Virginia Votes 2025 Live Blog

Roxy Todd

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Radio IQ

One of the 13 house seats flipped by Democrats was District 41, in Montgomery and Roanoke Counties. Teacher Lily Franklin narrowly beat incumbent Chris Obenshain.

Franklin began the night trailing Obenshain. Then, as more of the precincts in Blacksburg were counted, the campaign swung in her favor.

"It’s our first chance to really take back and make sure everybody has someone who’s fighting for them, that’s somebody who’s going to uplift our home, and make sure every kid in this district has access to a world class education," Franklin told supporters as they cheered Tuesday night. "I am so excited to be your next delegate elect. And thank you, thank you!"

This district is divided, with more of the rural areas voting for Obenshain, who released a statement conceding the race to Franklin. Obenshain said the results were quote, “a setback not just for me, but also for the causes I have championed and the people I have sought to represent.”

Virginia Tech is located near most of the precincts Franklin won. Junior Nistha Gautam helped register a lot of her fellow students and says she thinks they seemed more engaged this year.

"Which is really surprising," Gautam admitted. "Because I actually did this work for the presidential race. I definitely think that the students were a little more interested in participating this semester."

More than 3,000 additional voters were registered this year, compared with the last time Franklin and Obenshain ran in 2023, an increase that may have helped Franklin take the lead.

Michael Pope

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Virginia Public Radio

Republicans came up short in all three of their statewide races.

And Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears led a fractured Republican ticket, one that rarely even appeared on the same stage together. In her concession speech Tuesday night, Earle-Sears said she stood by the issues at the core of her campaign.

"Folks, I ran a race, again, based on foundational ideas that would repeal the car tax, protect our girl children especially and not create sexual trauma for them in bathrooms and locker rooms and in their sports," Earle-Sears said. "And I ran a race to expand our economy."

But those issues failed to resonate with voters. Loudoun County Republican Chairman Scott Pio says the party is failing to convert new voters.

"They should be converting voters. We have two million voters that are ready to be converted that are all immigrant communities in the state of Virginia, and they're not working to convert them," Pio said. "They’re simply working to try to turn out the Republican base."

He says a postmortem is needed to figure out where the party is going wrong, and how they can regain some of the support they had that swept them into power four years ago.

Stephanie Scarbrough

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AP

Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger will become the first female governor of Virginia after a resounding win in Tuesday’s statewide election. She’s led the rest of her ticket, and Democrats expanded their majority in the House of delegates as well.

“Please welcome the governor-elect of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger!”

That was the crowd at former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s election night party just moments after she declared victory in Tuesday’s statewide election. Her likely double digit win over Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears also helped down ballot candidates, including Ghazala Hashmi for Lieutenant Governor and Jay Jones for Attorney General.

Her success comes after President Donald Trump fired thousands of federal workers. Turnout across Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, hubs for federal employment, both turned out in record numbers for an off-year election. But Spanberger offered a unifying message to the crowd.

“I know the list of challenges we’re facing is long, but I also know that the only way we’re going to solve these problems is by tackling them together. Democrats, Republicans, Independents; all of us," she said. "That’s the message we sent tonight.”

All 100 House of Delegates seats were also up Tuesday. Republican-lost seats include Chesterfield delegate Mark Earley Jr., who ran hard against transgender students rights.

According to Democratic Senator Danica Roem, the state’s first and only trans elected official, it’s a sign of change in the Commonwealth, especially after Sears spent $5 million in trans attack ads. 

“The next administration is not going to be spending time singling out and stigmatizing they very people they’re elected to serve,” Roem said.

Loudoun County, home to much of the trans student-related turmoil that saw outgoing governor Glenn Younkin rise to power, voted for Spanberger by an overwhelming majority.

Mason Adams

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Radio IQ

Roanoke Democrat Sam Rasoul won re-election to a sixth term by defeating Republican challenger Maynard Keller by nearly 40 percentage points. Rasoul won despite criticism from some in his own party over his criticism of Israel over its war on Gaza.

"We dared to talk about your electric bills are too high," Rasoul said. "We dared to talk about we don't want our tax dollars funding a genocide overseas. We dared to talk about that every person's human rights should be protected regardless of who you are. I'm here to tell you, thank you so much on our reelection to the Virginia House of Delegates."

Rasoul returns to Richmond as part of a Democratic majority that now holds both General Assembly chambers, as well as the governor's mansion.

Meanwhile, Republican Joe McNamara won re-election to his fifth term representing a district consisting of Salem, Craig County, and parts of Montgomery and Roanoke counties. McNamara defeated Democratic challenger Donna Littlepage by roughly six percentage points. McNamara returns to Richmond in the minority, but says he's been there before.

"I've been in office with a Democratic governor and lieutenant governor and attorney general in fact before," McNamara said. "Your plan of attack doesn't change. I mean, it's not a battle. it's really just trying to come to good solutions that will benefit Virginians as a whole."

Steve Helber

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FR171958 AP

Democrat Jay Jones was elected Tuesday as Virginia attorney general, riding a wave of voter dissatisfaction with the White House to overcome the revelation that in 2022 he sent widely condemned texts embracing violence against a fellow state lawmaker.

The former Virginia delegate defeated Republican incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares weeks after it emerged that Jones had texted a fellow delegate suggesting the then-House speaker should get “two bullets to the head.” Jones apologized for the private messages both in statements and at a debate in October.

Jones’ victory amid the controversy could signal trouble for Republicans heading into next year’s midterm elections. He weathered the storm in part by working to shift the debate away from his character and toward President Donald Trump’s administration.

Jones campaigned against the impact of federal encroachment on Virginia since Trump took office in January — shrinking the civil service, levying tariffs and a Republican federal tax cut bill that Democrats argued imperiled the state’s health care system.

The win could soon add Virginia to the roster of Democratic-led states legally challenging actions taken by Trump.

A descendant of slaves, Jones is set to become the first Black attorney general in the former capital of the Confederacy. His victory is a landmark moment for Black Virginians in a statewide contest that was already poised to make history, with voters choosing between two women to elect the state’s first female governor.

Miyares faced a difficult political climate in his bid for reelection. Ever since Democrat Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, every time a new president has been elected, Virginia has voted in a governor the following year from the opposite party.

And while the state has had split tickets before — meaning voters backed candidates for statewide offices from a party that differs from the elected governor — they haven’t picked an attorney general from the opposite party in 20 years.

Republicans had hoped to persuade swing voters to reelect Miyares but faced challenging headwinds in a state with tens of thousands of federal employees.

Outrage over Jones’ text messages is unlikely to fade once Jones is sworn into office. Republicans, including Trump and Miyares, described his conduct from three years ago as disqualifying him from the attorney general’s position in 2025.

Even Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi, the party’s candidates for governor and lieutenant governor Tuesday, had stayed silent about whether Jones still had their endorsements. Jones did, however, speak at a Spanberger campaign rally on Saturday.

Jones comes from a family of Hampton Roads politicians and civil rights pioneers. His father was also a Virginia delegate, and his grandfather was the first Black member of the Norfolk School Board. Jones previously ran for attorney general in 2021 but lost the primary to then-incumbent Mark Herring.

Democrat Jay Jones won the race for attorney general of Virginia on Tuesday, ousting Republican incumbent Jason Miyares.

Jones was criticized during the campaign after text messages he wrote in 2022 endorsing violence toward a political rival were made public.

Jones is a former member of the state House of Delegates, representing a district around Norfolk for two terms.

Michael Pope

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Virginia Public Radio

Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears has addressed supporters at an event in Northern Virginia.

During her speech, she said she hoped Abigail Spanberger would truly be a moderate and try to help all Virginians. Earle-Sears also offered to help the new governor-elect accomplish that in any way she could.

The Republican also thanked her family and God.

"But all should note, I don't consider this a loss because remember — I've always said this — I'm a Christian first and a Republican second, and that's the way it always will be. Because no political party has ever given their life for me."

As election results continue to come in, it appears that Democrats will expand their majority in the House of Delegates.

At least four Republican incumbents appear poised to lose their seats: Ian Lovejoy, Mark Early Jr., Kim Taylor and Geary Higgins.

All 100 seats in the chamber were on the ballot this election cycle.

The seemingly-flipped seats would continue a good night for Democrats — with the party winning the governor's mansion and the lieutenant governor's race. Jay Jones is also still leading Republican incumbent Jason Miyares in the attorney general contest.

Democrat Ghazala Hashmi won the lieutenant governor’s race in Virginia on Tuesday, defeating Republican John Reid.

Hashmi is currently a state senator representing a district south of Richmond. Prior to that, she worked as a college professor in Virginia. She entered politics in 2019 by flipping a Republican-held state Senate seat and went to on to win a crowded Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in June.

She is the first Indian American and first Muslim to win statewide office in Virginia. The Associated Press declared Hashmi the winner at 8:27 p.m. EST.

Ryan M. Kelly

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AP

Democrat Abigail Spanberger is delivering remarks at a victory event in Richmond at this hour.

You can watch here:

Election Night Watch Party with Abigail Spanberger in Richmond

The Virginia Department of Elections has provided some additional details on how election results will be tabulated and officiated over the coming days and weeks.

During an 8pm briefing, Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals said Election Night results will be posted and updated in real time tonight but are not official results. They will be finalized by localities on November 14th and certified by the state Board of Elections on December 1st.

Five types of results will be populated by the department — Election Day results, early voting results and mailed absentee votes. Provisional ballots and post-election ballots won't be reported until November 14th.

As far as voting across the state today, Beals said the process was smooth — with only one real hiccup to report.

"One of the issues we were made aware of was a power outage in Virginia Beach in Precinct 54. That is the Landstown High School. They were able to keep voting even though they lost power because they had a battery backup in their voting machine and emergency lights that came on," Beals said. "So, voting did not get paused in anyway there."

She also said a polling place was moved over the weekend because a car crashed into the building it was originally supposed to be in.

Steve Helber

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FR171958 AP

Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday, defeating Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to give Democrats a key victory heading into the 2026 midterm elections and make history as the first-ever woman to lead the commonwealth.

Spanberger’s victory will flip partisan control of the governor’s office when the former congresswoman and CIA case officer succeeds outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. She won with a campaign emphasizing economic issues, a strategy that may serve as a model for other Democrats in next year’s elections as they try to break President Donald Trump’s and Republicans’ hold on power in Washington and gain ground in statehouses.

Throughout the campaign, Spanberger made carefully crafted economic arguments against Trump’s policies, while she spent considerable sums on ads tying Earle-Sears to the president. She campaigned across the state, including in Republican-leaning areas. Yet she also emphasized her support for abortion rights in the last Southern state that has not enacted new restrictions or bans on the procedure, and she railed against Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, the U.S. government shutdown and their negative impact on a state with several hundred thousand federal employees.

That approach helped corral Democrats’ core supporters while attracting the kinds of swing voters who elected Youngkin four years ago. It also continued a historical trend for Virginia: Since Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, Virginia has backed a governor from the opposite party of every first-term president in the following year. This year is a special case, given the gap between Trump’s terms.

Republicans, meanwhile, must grapple again with a battleground loss by an arch-conservative from the president's party.

Trump never campaigned for Earle-Sears, though he did give her his tepid support. Their uneasy alliance raises questions about the ideal Republican nominee for contested general elections and how the president’s volatile standing with voters might affect GOP candidates next November. The midterm elections will settle statehouse control in dozens of states and determine whether Republicans maintain majorities in Washington for the final years of Trump’s presidency.

Earle-Sears 61, would have become the first Black woman to be elected as a governor in the U.S.

Spanberger balanced policy and biography

Spanberger, 46, ran on a pledge to protect Virginia’s economy from the aggressive tactics of Trump’s second administration, which has culled the civil service, levied tariffs and shepherded a reconciliation bill curtailing the state’s already fragile health care system.

Accountant Sherry Kohan, 56, who cast her ballot at the Aurora Hills Library in Arlington, said she used to think of herself as a Republican but hasn't felt aligned with either party since Trump's first term. She said her vote for Spanberger was a vote against Trump.

Stephanie Uhl, 38, who also said she voted for Spanberger, had the federal government shutdown on her mind when casting her ballot at the library in Arlington, just across the river from Washington.

Uhl was working without pay for the Defense Department and though she said, “I can afford (it) just fine,” she was bothered “that it affects so many other people.”

Spanberger's background also figured heavily into her victory. As a former CIA case officer, she noted her public service and national security credentials. And she pitched herself as the mother of daughters educated in Virginia’s public schools and a Capitol Hill veteran who represented a swing district and worked across the aisle.

The pitch helped the Democratic nominee withstand Earle-Sears’ attacks on cultural issues, notably the Republican’s assertion that Spanberger is an extremist on civil rights and health care for transgender people. Spanberger, who consistently argued that local school districts should decide whether transgender students can participate in competitive sports, cast her opponent as the candidate more out of step with the middle of the Virginia electorate.

Her strategy echoed the approach Democrats used to flip U.S. House control in the 2018 midterms, halfway through Trump’s first presidency. Spanberger was among several high-profile women who brought national security or military credentials to campaigns in battleground districts. Another of those women, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, was vying Tuesday to become New Jersey’s Democratic governor.

Together, they were held up as examples of successful mainstream Democrats at a time when the party’s left flank has been ascendent, most notably Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and the party’s nominee in Tuesday’s New York mayoral contest.

In Congress, Spanberger was a quiet workhorse

When she first got to Washington, Spanberger concentrated on lower-profile issues: bringing broadband to rural areas, fighting drug trafficking and veterans’ services. And she quickly established a reputation for working with colleagues across the political spectrum.

In her new role, she will face tightening economic projections, rising utility costs and growing unemployment — in part because of the Trump administration’s federal contraction. But she could have the advantage of a friendly Legislature if Democrats are able to maintain their majority in the House of Delegates. All 100 seats in that chamber were on the ballot Tuesday, as were other statewide offices, including lieutenant governor and attorney general. The state Senate, also controlled by Democrats, was not on the ballot this year. If Democrats have the so-called trifecta in Richmond, as Republicans do now in Washington, they could enact many policy priorities that lawmakers advanced to Youngkin only for him to veto the bills.

Spanberger won despite a late surprise that threatened Virginia’s Democratic ticket. In October, news reports revealed that Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, sent texts in 2022 suggesting the former Republican House speaker get “two bullets to the head.”

Republicans across the U.S., including Trump and Earle-Sears, demanded Jones drop out. He apologized and said he was ashamed of the messages but declined to leave the race.

The controversy dogged Spanberger. She condemned the text messages but stopped short of asking Jones to withdraw from the race, and she notably did not withdraw her endorsement.

“I have denounced political violence, political rhetoric,” Spanberger said in her lone debate with Earle-Sears, “no matter who is leading the charge.”

Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the governor’s race in Virginia on Tuesday, defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears.

Spanberger will succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is not allowed to run for a second consecutive term. Her victory aligns with recent voting patterns in Virginia, which picks its governors the year after a presidential election and tends to elect someone of the opposite party of the president.

Spanberger, a former case officer with the CIA, flipped a U.S. House seat in Northern Virginia in 2018 and retired from Congress in 2024 to run for governor. She will be the state’s first female governor.

The Associated Press declared Spanberger the winner at 7:58 p.m. EST.

The Virginia Department of Elections is reporting at this hour that 73 out of 133 localities across the state have begun updating their election results information.

While still early, the Democrats in all three statewide contests are still leading their Republican challengers.

The largest margin is in the race for governor. Abigail Spanberger currently leads Winsome Earle-Sears by 57 to 43.

We'll continue to provide updates as information rolls in this evening.

VDOE

While it is still early, election results are now beginning to populate on the Virginia Department of Elections website.

As you can see in the above screenshot, each locality across the state has several results that will eventually populate into the department's official results page — including Election Night tabulations.

As of 7:30pm, the Democrats in all three statewide contests are leading their Republican counterparts. The closest of the three is between Jay Jones and Jason Miyares for in the race for attorney general.

Results will continue to trickle in throughout the night.

Virginia polls are now closed, but anyone standing in line at 7pm will be allowed to cast their ballots.

Results should now begin trickling in. There are three statewide offices up for grabs: lieutenant governor, attorney general and governor.

Republican John Reid and Democrat Ghazala Hashmi are vying for the LG seat, while Democrat Jay Jones is hoping to unseat Republican incumbent Jason Miyares to become the state's top prosecutor.

Virginia will elect a female governor for the first time in its history — as Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears face off to see who will head to the governor's mansion in Richmond.

In addition, all 100 seats of the House of Delegates are up for grabs. Democrats currently hold control of the chamber.

There also local offices like town council and school board that Virginians in some localities have weighed in on.

We'll keep you updated here with the latest information as it comes in. You can also find election results from the Virginia Department of Elections here.

Virginia election officials said they had heard of few significant voting problems so far Tuesday.

During a briefing late Tuesday morning, Virginia elections commissioner Susan Beals pointed out just one unexpected issue— an emergency polling place change in Newport News. Beals said a vehicle hit the Ivy Farms Community Church over the weekend. So the polling place was moved and signs and poll workers directed voters to the new location.

Beals said 1.4 million Virginians had already cast a ballot by November 1st, either in-person or by mail. There are 6.3 million registered voters as of November 4th.

When Virginians want to check out election results tonight, there are a couple of new features available on the department's website. Beals says that includes an option pointing out the closest races:

"As we’re going to have a hundred House of Delegates races today it might be interesting for some folks to see what races are close. If you click on the close races box, it will only populate results that are within a two percent margin."

After the polls close at 7 tonight, the public can also review what voting methods were used, including early voting, absentee, and mailed absentee ballots. But totals for provisional ballots aren’t expected for about 10 days.

Check your registration, polling place and results here.

Virginia voters are deciding a history-making race for governor Tuesday that will serve as a barometer of attitudes toward President Donald Trump and Democrats' attempts to regain their footing on the national stage.

Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, a staunch conservative who serves as Virginia’s lieutenant governor, and Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a center-left Democrat and former CIA case officer who helped her party win a House majority during Trump’s first presidency, are vying to become the first-ever woman to lead the commonwealth. Earle-Sears also would make history as the first Black woman elected governor in any state.

The race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has taken on national dimensions from the start, serving as a testing ground for both parties one year ahead of national midterm elections that could redirect the country’s course for the balance of Trump’s second term. It comes as the state Trump lost in three successive presidential contests has been strained by many of his policies, particularly the steep cuts to the civil service and the ongoing government shutdown.

For Republicans, Earle-Sears will show whether a candidate in Trump’s general mold — though notably without his full-throated support — can win in a battleground state. For Democrats, Spanberger will signal whether the same center-left approach that worked across the country in the 2018 midterms is the answer in 2026, when the party’s energy has been focused on its progressive base.

“With the political turmoil coming out of Washington right now, this election is an opportunity,” Spanberger said on her final campaign swing heading into Election Day. “Virginia voters can and will send a message amid the recklessness and the heartlessness coming out of Washington.”

Republicans have placed similarly dire stakes on the outcome. “Abigail Spanberger represents the darkness,” Earle-Sears told supporters last weekend.

Spanberger, who gave up her congressional seat to run for governor, has tried to leverage voter concerns about the cost of living and the impacts of Trump’s domestic policy and tax cut law on Virginia’s health care system. She spent millions on television and digital ads tying Earle-Sears to the president, but shied away from Democrats’ 2024 dire warnings about democracy that proved not to be persuasive to voters.

Stephanie Uhl was voting at the Aurora Hills Library in Arlington, with the federal government shutdown on her mind.

The 38-year-old was working without pay for the Defense Department and, though she said, “I can afford (it) just fine,” she was bothered “that it affects so many other people.”

Uhl said she voted for Spanberger, but not for Democratic candidate for attorney general Jay Jones after learning of violent references he made about Virginia lawmakers in text messages made public last month.

Trump has offered only tepid support for Earle-Sears, who three years ago said she wouldn’t back Trump’s return to the White House before recanting. The president did not campaign for her in-person and did not say her name during his only telephone town hall with her supporters Monday night.

The lieutenant governor, meanwhile, has given Trump high marks overall for his performance, but did not mention him at her crowning Saturday night rally, where Youngkin provided the star power in lieu of the president.

Earle-Sears looked to replicate Trump’s attacks on Democrats on cultural issues like transgender people’s participation in sports, but she spoke less about her career-long opposition to abortion rights — giving Spanberger the opening to emphasize her support for abortion rights in the last Southern state that has not restricted or banned the procedure since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a national right to abortion services.

Earle-Sears also sought to pressure Spanberger for refusing to withdraw her endorsement of Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general, who faced calls to drop out of the contest earlier this fall after disclosure of text messages he sent in 2022 suggesting the former Republican House speaker get “two bullets to the head.”

That race, the contest to replace Earle-Sears at lieutenant governor and all 100 seats in the state’s Democratic-controlled House of Delegates are on the ballot Tuesday. The Democratic-controlled state Senate will face voters in 2027.