sits in the White House in neighboring Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me,\u201d Spanberger said in her address. \u201cI maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who work, generation after generation, to ensure women could be among those casting ballots, but who could only dream of a day like today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spanberger quoted Patrick Henry, Virginia\u2019s first governor, saying, \u201c\u2018Let us not split into factions, which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.\u2019 That was the charge Governor Henry put to Virginia at the close of the 18th century, and it is the charge we must answer again today.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his 95th birthday, former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder waved to the cheering crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn these steps, Virginia inaugurated our 66th governor and our nation\u2019s first elected African American governor,\u201d Spanberger said in her speech. \u201cGov. L. Douglas Wilder changed what so many of our fellow citizens believed was even possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two other Democrats were also sworn in Saturday. Ghazala F. Hashmi, the first Muslim woman<\/a> to serve in statewide office in the U.S., is the new lieutenant governor. Hashmi placed her hand on a Quran as she was sworn in. Jay Jones<\/a> is Virginia\u2019s first Black attorney general. He was sworn into his post, notably, in the former capital of the Confederacy.<\/p>\n

Spanberger\u2019s inauguration as the state\u2019s 75th governor is a historic first: only men have held the post since Virginia first became a commonwealth in 1776. And no woman served as a colonial governor before then.<\/p>\n

She will be referred to with traditional formality: \u201cMadam Governor\u201d or, as some officials phrase it, \u201cher excellency.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to \u201cA Guide to Virginia Protocol and Traditions,\u201d males in the official party wear morning coats and women wear dark suits for the inauguration and many, including the new governor\u2019s husband, kept to that tradition on Saturday.<\/p>\n

But as the first woman to serve as governor, Spanberger wore all white on Saturday, a possible tribute to the women\u2019s suffrage movement. She wore a gold pin on her long, white coat.<\/p>\n

After the ceremony and a parade, Spanberger began signing several executive orders.<\/p>\n

Spanberger ran on a vow to protect Virginia\u2019s economy from the aggressive tactics of Trump\u2019s administration<\/a>. On the trail, she spoke of the White House\u2019s gutting the civil service<\/a>, rising costs of goods<\/a> and changes impacting the state\u2019s already fragile health care system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The state Democrats picked up 13 seats in the House of Delegates a year after the party\u2019s stunning losses nationwide in the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n

Democrats in the statehouse have vowed to work with Spanberger<\/a> to push through their bullish agenda, which includes redrawing<\/a> the state\u2019s congressional district map ahead of the midterm elections this year.<\/p>\n

Copyright
\n \u00a9\u00a02026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Abigail Spanberger has been sworn into office as Virginia\u2019s first female governor. Spanberger was sworn in at noon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[51932,23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-413753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-abigail-spanberger","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-united-states-of-america","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}