Virginians Head to the Polls to Elect Governor, Attorney General

Nov. 4 is election day in Virginia, and citizens of that state will vote to elect their governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and the lower house of the General Assembly.

The gubernatorial election will see Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger, a former U.S. representative for the state, going up against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee.

Polls have shown Spanberger with wide leads over Earle-Sears, and she is generally expected to win the election.

On Nov. 1, Spanberger held a rally in Norfolk, Virginia, with former President Barack Obama.

“At a time when our politics feels broken, we need, desperately, leaders like Abigail, public servants who are in it for the right reasons and are focused on the future and who will always stay connected to the people they were elected to serve,” he said.

At the Norfolk rally, Spanberger said that the final days leading up to the election are “about you and all of us deciding whether we want to live in a Virginia that fights for working families, or one that doesn’t.”

Earle-Sears cited Spanberger’s tax, energy, and crime policies as reasons to vote against the former congresswoman.

“Abigail Spanberger has failed us,” said Earle-Sears at a Nov. 3 rally in Manassas, Virginia. “Abigail is for Abigail. Abigail is not for Virginia.”

The election for lieutenant governor has been identical to that of governor, with Democratic nominee state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi leading the Republican nominee, John Reid, by a wide margin. Hashmi is an immigrant to the United States from India and, if elected, she would become the first Asian and Muslim person to hold that office.

Meanwhile, the race for attorney general has been close and contentious.

The Democratic nominee, Jay Jones, has come under fire for text messages to a former Republican House of Delegates colleague in 2022 that suggested he wanted to shoot former House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert. Jones apologized to Gilbert for these remarks during a debate on Oct. 16.

“Let me be very clear: I am ashamed, I am embarrassed, and I am sorry. I am sorry to Speaker Gilbert, I am sorry to his family, and I am sorry to every single Virginian,” he said.

The incumbent Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, has led in most of the polls. He has criticized Jones as unfit to lead.

“Jay Jones is a criminal first, victim last, politician,” he said. “Jay Jones has not had the experience or the judgment to serve as the top prosecutor.”

Miyares, at the Nov. 3 rally in Manassas, noted Jones’s lack of prosecutorial experience.

The polls in Virginia will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with any person in line at 7 o’clock being able to cast their vote. Virginia allows same-day voter registration, meaning that U.S. citizens residing in the state tomorrow may register to vote and then vote in this election.