Trump looms over Virginia governor's race: What to know on primary day

USA Today

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Trump looms over Virginia governor's race: What to know on primary day November's winner will make history as the first female governor of Virginia: Abigail Spanberger for the Democrats or Winsome Earle-Sears for the GOP
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Watch Gov. Glenn Youngkin's full Republican National Convention speech
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivered an address at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Virginians are heading to the polls in one of this year's banner election fights where President Donald Trump's name isn't on the ballot but his second-term policies are very much top of voters' minds.
The most consequential of the June 17 primary races center around who will be the next governor of the Old Dominion, a state that has seen its share of the federal government workforce shrink at the hands of Trump and former DOGE leader Elon Musk.
Both of Virginia's expected major party nominees - former Rep. Abigail Spanberger for the Democrats and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears for the Republicans - ran unopposed in their respective primaries and are readying for a general election race over the next five months that's expected to showcase a sharp contrast in approaches to working with the Trump White House. Whoever wins will make history as the first female governor of Virginia.
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Nationwide, politicos will be paying close attention to the results in both Virginia and New Jersey - the two states that hold gubernatorial contests that tap into voters' moods in the immediate odd year after a presidential election and before the midterms.
Notably, the party opposite to whomever is currently in the White House has a history of winning the Virginia governor's mansion and the right to serve a single non-consecutive term. In a dozen governor races over the last 50 years, only once has a candidate from the same party as the sitting president won in Virginia - Democrat Terry McAuliffe in November 2013 while President Barack Obama was in his second term.
Governor's race set
Of the six statewide primary races in Virginia, only two feature more than one candidate on the June 17 ballot.
Republicans have long had their nominee for governor in Earle-Sears, the 61-year old first female woman of color to hold statewide office in Virginia. She locked down her spot after the only would-be competitor, former state Sen. Amanda Chase, failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The GOP similarly already knows who its November general election candidates are for lieutenant governor - conservative radio host John Reid - and attorney general, the incumbent Jason Miyares.
The Democrats are in the same boat for governor: 45-year-old Spanberger secured her spot back on April 3 after no other candidates emerged by that day's filing deadline. A former CIA officer who served three terms in Congress, Spanberger built a reputation on Capitol Hill as a moderate member of the centrist "Blue Dog" coalition.
Her early jump into campaigning beginning in November 2023, and prolific fundraising, may have given Spanberger the advantage needed to discourage any potential challengers from even trying, said Professor David Richards, chair of the political science department at the University of Lynchburg.
"It just became apparent that if you were going to challenge her, it was going to be very difficult," Richards said.
Earle-Sears has long held the advantage among Republicans as the No. 2 under incumbent GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who because of Virginia's unique law cannot serve consecutive terms. Her only blip of competition came from Chase, who billed herself as "Trump in heels" and challenged Earle-Sears as not MAGA enough for the GOP nomination.
Federal workers flashpoint
Democrats in Virginia are hoping Trump's decisions next door in Washington, D.C., will help to curry them favor in the state's election − particularly his cuts to the federal workforce.
Largely at the direction of Musk, the Trump administration has tried to get rid of tens of thousands of government employees since the outset of his second term. While the moves have been felt across the U.S., Virginia stands out with more than 140,000 federal employees who called the commonwealth home at the close of 2024.
"We know that Virginia's economy, the health of our state, is tied intricately on the good work that is happening by so many who are working at the (Department of Veterans Affairs), at IRS, the Library of Congress, all throughout our government," Spanberger told a roomful of voters at an event in March. "As governor, I will stand up not just for the individuals who focus on serving our country in their day-to-day job, but our whole economy."
Republicans counter that Trump is a popular brand who will help them win in November.
"Democrats are using the same playbook: hoping President Trump will again galvanize their base and distract voters from their state-level failures," Edith Jorge-Tuñón, the president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, wrote in a June 2 Wall Street Journal opinion piece. "But this time Republicans are ready, and we're playing offense."
Trump a main character in Democrats' AG race
Trump's name has been popping up regularly in Virginia's primary to be the nominee for Democratic attorney general, with the winner entering the general election contest in November against Miyares.
The two leading candidates - former state Rep. Jay Jones and Shannon Taylor, the commonwealth's attorney for Henrico County - have made versions of a campaign promise to "stand up to Trump" if elected as Virginia's top legal official.
If successful, they'd likely be quick to join other Democratic attorneys general who have spent the last several months filing ongoing lawsuits against Trump and his administration, including a case related to the federal workforce cuts.
Trump has railed against other state attorneys general for similar campaigns, calling their scrutiny political persecution. It's an argument that Virginia Republicans plan to push against Democrats into the fall, too.
"The law is a shield, not a sword to use against political enemies," Miyares' spokesman, Alex Cofield, told USA TODAY. "If they think that's the role of this office, then it's no small wonder why their policies keep getting rejected by voters. We look forward to the contrast in November."