Spanberger’s landslide ends; vetoes ignite her base

Abigail Spanberger won Virginia’s governorship by 15 points last November and entered office promising affordability and a steady hand. But her sweeping early mandate has turned into a fight with both parties’ activists. She clashed with Republicans over a red

When Abigail Spanberger walked away from the bills she wanted the most, it wasn’t just policy that shifted in Richmond. It was her relationship with the people who helped elect her.

Spanberger won Virginia’s governorship in a landslide last November. but the promise of running as she campaigned—rising above partisan friction and focusing on affordability—has not held. The right turned on her quickly over redistricting after she joined a national battle Republicans kicked off. Now the left is turning on her too. furious that she has vetoed major progressive priorities. while also appearing sensitive to business concerns on issues including data centers.

Her critics argue she squandered what could be a short-lived opening for major change. Her defenders say she is trying to make center-left governance work—preventing Democrats from going so far that it triggers voter backlash in a state that isn’t solidly blue.

The contradiction has become the story of her early tenure: a governor attempting procedural hardball while trying not to alienate the people who expect bold action.

The political rupture began with redistricting. Spanberger joined the national fight over gerrymandering that Republicans had launched, after initially saying she wouldn’t. She endorsed a map that would favor Democrats in 10 of Virginia’s 11 U.S. House districts. The plan passed as a ballot measure, but it was tossed out by the state’s highest court.

Even though she won her election by a 15-point margin, the knock-on effect arrived fast. By early April, Spanberger’s approval rating had fallen to 47 percent, while disapproval stood at 46 percent—her honeymoon effectively over.

At the same time, the legislature delivered an overwhelming workload. When the General Assembly session closed, Spanberger faced 1,156 bills sent to her. By then. one outside voice summed up the dynamic: Virginia Mercury columnist Bob Lewis wrote that Spanberger was “little seen or heard. ” during the session.

Part of the reason was structural. In Virginia, governors are prohibited from running for reelection, making them instant lame ducks. “The joke in the legislature is, you don’t like the governor, just wait a couple minutes,” political scientist Richard Meagher of Randolph-Macon College said.

Power in Richmond has a familiar face: L. Louise Lucas, the state senate president pro tempore and finance committee chair. Lucas is 82 and has served in the legislature for more than three decades. She has drawn national attention for her partisan combativeness and her presence on social media. When Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine raised concerns about her redistricting plans. she responded that their complaints were “coming from a cuck chair in the corner.”.

With Republicans occupying the governor’s office as Democrats took control of the state in the years after. the party came in with a long list of goals. After four years under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Democrats had an agenda that amounted to bold progressive change and also a version of procedural hardball centered on redistricting. even though that effort was blocked in court.

Spanberger signed the vast majority of the bills into law. Her decisions included measures on the minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, gun control, and reproductive rights.

But she balked on other key measures.

Some bills were vetoed outright. Spanberger rejected bills on gambling, criminal justice reform, and a new fee on mattress sales intended to fund mattress recycling.

For other major proposals, her approach was more complicated. She initially proposed major amendments to what the legislature passed, and then vetoed when lawmakers rejected her changes. In those cases. she said she remained committed to the goals of the proposals but believed the bills as written would “work out poorly. ” and that they needed changes.

The vetoes that landed hardest with progressives came in areas where the Democratic base expected decisive movement. For Democrats’ long-awaited push to legalize retail marijuana sales—recreational use was legalized in 2021—Spanberger wanted to add new tough penalties for public consumption and possession of large amounts. Critics inside her own coalition viewed that as a poison pill designed to kill the bill. since progressives in the legislature were not eager to make drug laws harsher.

Her stance on labor also triggered backlash. On the labor’s prized bill to allow state and local government employees to collectively bargain. Spanberger proposed delaying implementation for local government employees until 2030. a year when she would be out of office. Some local governments had complained that if the original bill passed. workers could negotiate higher compensation and squeeze their limited budgets.

On class actions. Spanberger vetoed a bill that would have created a process for people to file class action lawsuits in Virginia. a state that is one of just two states without a formal procedure for that. She proposed limiting the bill to a few cities and Fairfax County and giving judges a way to dismiss such lawsuits earlier.

Across these vetoes, common themes emerged. Spanberger was sensitive to how Democrats were being seen on crime and disorder and to the fear that the party was too eager to impose new taxes. Another thread was business confidence.

Virginia political analyst Bob Holsworth pointed to the state’s long-standing emphasis on national ratings of its business climate, including surveys such as CNBC’s. Virginia has often ranked No. 1 on those lists, though it dropped to fourth last year.

The shape of those concerns shows up in her vetoes. Holsworth pointed to recent investments by companies such as AstraZeneca in bringing drug manufacturing facilities to Virginia as an explanation for Spanberger’s veto of a prescription drug pricing board.

The tension isn’t isolated to Virginia. In New York City. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has found himself in a standoff with ultra-wealthy residents threatening to leave or abandon planned investments over tax-the-rich proposals. In California, Democrats are divided over a proposed wealth tax generating similar concerns and influencing the governor’s race. The pattern. in Holsworth’s view. is that Democratic leaders in blue states may increasingly confront the base’s populist backlash against the rich while trying to attract businesses and grow the tax base needed for new spending.

Data centers have become the biggest fracture point.

In the middle of a budget fight that must be settled by June 30, Lucas has pushed to eliminate tax incentives for data centers and rely heavily on the revenue from that change. Spanberger argues that ending those tax breaks would mean breaking a promise to businesses that chose to build in Virginia.

Holsworth described why the issue is politically combustible for Democrats: “Lucas came up with an issue that is really problematic for the Democrats. because on one hand you’re talking about a tax exemption that goes to the richest people in the world. ” he said. “And then on the other hand. if the rug gets pulled out from under this exemption. Virginia’s rating among the best states for doing business in the country goes flying down.”.

A Digital Realty data center in Ashburn, Virginia, on November 12, 2025, stands as a reminder that this fight is not theoretical. With data centers drawing populist opposition at local. state. and federal levels. and with a broader AI backlash simmering in some corners of the left. other Democratic leaders may face similar pressure.

Earlier this year, in April, Maine Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a proposed moratorium on data centers, citing concerns that it would penalize a project that had already been planned.

As the budget deadline approaches, the relationship between Spanberger and legislators has grown worse. Many lawmakers view her vetoes as blindsiding them and argue she failed to engage early enough.

The worst blowup centers on Lucas. After Spanberger said in an interview this week that the legislature might not respect her due to sexism, the comment sparked a sharp response.

“You have gotta be kidding me!” Lucas posted on X Wednesday. “There is a record number of women in the GA and four of them are in leadership and a woman LG, yet you think this is all about you! Okay, you thought it to be a great idea but just remember, you started this mess!”

Bad blood has also surfaced in the background. In February, Spanberger’s chief of staff filed a defamation lawsuit against a longtime adviser to Lucas, claiming he was spreading scurrilous rumors about her.

Even Meagher, who described Lucas’s style in blunt terms, acknowledged the risk. “Lucas has a little bit of the mob boss in her — which endears her to a lot of Democrats in the commonwealth. ” he said. “Democratic voters, particularly when they look at the national leadership, are tired of tepid, moderate, mealy-mouthed leaders.”.

Lucas’s national profile could soon rise further. Last month, the FBI searched her office and a marijuana dispensary she owns. Sources told The New York Times that the search stemmed from a corruption and bribery investigation opened during the Biden administration. Lucas has positioned herself as a victim of “Trump’s retribution crusade,” claiming, “I am not backing down.”.

Even if Spanberger is trying to appeal to Virginia’s median voter. the political arithmetic she faces doesn’t favor her. The median voter, she’s learned, is often disengaged and stays home. In the gaps. the loudest voices are partisans and ideologues—leaving her with a right already turned against her and a left that is now turning on her too.

While her challenges are shaped by Virginia’s specific fights. other incoming Democratic governors—or the next Democratic president—may find the same pressure coming from different directions. The party’s base and allied interest groups will demand a wish list of progressive agenda items. paired with procedural hardball to counter what they see as foul play on the right. Picture a Democrat being sworn in as president with congressional majorities in 2029 and immediately being overwhelmed by calls for filibuster abolition and court-packing. Activists may press for major new spending programs even as the deficit and national debt worsen.

In the end, the executive will be the one deciding when to say no—and how hard that no can be delivered without igniting the coalition that put them in power. Spanberger’s early experience suggests there may not be any easy version of that balancing act left.

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