Read more: Virginia’s likely Republican nominee for governor reflects on her priorities, reentry into politics
After serving three terms in Congress, Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is on her way out of D.C. and will soon be on the campaign trail in Virginia as she runs for governor in 2025.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Spanberger said in an interview with WTOP.
She announced a year ago that she would not seek reelection for her seat in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania and Culpeper counties.
“As of Jan. 3, my only focus is on campaigning across the state … talking to business owners, talking to people … what their communities need,” Spanberger said. “At its foundation, I am running for governor because I love Virginia.”
Spanberger’s run could be a history-making one: Virginia has never had a female governor.
She first won election to Congress in 2018 as part of a wave of female candidates who helped Democrats retake the U.S. House in the midterms.
‘One distraction after another’: Why is she running?
Spanberger, a former CIA officer, unseated GOP Rep. Dave Brat, who had ousted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor four years earlier in an upset victory for the Tea Party movement. She became the first Democrat to represent the 7th District in almost 50 years.
Her seat will now be taken over by Democrat Eugene Vindman, who defeated Republican Derrick Anderson earlier this month.
“I have been effective in Congress,” Spanberger said. “I’m proud of the results that I’ve brought, but at the state level, you can have greater effectiveness in a shorter time frame.”
The political environment and the personalities within Congress can often be distracting too, Spanberger said.
Currently, there is a debate about bathrooms in the building after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson declared lawmakers and staff will have to use the restroom corresponding with their biological sex — a statement directed at Sarah McBride, the first transgender person to be elected to Congress.
A resolution to restrict McBride’s access to women’s restrooms was introduced by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who pledged to fight to “keep men out of women’s spaces.”
“It’s one distraction after another that we see on Capitol Hill,” Spanberger said. “The chaos, at times, seems like the point rather than just something that’s happening.”
Before going into politics, Spanberger worked as a law enforcement officer for the U.S. Postal Service, tracking narcotics traffickers and working money laundering cases, according to her campaign. She then joined the CIA as a case officer, with a workload that included counterterrorism and nuclear proliferation cases.
Spanberger is often described as a centrist moderate who has cultivated an identity as a bipartisan consensus builder.
In Congress, she displayed an independent streak, clashing at times with members of her own party, notably in her criticism of the “defund the police” movement.
“I have a really clear background and evidence of my ability to build coalitions across party lines,” Spanberger said. “I have a very clear history of bringing people together to actually deliver results.”
‘Women’s lives threatened’: What are her priorities?
On the campaign trail, Spanberger said her priorities would include strengthening public schools, preventing gun violence, easing inflation and protecting reproductive rights.
“These are the essential reasons why I have chosen to run for governor,” Spanberger said.
Spanberger would be facing off against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the likely Republican nominee. The two potential candidates are worlds apart on the issue of abortion.
A staunch conservative, Earle-Sears is firmly against abortion and oftentimes speaks about her Christian faith.
“Does Abigail have a limit, or is it that you can have an abortion right up until the time the baby could be born?” Earle-Sears asked during an interview with WTOP. “That’s what I would like to know from her.”
Spanberger pointed to states that have enacted strict limits on abortion.
“The reality is that we have seen women’s lives threatened, we have seen women die, and I will not allow that to be the case in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Spanberger said.
Virginia remains the only state in the South that has not put new restrictions on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
State lawmakers are currently considering an amendment that seeks to codify abortion rights in the Virginia constitution.
“That’s something that I absolutely support,” Spanberger said. “Those are decisions to be left to a woman and her doctor. And no legislator, no governor and no executive of any form should be dictating those choices for women.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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