Key Takeaways From Virginia Gubernatorial Election Debate

The top candidates in the 2025 election for governor of Virginia—Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears—met on Oct. 9 at Norfolk State University for a debate about policy and their candidacies. It was the only planned head-to-head confrontation during the campaign, which will end with the general election on Nov. 4. Spanberger and Earle-Sears debated for about one hour on a variety of topics, including the state’s car tax, federal workers, affordability, the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, transgender issues, and the Jay Jones political scandal. Most polling before the debate indicated that Spanberger has a large lead over Earle-Sears, with 52 percent support compared with Earle-Sears’s 42 percent in a recent poll by Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia....