Both candidates for governor have legislative records. What do those tell us about whether they’d work with the opposite party if elected?

This story has been updated to correct a date.

The next governor will likely have to work with members of the opposing party, regardless of who is elected, to ensure that the concerns of Virginians in the Southwest and Southside regions of the state are addressed. 

If Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears wins, she’ll need to work with at least one chamber controlled by Democrats to get anything done, and if former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger wins, she’ll need to work with Republican legislators to make sure the Southwest and Southside regions have a seat at the lawmaking table. 

So what do the two candidates’ records tell us about their willingness to work with members of the opposite party? 

Both candidates have worked in legislative settings for years after having flipped their districts from opposite party control. 

Spanberger, a Democrat, represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District from 2019 until 2025 after she flipped the seat from Republican control in the 2018 election. She declined to seek reelection in 2024 and instead announced her candidacy for governor. The seat remained in Democratic hands with the election of Rep. Eugene Vindman as Spanberger’s successor. Prior to Spanberger’s win, the 7th District seat had been held by Republicans since the 1970s. 

Earle-Sears, a Republican, represented Virginia’s 90th House of Delegates District in Norfolk for one term, January 2002 through January 2004, after she flipped that seat from a longtime Democratic incumbent. She beat former Democratic Del. Billy Robinson in the 2001 election, after he had represented the district since the 1980s. The seat flipped back to Democratic control after Sears declined to run for a second term and instead sought to unsuccessfully challenge Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, in 2004. Sears went on to win the 2021 election for lieutenant governor, along with the slate of Republican statewide candidates, after the seat had been held by Democrats since 2014. 

What kind of bills did Earle-Sears write?

Earle-Sears didn’t face much headwind when it came to lawmaking. The General Assembly was solidly in Republican control for the term that she was in office. 

During that time, Earle-Sears carried 18 bills during her term. Eight of those were passed by the Republican-held General Assembly and signed by the then-newly elected Democratic Gov. Mark Warner. 

Those bills include: 

• One regarding disciplinary action for people who lie to the ABC to obtain event licenses and another prohibiting consumption of alcoholic beverages by employees during events, which were passed largely unchallenged; 
• One that places limitations on the ability of General Assembly members who work in the legal profession to obtain a court continuance, which went through different amendments and substitutions, but the final iteration of which was passed largely unchallenged; 
• A bill that modified charter school statutes to require the Board of Education to add the number of charters denied to its annual report to the governor and the General Assembly; 
• A bill that banned cross burning in Virginia, which was passed largely unchallenged; 
• One that lowered the disciplinary standard for people licensed by the boards of medicine and physical therapy from gross negligence to simple negligence
• A bill that prohibits the possession of drugs on or near schools, libraries, recreation centers and hospitals, which passed unanimously; 
• And another that prohibits the sale of tobacco “wrappings” to minors, which was passed largely unchallenged. 

Earle-Sears pointed out, in an emailed statement sent by her campaign, that as lieutenant governor, she presided over a Senate with a narrow margin. 

“I’ve worked with both sides to advance bipartisan priorities, including expanding career and technical education and improving mental health resources,” she said in an email sent by her campaign. 

What kind of bills did Spanberger write?

Getting things done in Congress is not an exact comparison to passing bills through the state legislature. Thousands of bills are written and introduced during a Congress, and very few are enacted. Other legislative activities take place on Capitol Hill that include oversight of the other branches of government, constituent services, offering amendments and committee work.

Congress saw a bicameral split during Spanberger’s first term. Democrats controlled the U.S. House of Representatives while Republicans held the U.S. Senate from January 2019 to January 2021. During her second term, the 117th Congress, Democrats controlled both chambers with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie breaking vote in the Senate. During Spanberger’s final term, the 118th Congress, Democrats gained a seat to hold onto their slim majority in the Senate but the House had flipped to Republican control.

Over the course of her six years in Congress, Spanberger sponsored eight pieces of legislation that were signed into law by Republican President Donald Trump or Democratic President Joe Biden. Many of those bills were not enacted in their original form but instead took a winding and transformational path where provisions from the legislation were included in other bills that were passed and signed into law. 

Among those were: 

• A bill that called for the president to consult with federal agencies and come up with a plan to secure 5G systems; the bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and carried in the U.S. Senate by Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, where it passed. It was signed into law by President Donald Trump in March 2020. 
• A bill that allowed for certain government computers to be refurbished and distributed to schools; fellow Virginian Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland County, signed on as a cosponsor, and the bill passed the U.S. House. The bill was incorporated into the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 and signed by President Joe Biden. 
• A bill to establish cybercrime reporting systems; two House Republicans signed on as cosponsors. The bill was introduced but did not pass the House. Instead, provisions of the bill were incorporated into a piece of Senate legislation sponsored by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and cosponsored by two Senate Republicans. That bill was passed and signed by Biden in May 2022, according to GovTrack.us. 
• A bill that reauthorized programs that focus on mental health conditions and substance use disorders; two House Republicans signed on to the legislation, but the bill did not get a vote. Instead, provisions of the bill were incorporated into the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 and signed by Biden in December 2022. 
• A bill to combat the transnational distribution of fentanyl, which directed the CIA to submit intelligence assessments on two major cartels to Congress. That was cosponsored by a Republican in the House, but it did not receive a vote in that chamber. Instead, it was rolled into the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024 and signed by Biden in December 2023. 

What do Spanberger’s Republican colleagues think of her? 

Spanberger was ranked as the most bipartisan member of Virginia’s delegation and 17th overall most bipartisan member of the House in the 118th Congress, according to a study by Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and the Lugar Center in 2024. 

But some of her more hardline Republican colleagues have disagreed with that characterization. 

“Abigail and I got along well, I enjoyed serving with her in terms of just the cordial spirit that you have with members of the [Virginia] delegation,” said former Rep. Bob Good, who served Virginia’s 5th Congressional District from January 2021 to January 2025. 

Good asserted that, regardless of the congenial nature of the delegation, Spanberger was in lockstep with former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some of the far-left members of Congress. Spanberger voted against Pelosi when she was running for speaker of the House in 2019 and 2021, had broken with the California Democrat on a number of bills and called for new Democratic leadership in 2022. 

“While she did a good job of trying to maintain the aura of being bipartisan, her voting record is far from bipartisan,” Good added. “She went ballistic in a meeting of the Virginia delegation when the governor was present, in early ’22, just screaming yelling and cursing as a result of the governor’s commonsense policies where he changed school policy to where parents have to be notified if their child is expressing confusion about their sex and their gender identity.”

Representatives Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and Ben Cline, R-Botetourt County, backed up Good’s characterization of Spanberger’s reaction during that meeting. 

According to a report by The Washington Post, the 2022 meeting became heated after Democratic members of the delegation, including Spanberger, expressed concern about the potential higher risk of suicide among transgender students in regard to Youngkin’s policy. 

Good argued that rather than bullying of trans students contributing to suicide, “the fact that these kids are killing themselves is because of grooming,” aides who had first or second-hand knowledge of the conversation said. Good added that students were being “forced” to undergo gender-affirming surgeries, and those comments led to a rise in tension, according to the article. 

Spanberger responded forcefully, The Washington Post article said, telling Good, “That’s not f—ing true.”

Spanberger introduced the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act with Louisiana Republican Rep. Garret Graves, which Good, who chaired the far-right House Freedom Caucus, unsuccessfully sought to kill in his final days in Congress. 

The bill repealed provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who receive other benefits, such as a pension from a state or local government. A largely bipartisan effort, 210 Democratic members of Congress and 120 Republicans had signed on in support of the legislation. Spanberger’s work on the legislation was recognized by the National Fraternal Order of Police. More than $300 million in earned retirement benefits have been delivered to nearly 50,000 retired police officers and other public servants across Virginia since the bill’s passage. 

“I understand the issues facing Virginians aren’t Republican or Democratic issues. And during my three terms in Congress, I had a record of bringing people together to deliver results for our Commonwealth, which is why I was proud to consistently be ranked as the most bipartisan Member of Congress from Virginia,” Spanberger said in a statement, provided via email through her campaign, when asked if she is committed to working in a bipartisan manner with Republicans if elected governor. 

“To me, that’s more than a talking point — that shows how I get things done. As Governor, I will be ready to work with anyone who is focused on lowering costs for Virginia families, strengthening Virginia’s public schools, and making Virginia a safer place to raise a family — and I will never be afraid to stand up for Virginians’ jobs and fundamental freedoms,” she added. 

The campaign declined to make Spanberger available to Cardinal News for a short follow-up conversation. 

What do Earle-Sears’ colleagues think of her? 

Though Earle-Sears was a member of the House of Delegates for a single term, she left an impression of being “consistently conservative,” according to her Democratic colleague, former Del. Brian Moran, who represented the Northern Virginia 46th District for seven terms before the 2023 redistricting. 

“I do recall her speaking on the House floor which in those days was unusual for freshmen. She knew she was unique,” Moran said via email. “Vaguely remember issues like school choice and welfare reform being in her wheelhouse.”

David Albo, a Republican, and Lionell Spruill Sr., a Democrat, who both served in the House of Delegates with Earle-Sears, declined to comment for this story. 

Earle-Sears said she would commit to working with Democratic members of the General Assembly if elected governor, in an emailed statement sent by her campaign. 

“I’ve always believed that when it comes to the lives of Virginians, there’s no Republican way or Democratic way — there’s the right way,” she said. “I will work with anyone, regardless of party, who is serious about lowering costs, improving schools, and keeping families safe. At the same time, I won’t compromise my principles. Working together doesn’t mean abandoning commonsense values, it means finding solutions that deliver real results.”

She added, though, that she is unwilling to compromise on a set of issues. 

“I will not compromise on protecting parental rights in education, on keeping biological boys out of girls’ bathrooms and sports, or on defending Virginia’s Right-to-Work law. These are non-negotiables. Virginians expect me to stand firm where our values, our safety, and our freedoms are at stake,” she said via email. 

Earle-Sears made headlines earlier in the election cycle when she wrote on a bill regarding same-sex marriage and on a constitutional amendment to enshrine access to abortion that she was “morally opposed” to both. She signed the legislation anyway, as the President of the state Senate, after the bills were passed by the General Assembly. 

Her campaign declined to respond or to make the lieutenant governor available for a short follow-up conversation when asked how she plans to square that moral opposition to similar bills or others that may be passed by a General Assembly with at least one chamber under Democratic control, if she is elected governor. The campaign also declined to respond when asked if the lieutenant governor would veto bills that she felt morally opposed to, if elected governor. 

Instead, the campaign pointed to a May WRIC interview with Earle-Sears where the topic was discussed. 

In that interview, she told WRIC that she wrote on the abortion bill because she felt that she wanted everyone to understand where she stood on the issue. 

“My position has always been known, it’s not unknown to anyone and doesn’t surprise anyone that I’m pro-life,” she said. 

Regarding the same-sex marriage bill, she said, “Civil unions, fine. But when it comes to marriage, because it’s a religious issue, I don’t want a person who has religious faith to feel like they’re forced against their will.”

The bill made it illegal to deny a couple a marriage license based on sex, gender or race.