Democrat Abigail Spanberger is heading into the final stretch of her campaign to try and become the next governor of Virginia with vocal support from two former Republican members of Congress.
In a new development first reported by CBS News, Spanberger’s campaign is set to tout endorsements from former Reps. Barbara Comstock and Denver Riggleman. The show of support from the two, who both backed Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential race, also includes an advertisement.
“I saw firsthand that Abigail was one of the most bipartisan members of Congress,” Riggleman says in the advertisement, while Comstock adds that her “support for Abigail isn’t about party, it’s what’s best for Virginia.”
After a victory in 2021, GOP Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin cannot run for a consecutive term this year due to state law. His chosen candidate in this year’s contest, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, is contending with national political tensions from Donald Trump’s second term as president while she attempts to become the first GOP candidate since 1997 to succeed a fellow Republican as governor of the commonwealth.
“This election is a choice between sanity and chaos. We must protect our children from Abigail Spanberger’s extremist agenda,” Earle-Sears said in a social media post earlier this month.
The decision by Spanberger’s campaign to highlight support from the two former Republican members of Congress comes ahead of early in-person voting starting on Friday.
Riggleman served one term in the U.S. House, and was defeated by a Republican challenger in 2020 before going on to serve as a senior technical adviser for the House Jan. 6 select committee following the 2021 Capitol riot. After winning two terms, Comstock lost her battleground congressional seat to a Democrat in the 2018 midterms during Mr. Trump’s first term. Both are now examples of former Republican-elected officials who have criticized Mr. Trump since leaving office. Riggleman also appeared in an advertisement supporting Spanberger’s 2022 reelection run for the U.S. House.
The Virginia governor’s race this November will be one of the first statewide races to be held during Mr. Trump’s second term in the White House. The statewide off-year contest in Virginia is often viewed as at least being in part a referendum on the current incumbent president.
Virginia has become a more reliably blue state in recent years, but Democrats’ vote share in the state did drop during the 2024 presidential election. While then-Vice President Harris carried the state, she earned fewer votes than Joe Biden did during the 2020 contest.
And at a time when Democrats are continuing to search for a path forward on messaging and branding issues, Spanberger’s attempt to win back the governor’s office from the GOP represents a closely watched contest that may carry national political implications in the coming years.
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