Virginia sits at the crossroads of the American project. One path leads towards preserving our democratic progress; the other, towards grievance, division, and spectacle. We believe the governor’s election on November 4, at its core, is a referendum on that choice. And with early voting underway, we also believe Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is the best candidate to be the 75th governor of Virginia.
In these uncertain times, no vision for the future can be perfect. But Spanberger has consistently championed the values this publication believes in: equality, diversity, affordability, environmental sustainability, and reproductive freedom—values that have protected Virginians and strengthened our quality of life.
She’s backed those values with action. She’s pledged to reverse Governor Youngkin’s executive order that law-enforcement cooperate with ICE’s masked raids. She has stood up for our LGBTQ+ students and communities. She’s advanced real solutions to Virginia’s looming health care crisis triggered by Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” She has a plan to address affordability and a forward looking vision for Virginia’s economy. When DOGE was dismantling the federal workforce in Virginia, Spanberger showed genuine compassion for our neighbors, friends, and colleagues whose livelihoods were devastated in the process.
Most importantly, we believe she recognizes this moment in American history for what it is, and remains committed to protecting democracy in Virginia.
The same cannot be said for her opponent, Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who has proven herself to be little more than a culture warrior for MAGA with no real plan for Virginia’s future. Her platform is driven by grievance and division, with the spectacle of anti-trans rhetoric as its foundation. This does not reflect the values we hold in the Commonwealth, nor does it address the pressing economic challenges facing millions of Virginians.
With climbing unemployment due to the federal workforce cuts, rising inflation, runaway cost-of-living, shuttered healthcare facilities, and Medicaid cuts threatening coverage for over 350,000 of our most vulnerable citizens—we need real action, not platitudes and placation designed to secure Donald Trump’s endorsement (which still hasn’t materialized).
Still, no endorsement should be universal: many Virginians, our friends and colleagues included, feel abandoned by politics, especially the Democratic Party. You’re not wrong. We see you. We hear you. The politics of this moment have failed us, all of us. That’s why we’ve reached this point. Not just in Virginia, but throughout America.
But the truth is, our democracy is backsliding. And protecting our values and what we believe in as a community, and Commonwealth, can be separated from our frustrations over those political failures. Especially when the progress we’ve fought so hard for is being erased daily.
There is an authoritarian project underway in America, and Virginia is one of the frontlines. Democratic Governors from California, Oregon, Illinois, New York, and Maryland are holding that line. Virginia must do the same. We need a governor who will not capitulate, like so many others, to an extreme MAGA agenda. Abigail Spanberger is that governor. With her, we have accountability and a commitment to the values we believe in. With Earle-Sears, the only accountability will be to Donald Trump, not the citizens of Virginia. All of us deserve better than that.
Support a free Virginia:
Vote Abigail Spanberger for Governor. Ghazala Hashmi for Lt. Governor. Jay Jones for Attorney General.
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