Abigail Spanberger is officially Virginia’s first female governor, setting the stage for a 180-degree turnover in a state where Democrats now will hold a political trifecta.
The party swept statewide races and expanded legislative majorities last November, setting the stage for power at every level of state government for the next two years.
The 46‑year‑old former CIA officer took the oath of office Saturday on the Capitol steps in Richmond as Virginia’s 75th governor.
Flanked by her husband and three daughters, Ms. Spanberger gave the oath, prompting an eruption of applause and cheers, followed by an echo of enthusiastic supporters chanting, “Abby.”
In her speech, she expressed gratitude to the women who made it possible for her to become governor and pledged to work tirelessly for Virginians.
“The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me,” she said. “I 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.”
Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott said in a statement that when his daughter looks at Ms. Spanberger, she sees “a woman serving in the highest office in Virginia — and she knows, without question, that leadership has no ceiling.
“And so do girls in every corner of our Commonwealth, who can now see themselves reflected at the very top of our government.”
At Saturday’s inauguration, Ms. Spanberger was joined by state Attorney General Jay Jones and Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, fellow Democrats who prevailed in November’s election.
Ms. Spanberger noted that her first year as governor marks the 250th anniversary of the inauguration of Patrick Henry as Virginia’s first governor. In his final public speech, he appealed to his fellow citizens, warning “against the divisions that were threatening our young country.”
“His appeal remains timeless,” Ms. Spanberger said. “He said, ‘United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions, which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.’”
She said the work of perfecting America’s democracy has never been finished and that Henry’s call to action is “the charge we must answer again today.”
Ms. Spanberger celebrated a landslide win over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears last fall after promising to tackle the rising cost of health care, housing and energy.
In her first address as governor, she said her priorities stem from her middle-class upbringing, raised by a military father and a nurse mother.
Her legislative plans, she said alongside state congressional leaders, include an “Affordable Virginia” initiative to lower health insurance and prescription drug costs, reduce utility bills and help renters and homeowners.
The former congresswoman thanked the Virginia Legislature, saying that “we will not agree on everything, but I speak from personal experience when I say we do not have to see eye to eye on every issue to stand shoulder to shoulder on others.”
Breaking from her unity theme, Ms. Spanberger pointed to the “recklessness” in Washington, labeling the Trump administration as one “breaking the social safety net and sewing fear across our communities, betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values that we celebrate here on these steps.”
She added, “An inauguration ceremony like this one, with all its tradition and pageantry, represents something profound and, in its origin, something uniquely American: the peaceful transfer of power. It is a cornerstone of our American democratic experiment, a tradition and precedent begun by a Virginian, George Washington.”
Her swearing‑in formally closes the book on Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s term and caps a swift political reversal in Richmond.
On his last day in office, Mr. Youngkin touted his gubernatorial success in his four-year stint in office.
“Through it all, what has inspired me most is not just what we accomplished, but how we did it — together,” he said in a farewell video to his constituents.
