Spanbergers victory will flip partisan control of the governors office when the former congresswoman and CIA case officer succeeds outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. She won with a campaign emphasizing economic issues, a strategy that may serve as a model for other Democrats in next years elections as they try to break President Donald Trumps and Republicans hold on power in Washington and gain ground in statehouses.

Throughout the campaign, Spanberger made carefully crafted economic arguments against Trumps policies, while she spent considerable sums on ads tying Earle-Sears to the president. She campaigned across the state, including in Republican-leaning areas. Yet she also emphasized her support for abortion rights in the last Southern state that has not enacted new restrictions

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