Spanberger sees affordability as central issue in Virginia governor's race

Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) is leaning heavily into economic issues in her campaign for governor as Democrats seek a winning blueprint going into next year’s midterm elections. 

Spanberger has an advantage going into the off-year election, with most polls showing her leading Lt. Gov. Winsome Earl-Sears (R) by six to 12 points.

As a centrist Democrat, Spanberger is also seen as a notable contrast to progressive candidate Zohran Mamdani in deep-blue New York City. The two races, along with the New Jersey gubernatorial race in which Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D) is running, come amid questions over what Democratic candidates should prioritize as part of a strategy to win.

“I think every location is going to be different, right? I feel quite confident saying I’d probably never get elected in New York City, and it’s a good thing because I’m never going to run there,” Spanberger told The Hill during an exclusive sit-down conversation in Hampton, Va., when asked whether there is enough room in Democratic Party tent for moderates like her and centrists like Mamdani. 

“On a national landscape, my goal is to make sure that despite some of the chaos coming out of Washington, we have a governor who puts Virginia first,” she said. 

In her race for the Virginia governor’s mansion, Spanberger has stayed laser-focused on affordability, an issue that Republicans capitalized on in 2024 but continue to struggle with in 2025. She launched her “Affordable Virginia Plan” in June, highlighting her strategy to lower healthcare, prescription drug, housing, and energy costs. 

“I’m responding to the things that voters are asking me about on a daily basis,” she said, referring to the housing and rental markets, energy costs and health care prices. 

“It’s only going to get worse because of the so-called ‘one big, beautiful bill,’” Spanberger said, referring to President Trump’s massive reconciliation bill passed earlier this year that would extend tax cuts and phase-in cuts to Medicaid. 

The commonwealth’s gubernatorial race has become a split screen of sorts, with Spanberger touting the economy as her main issue and Earle-Sears focusing on cultural issues. 

While Earle-Sears has addressed economic issues throughout her campaign, she has taken to attacking Spanberger over transgender issues, especially in regard to schools. This week, the lieutenant governor’s campaign rolled out an ad labeling Spanberger as being for “they/them” and supporting policies that allow “men in girls locker rooms” and parents to be unaware when their children seek gender-affirming care. In another ad, Earle-Sears accuses Spanberger of wanting “boys to play sports and share locker rooms with little girls.”

Polling shows economic issues remain dominant in Virginia, mirroring nationwide trends. According to a Christopher Newport University poll released earlier this month, 21 percent of Virginia voters said that inflation and the cost of living were their top concern, followed by threats to democracy at 18 percent and K-12 education, immigration, and crime each at 9 percent.

And the strategy appears to be paying off for Spanberger in head-to-head polling. Decision Desk HQ’s polling average shows Spanberger leading Earle-Sears by seven points. 

While what happens in Washington has reverberations across the country, Virginia is especially impacted by decisions out of the White House and Capitol Hill. Virginia has been rocked this year by massive layoffs to the federal government’s workforce as a part of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts. 

And in addition to the government shutdown deadline looming over Washington, the White House has circulated a memo indicating that mass firings could be on the table if the government shuts down. 

“Given the impact of the tariffs, the impact of DOGE, the impending impact of the so-called ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ I as a candidate for governor am focused on the fact that a government shutdown is just one additional element that will create and continue to create dire circumstances for so many Virginians,” Spanberger said.

The Hill sat down with Spanberger prior to Trump’s meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) over the potential shutdown. The former congresswoman insisted a shutdown must be avoided. 

The negotiations come months after Schumer and a handful of Senate and House Democrats faced backlash for voting with Republicans to keep the government open. Many Democrats, including progressives, said the move was spineless on Schumer’s part. 

When asked whether Schumer and Jeffries should make a deal with Trump, Spanberger said she “would like to see a president who actually wants to see the function of government occur.” 

“The reality that the OMB director would use a government shutdown as a reason to fire additional federal workers after the assault on the federal workforce from the DOGE effort is just one more additional reason why I expect Republican leadership, I expect the president to work with Democratic leadership for everyone to actually come together, get a bill, get it voted on, get it to the president’s desk,” Spanberger said. 

Spanberger was also asked about some of the Trump administration’s recent actions, including the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey and Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr’s suggestion that ABC or its affiliates should drop “Jimmy Kimmel Live” over the comedian’s comments about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 

“Those are beyond politics,” Spanberger said. “Those are attacks on our basic constitutional priorities, and I think everyone, regardless of party and regardless of party affiliation, should be denouncing them, and we certainly saw people across party spectrum, across ideological spectrum denouncing both of those issues.”