Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Spanberger defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Sears. The lieutenant governor’s race between Democrat Ghazala Hashmi and Republican John Reid has not been called.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, is term-limited and cannot seek reelection. Virginia governors cannot serve two consecutive terms.
Spanberger, a former congresswoman, was considered a heavy favorite going into the race, with the winner of the Virginia’s gubernatorial race often being the opposite of the party that won the White House the year before.
Polling often showed Spanberger leading by double digits ahead of Election Day.
Virginia is home to 140,000 federal employees, who have faced mass layoffs from the Trump administration and are now caught in the middle of the monthlong government shutdown.
Spanberger, a moderate Democrat with a background in national security, put Trump front and center in her campaign, seeking to mobilize voters opposed to the president’s policy agenda.
Democrats also outspent Republicans in Virginia with Spanberger and her allies pouring $50 million into advertising, double the $25 million spent by Earle-Sears and GOP-aligned groups, Axios reported, citing ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Though Trump participated in a tele-rally with Earle-Sears, he never formally endorsed her campaign.
Trump previously made lukewarm comments about Earle-Sears, telling reporters last month that the “Republican candidate is very good, and she should win because the Democrat candidate is a disaster.”
During an event in Virginia last month, Trump did not mention Earle-Sears despite praising other Virginia Republicans with Navy service, CNN reported.
Reid is running to be the first openly gay Republican elected to statewide office in the country.
Youngkin previously asked him to withdraw after GOP researchers found online sexually explicit posts allegedly connected to him.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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