WASHINGTON (AP) – Virginia will elect its first female governor on Tuesday, with Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Sears and Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger seeking to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Voters will also decide the elections for lieutenant governor, attorney general and state representative.
One of the two gubernatorial elections to be held in the Commonwealth this year will be held. Historically, races in Virginia and New Jersey the year after a presidential election have been watched nationally as a barometer of how voters feel about the party holding the White House.
Mr. Spanberger maintained a strong financial position throughout his campaign, bringing in about $66 million during the campaign, compared to about $35 million for Mr. Sears. Democrats entered the final two weeks of the campaign with about $4.1 million in the bank, compared to Republicans with $1.3 million.
Democratic state senators are attracting attention in the lieutenant governor race. Ghazala Hashmi Richmond and Republican talk radio hosts. john reed. Hashmi won a crowded Democratic primary in June, but Reid was unopposed by the Republican nominee. Reid’s campaign got off to a rocky start when Youngkin called on him: withdraw from the race After allegations surfaced that Mr Reid was linked to social media accounts containing sexually explicit photos. Mr. Reed has denied any involvement with the account.
The race for state attorney general, where Republican incumbent Jason Miyares is seeking re-election for a second term, is also surrounded by controversy. His challenger is former Democratic state Rep. Jay Jones. Text messages from 2022 Among other things, he suggested that a prominent Republican congressman would receive “two bullets in the head.” Jones has apologized for the message, but the issue has become a hot topic not only in the attorney general race but also as a front-runner. Earl Sears criticized Mr. Spanberger in his campaign and television ads for not asking Mr. Jones to withdraw from the race.
Voters will also decide which party will control the closely divided state House of Representatives, where Democrats hold a 51-48 majority with one seat open. There will be no elections for the state Senate this year.
Virginia has undergone political realignment over the past two decades, driven largely by population growth in the Democratic-friendly suburbs of Washington, D.C., in Northern Virginia. The area is home to a high concentration of federal workers, some of whom are currently furloughed during the government shutdown or have lost their jobs as part of the Trump administration’s federal workforce reduction plan.
Republican presidential candidates carried the Union in 10 consecutive elections from 1968 to 2004, but Democrats have won the five elections since then. Despite her recent winning streak, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris won Virginia in 2024 with a relatively modest 52% of the vote.
Virginia voters tend to have low party loyalty when it comes to state office, as the state’s governor has changed hands seven times in the past 60 years.
Since 1976, every time one party regained control of the White House, Virginia voters have elected a governor from the opposing party the following year. And in 11 of the past 12 gubernatorial elections, the winner of Virginia’s governorship was from a different party than the incumbent president. The only exception was 2013, when Democrat Terry McAuliffe was elected governor and fellow Democrat Barack Obama occupied the White House.
The Associated Press does not make predictions and will only declare a winner if there is no scenario in which a successor candidate closes the gap. Even if a race is not called, The Associated Press will continue to report on newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. At that time, The Associated Press will clarify that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Virginia does not conduct automatic recounts. If the difference between the top two candidates is 1 percentage point or less, candidates can request and pay for a recount. If the difference is less than 0.5 percentage points, or if the results change, the government will have to pay for a recount. The Associated Press may declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if the lead is determined to be too large to change the result through a recount or legal challenge.
Let’s see what happens on Tuesday.
When will voting start?
Voting ends at 7pm ET.
What does the ballot say?
The Associated Press will announce the results and declare the winners of the races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and representative.
Who can vote?
Registered voters in Virginia can participate in statewide elections or local elections for state House of Representatives districts or municipalities.
What will turnout and early voting look like?
As of early September, there were approximately 6.3 million registered voters in Virginia. Voters do not register by party.
Voter turnout in the 2021 gubernatorial election was approximately 55% of registered voters. Approximately 36% of the votes in this election were cast by Election Day.
As of Monday, about 987,000 votes had already been cast by Election Day. See AP advance voting tracker For the latest updates.
How long does it usually take to count votes?
In the 2024 presidential election, the Associated Press first reported the results at 7:11 p.m. ET, 11 minutes after polls closed. Election night counting ended at 3:56 a.m. ET, with about 95% of the total votes counted.
Have you arrived yet?
As of Tuesday, there are 364 days until the 2026 midterm elections and 1,099 days until the 2028 general election.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the 2025 election. https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2025/.
