Spanberger sworn in as Virginia’s first woman governor

Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger during an interview at the Capitol Tuesday Jan. 6, 2026, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

RICHMOND, Va. — Amid a cold drizzle, Democrat Abigail Spanberger was sworn into office Saturday at the state Capitol as Virginia’s first female governor after centuries of men holding the state’s top office.

The inauguration of Spanberger, who defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin, marks a new chapter in Virginia as Democrats pull the levers of power in state government while Republican U.S. President Donald Trump sits in the White House in neighboring Washington.

“The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me,” Spanberger said in her address. “I maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who work, generation after generation, to ensure women could be among those casting ballots, but who could only dream of a day like today.”

Spanberger quoted Patrick Henry, Virginia’s first governor, saying, “`Let us not split into factions, which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.’ That was the charge Governor Henry put to Virginia at the close of the 18th century, and it is the charge we must answer again today.”

On his 95th birthday, former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder waved to the cheering crowd.

“On these steps, Virginia inaugurated our 66th governor and our nation’s first elected African American governor,” Spanberger said in her speech. “Gov. L. Douglas Wilder changed what so many of our fellow citizens believed was even possible.”

Two other Democrats were also sworn in Saturday. Ghazala F. Hashmi, the first Muslim woman to serve in statewide office in the U.S., is the new lieutenant governor. Hashmi placed her hand on a Quran as she was sworn in. Jay Jones is Virginia’s first Black attorney general. He was sworn into his post, 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 post since Virginia first became a commonwealth in 1776. And no woman served as a colonial governor before then.

She will be referred to with traditional formality: “Madam Governor” or, as some officials phrase it, “her excellency.”

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

After the ceremony and a parade, Spanberger began signing several executive orders.

Spanberger ran on a vow to protect Virginia’s economy from the aggressive tactics of Trump’s administration. On the trail, she spoke of the White House’s gutting the civil service, rising costs of goods and changes impacting the state’s already fragile health care system.

The state Democrats picked up 13 seats in the House of Delegates a year after the party’s stunning losses nationwide in the 2024 presidential election.

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

Olivia Diaz, The Associated Press