Nov. 4, 2025, is a pivotal date for all Virginians, with Tuesday being the gubernatorial election that decides the chief executive for the Commonwealth. The Governor affects everything from policy to the National Guard, so knowing who you might vote for and what they will do for your future is paramount.
Both the Republican and Democratic primaries are over, so now you may ask, “Who are my candidates?” The nominees for the Democratic party are Abigail Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi who are running for Governor and Lieutenant Governor respectively. On the Republican tickets, Winsome Sears and John Reid can be seen running for Governor and Lieutenant Governor respectively. Additionally on the ballot is the Virginia Attorney General. Your candidates for this position are Jay Jones and Jason Miyares who are nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties correspondingly.
So, who is Spanberger and what is her platform? Three of her major values are keeping Virginia’s communities safe, the affordable Virginia plan, and improving the transparency of the state government.
Spanberger aims to continue her push for making sure Virginia’s law enforcement officers have the training, tools, and resources they need to keep our Commonwealth’s communities safe. While in congress, Spanberger led bipartisan efforts to help Virginia’s police departments pay for vetting, hiring, training, and benefits for more officers and first responders. She also aims to curb gun violence by supporting the strengthening of Virginia’s “Safe storage laws”
Furthermore, she plans to lower costs, save Virginians money, and make it easier for people who work hard to get ahead. She plans to make medications & coverage more affordable by cracking down on middlemen and holding large pharmaceutical companies accountable through strict enforcement of price transparency laws and enforce penalties when there is evidence of price gouging. She also wants to keep electricity prices down by expanding electricity generation sources with low or no fuel cost and making sure that data centers pay their fare share.
Spanberger trains her sights on making State Government more transparent. In Congress, she led a bipartisan effort to ban Members of Congress as well as their spouses from buying, selling, or trading individual stocks. As Governor, Spanberger claims she will work to make Virginia’s state government more accessible to the Virginians it serves.
Who is Winsome Sears and what is her platform? Three of her core values are reducing the cost of living, protecting Virginia’s “Right to work” status, and expanding quality education.
Sears wants to make sure Virginia is a place where all families can afford to live, raise their families, work, and build a future. She aims to do this by common sense tax cuts, an example of this being the car tax. Furthermore she plans to “scour the government books” to cut wasteful government spending and “job-killing regulations.”
Sears is a staunch supporter of Virginia’s right-to-work policy because she says it is essential to Virginia’s economic success. She states, “Right to work also protects workers from heavy-handed union bosses, forced dues, and fewer job opportunities.” This reportedly contributed to our increased job growth and lower unemployment rates. On Sears’ campaign website, her team comments, “Winsome will never allow Virginia to become Maryland.”
She wishes to close the gap in quality education provided to the less fortunate. “No child should be stuck in an underperforming school because of their zip code or their parent’s income level.” Sears says she aims to “prioritize parents’ rights and basic reading and math skills over ideological grandstanding.”
It is incredibly important that everyone who has a vested interest in the future of Virginia and is of age to do so, go out and vote. Prior to Nov 4, it is encouraged that you independently inquire into the candidates and most importantly think critically about what your vote means for Virginia.
