We now know more about the governor we elected.
That knowledge will not stop the debate over whether Abigail Spanberger is or is not as moderate or as bipartisan as she was portrayed in last fall’s election. On the contrary, that debate may intensify. However, we now have 1,102 data points with which to flesh out the picture — in the form of 972 bills she signed before Monday night’s deadline, 122 she sent back to the legislature with amendments and eight she vetoed outright (although two of those were duplicate bills, so it was really seven different policy items). The text of some of those amendments wasn’t available Tuesday, so it will be a while before we get a complete picture, but here’s what we know so far:
1. Spanberger signed most of the bills you’d expect a Democratic governor would
Increase in minimum wage? Signed. Restrictions on guns? Signed. Right to contraception established? Signed. Tax breaks for Confederate-themed organizations revoked? Signed. Doing away with license plates dedicated to the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee? Signed. All those were bills that Spanberger’s predecessor, Republican Glenn Youngkin, vetoed. Think what you will of those measures, but no one should be surprised that Spanberger signed them. This is sort of what the election was about. Elections have consequences, we’re told. Here are some of them.
2. Some of the most disappointed legislators are Democrats, not Republicans
Republicans expected a Democratic governor to do things they didn’t like, so while they may be unhappy about many of Spanberger’s actions, they shouldn’t be surprised. Some Democrats are, though. Five of the eight (or seven) bills she vetoed were sponsored by Democrats. The three most high-profile: Authorizing a referendum on a Fairfax County casino, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County. Legalizing so-called “skill” games, sponsored by Senate Privileges and Elections chair Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach. Prohibiting certain types of plea agreements, by Sen. Saddam Salin, D-Fairfax. Surovell wasn’t just disappointed, he issued a statement that said he was “deeply disappointed.”
The last time we had a Democratic trifecta in the governorship, House and Senate was the final two years of Gov. Ralph Northam’s term in 2020-21. He vetoed four bills the Democratic legislature sent him in 2020, none in 2021. Spanberger has vetoed seven (or maybe eight) in her first year — and there could be more to come if the legislature rejects her proposed amendments and the original bill comes back to her. That’s obviously way lower than the 201 vetoes that Youngkin inked in 2024 and the 157 he issued in 2025.
Still, Spanberger vetoed and sent back some bills for amendments that Democratic legislators didn’t expect.
3. Spanberger moderated some bills
Here are three notable ones.
Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County, had introduced a bill that attempted to ban teachers from describing the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol as a “peaceful protest” or saying that the 2020 presidential election was subject to “extensive election fraud.” Instead, the bill would have directed them to “describe the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol as an unprecedented, violent attack on United States democratic institutions, infrastructure, and representatives for the purpose of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election.”
Virginia Scope reports that PEN America, a literary group involved with issues of free expression, recently wrote to Spanberger to express concern with the bill. Spanberger’s amendment proposes a substitute that instead directs the board of education to take up “whether it would be necessary” to provide “additional instructional emphasis” on the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Meanwhile, another bill that drew controversy in the recent session was another Helmer bill that set up a study of Virginia Military Institute. In its original form, the study group was directed to examine whether VMI should even remain a state institution. As ultimately passed, the bill called for the study to “determine the quality of VMI graduates” and include an examination of whether VMI “has initiated any substantial changes to its policies, values, and preventative, investigative, and disciplinary procedures to reduce acts within its student body that could be perceived or classified as racist, sexist, or misogynistic or as an act of sexual harassment or sexual assault; has actively made efforts to distance itself from the Lost Cause narrative or other celebrations or promotions of the Confederacy in the American Civil War; has successfully made progress on these efforts and has a plan to address any remaining gaps; and possesses the capacity as an institution to end celebration of the Confederacy.”
Spanberger’s amendments take out all that language and instead add that the task force should “determine if VMI has been successful in recruiting and admitting a more diverse body of students and if admissions priorities have shifted away from a focus on students with legacy status or other alumni relatives” and give the power to “include any such questions or concerns” in its purview. As I read the amendment, the task force could still do all the things the unamended bill did, but it’s not specifically directed to deal with Confederate-related issues at VMI.
Spanberger also proposed amendments that would delay full implementation of collective bargaining for public employees until 2030 — at which point there will be a new governor. Spanberger said the phase-in would give the state time to work out all the details, but Surovell said he was “very disappointed.” She also sent down amendments to some gun bills, but those details weren’t available Tuesday. She proposed amendments to turn a Prescription Drug Affordability Board from a regulatory board into an advisory board; the sponsors said that was essentially a veto by another name.
4. Spanberger wants to distance herself from the General Assembly on some issues
A recent poll by The Washington Post and the Schar School at George Mason University found that Spanberger has the lowest early-term approval rating of any Virginia governor since the polling started in the early 1990s — and the highest disapproval rating. The consensus (which I agree with) has been that Spanberger, who had touted her bipartisan credentials during the campaign, has suffered because one of the first things she had to do was take a position on a highly partisan issue: redistricting. She’s also suffered because Republicans have been very effective in tying her to tax increases that were proposed in the General Assembly which didn’t pass, and which she never endorsed. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump, during an appearance in Charlottesville, blasted Spanberger for those measures as if they were actually bills she had signed.
On Monday, Spanberger’s office sent out an unusual press release headlined: “BREAKING: Governor Spanberger Does Not Sign Tax Bills the General Assembly Never Passed.” It then listed nine bills that didn’t pass — all introduced by Democrats. Maybe this was a clever public relations move, maybe this was odd and awkward, but it’s still unusual to see a governor celebrate bills introduced by members of the governor’s own party that didn’t pass.
One bill that Republicans have delighted in talking about is a measure by Del. Amy Laufer, D-Albemarle County, that would have created a mattress recycling program — with a fee attached. “They’re even taxing sleep,” former Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares chortled at a recent appearance in Wytheville. Spanberger vetoed the bill. Maybe her policy concerns were legitimate, but the veto also deprives Republicans of a favorite talking point.
5. Some of Spanberger’s actions have budget implications, which might further complicate a budget deal
The General Assembly has yet to pass a budget. House and Senate budget negotiators haven’t even met yet because they remain far apart on one key issue: Senate Finance chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, is insistent that Virginia eliminate its tax incentive for data centers and House budget conferees say that would send a bad signal to other business sectors and slow down what has been a productive revenue stream for Virginia. Until legislators know how much money they’ll have, it’s hard to put together a budget.
At least two actions Spanberger took will widen the budget gap between the House and Senate. She vetoed skill games, on the grounds that there’s no gaming commission to regulate them. She also proposed amendments to delay the legalization of retail sales of cannabis from Jan. 1, 2027, to July 1, 2027, and to reduce the number of licenses awarded. The language for that amendment wasn’t available Tuesday, but some cannabis advocates had urged a delay on the grounds that it would help small entrepreneurs to grow a crop; otherwise the only people with a legal crop ready to market would be medical marijuana companies.
Both these actions also serve to reduce expected revenue. An economic impact study has projected skill games could bring in up to $249.6 million a year. A similar report on cannabis had projected $9.2 million tax revenues if sales had started Jan. 1; however, Spanberger proposes to delay that start date and reduce the number of licenses from 400 to 200, both of which would reduce the amount of revenue flowing into state coffers in 2027.
6. Some Democratic legislators aren’t happy with Spanberger
Secretary of Finance Mark Sickles, himself a former legislator, briefed the Senate Finance Committee on state revenues Tuesday and got an earful from some Democrats. Surovell complained about the number of amendments Spanberger had sent legislators. “We have a whole lot of new policy positions that were not communicated to us” until now, he said. “It’s hard to legislate when the governor doesn’t let us know what her position is on anything. We’re now trying to figure out a budget in a constrained time frame. It would be really helpful if the governor would let us know what her position is.”
Sickles attributed any lack of communication to the frenzy of a legislative session and pointed out that legislators had started their work before Spanberger had taken office. We should remember that Spanberger has never served in state government, and there’s a learning curve for any new governor. Still, this was a rare display of Democrats being frustrated with a Democratic governor.
7. Spanberger still has a Lucas problem
Spanberger has to deal with the perception that she’s not the most powerful person in Richmond, Lucas is. Youngkin had that problem, too, after Lucas blocked consideration of a proposed sports arena in Alexandria. Now Spanberger has it, as well, with the added complication that Spanberger is a new governor and she and Lucas are in the same party.
Lucas has already caused problems for Spanberger on redistricting. Spanberger said last summer she had no plans to push redistricting. However, Lucas did. Spanberger has certainly gone along with that, but she’s the one taking the political hit for it in the polls, not Lucas.
Now Lucas is the one pushing to end the state’s tax incentives on data centers. That’s a complication for Spanberger, who has opposed an early phase-out — and has the job of selling Virginia to potential employers who might take a dim view of the state changing the rules of the game, even if it’s not their business sector. Spanberger, as governor, also has to look out for constituents who Lucas doesn’t — rural Virginia, where many localities want data centers and are just now attracting their attention. Some of those communities now worry that ending the tax incentives will deprive them of an opportunity right when it’s within their grasp.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Lucas was trolling the governor online with this post: “Now that you have read each bill line by line, it’s time to focus on the budget. Your Secretary of Finance says that we need more revenue and the House budget is negative by $400M in the out years. That’s not fiscally responsible and won’t happen on my watch.” Just in case that message wasn’t clear, Lucas followed up with another post: “The Senate budget asks the wealthiest corporations to pay sales tax just like every other business in Virginia. They can afford it.” Translation: Data centers will have to pay more taxes.
Last week, former Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling — a Republican — published a scathing review of Spanberger on social media, saying that she had already become “irrelevant” by taking a “passive” approach to the budget impasse. “Governor Spanberger needs to become actively involved in these negotiations and push the parties toward an agreement, but she doesn’t want to. Why? Because she has no experience in state government. She doesn’t understand how the process works, and how Governors have become involved in these disputes in the past. And because she doesn’t want to take sides between the State Senate and the House of Delegates. She doesn’t want to anger Senator Lucas or Speaker [Don] Scott. But that’s exactly what leadership requires.”
We shouldn’t expect a Republican to issue praise of a Democratic governor, but Bolling’s critique that Spanberger is too deferential to Lucas does fit the perception that Lucas is the one calling the shots at the State Capitol. Perception is not the same as reality, although in politics, sometimes it can be — and none of Spanberger’s actions on bills erase that perception. What Bolling calls a “passive” approach could also be read as a “patient” one, and perhaps standing back some from these legislative squabbles will wind up paying off. For now, though, we still don’t have a budget, or even any budget negotiations. For our new governor, this is both a challenge and an opportunity.
For more on Virginia politics . . .
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