Editors at National Review Online take a closer look at North Carolina’s northern neighbor.
Abigail Spanberger, the former congresswoman turned governor of Virginia, won office in November largely because of who she was not. In an increasingly blue state that predictably swings against the party in presidential power, she was not a Republican. Unlike her opponent in the race, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, she did not present herself as a brash culture warrior.
Under those circumstances, Spanberger needed to do little to win other than run as an uncontroversial cipher, which is exactly what she did. However much her Republican opponents criticized her for playing coy about the state Democratic party’s long-term plans, voters were in little mood to listen, rewarding Democrats with a blue wave: Not only did Spanberger win office by 15 points, but Democrats won a supermajority in the House of Delegates as well.
Now Virginia voters get to open the box and discover what kind of governor they have lurking inside. Early signs are not promising. With her opening act in office, Spanberger rescinded Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order No. 47, requiring heightened cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Perhaps such a move is obvious blue-state politics in the aftermath of Minneapolis’s massive anti-ICE protests, but it is a poor omen for the safety of Virginia residents, nonetheless. Even more worrisome are Governor Spanberger’s immediate moves to reconstitute the boards of Virginia’s state-run universities like George Mason and the University of Virginia, ousting Youngkin’s selections.
Meanwhile, Democrats are using their legislative gains to advance a bevy of radical policies. Those include pushing a constitutional amendment that would create a “fundamental right” to abortion that would pave the way for abortions in the third trimester if a physician rules it necessary for not just the life but the “mental health” of the mother; the creation of a government-run childcare program; and a return to the draconian regional effort to cap carbon emissions.
