RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Abigail Spanberger was sworn in Saturday as Virginia’s first female governor, amid a cold drizzle outside the state Capitol after centuries of men holding the state’s highest office.

Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears to succeed Governor Glenn Youngkin, also a Republican. It marks a new chapter in Virginia as Democrats pull the levers of power in state government while Republican President Donald Trump occupies the White House in neighboring Washington.

“The history and gravity of this moment is not lost on me,” Spanberger said in his speech. “I maintain an abiding feeling of gratitude to those who work, generation after generation, to ensure that women can be among those who vote, but who could only dream of a day like today.”

Spanberger quoted Patrick Henry, Virginia’s first governor, as saying, “’Let us not divide into factions, which will destroy that union on which our existence depends.’ That was the charge Governor Henry leveled against Virginia in the late 18th century, and it is the charge we must answer again today.”

Two other Democrats were also sworn in. Ghazala F. Hashmi, the first Muslim woman to hold state office in the United States, is the new lieutenant governor. Jay Jones is Virginia’s first black attorney general. He took the oath of office, notably in the former capital of the Confederacy.

Spanberger’s inauguration as the state’s 75th governor is a historic first: Only men have held the office since Virginia became a commonwealth in 1776. And no women served as colonial governor before that date.

Spanberger applauds at his inauguration ceremony Saturday.
Spanberger applauds at his inauguration ceremony Saturday.

via News

He will refer to her with the traditional formality: “Madam Governor” or, as some officials express it, “your excellency.”

According to “A Guide to Virginia Protocol and Traditions,” men in the official party wear morning suits and women wear dark suits to the inauguration, and many, including the new governor’s husband, kept that tradition Saturday.

But as the first woman to serve as governor, Spanberger wore all white on Saturday, a possible tribute to the women’s suffrage movement. She wore a gold pin on her long white coat.

Spanberger ran on a promise to protect Virginia’s economy from the Trump administration’s aggressive tactics. Along the way, he discussed the White House’s destruction of public administration, rising costs of goods and changes impacting the state’s already fragile health care system.

State Democrats gained 13 seats in the House of Delegates a year after the party’s stunning defeats across the country in the 2024 presidential election.

Democrats in the state House have vowed to work with Spanberger to push his bullish agenda, which includes redrawing the state’s congressional district map ahead of this year’s midterm elections.