For the first time in Virginia history, a woman has been sworn in as Governor of the Commonwealth.
On Saturday, January 17, Abigail Spanberger was inaugurated as Virginia’s 75th Governor, cementing Democratic control over state government for the next two years. Alongside Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi took office as Lieutenant Governor and Jay Jones took office as Attorney General.
In her inaugural address, Spanberger promised to bring down costs for Virginians and address “recklessness” coming from the Trump Administration. “Growing up, my parents always taught me that when faced with something unacceptable, you must speak up. You must take action, right what you believe is wrong, and fix what isn’t working,” Spanberger said.
Spanberger, in particular, mentioned high energy and food costs, public education, gun violence, the mental health crisis and other issues as priorities for her administration.
She concluded with, “My fellow Virginians, as we set an example for the country, the world, and most importantly, our children, let us choose to stand united, choose to serve one another [and] choose to act together.” The ceremony was themed around the same ideal as her gubernatorial transition period, “United for Virginia’s future.”
The inauguration was attended by thousands of Virginians and other honored guests, including Governor of Maryland Wes Moore, Mayor of D.C. Muriel Bowser, Richmond Mayor Dr. Danny Avula, Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin and others. Also in attendance were all but one of Virginia’s living former governors (excluding Chuck Robb), including Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.
Following the inauguration, representatives from Virginia-based organizations, departments and public universities marched in an inaugural parade, including Longwood’s mascot Elwood.
After the ceremony and parade, Spanberger signed the first 10 executive orders of her administration. These included one to direct her administration to explore policies to tackle affordability and housing availability, one to establish a task force to expand health care infrastructure and another to improve math, literacy and school accountability in K-12 public schools.
She also signed an order to rescind former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s order requiring state and local law enforcement agencies in Virginia to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The order gives Spanberger the option to remove the Virginia State Police (VSP) from their agreement with ICE, but her office declined to state whether she would.
Also among her executive orders on her first day in office, Spanberger signed an order directing the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to “review and evaluate the process for appointing members to public higher education governing boards.” On Inauguration Day, amid controversy over control of Boards of Visitors in the Commonwealth, Spanberger appointed 27 members to boards at the University of Virginia (UVA), George Mason University (GMU) and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI).
Longwood’s Board is currently made up entirely of Youngkin appointees, though that is unlikely to change before normal summer appointments.
Focus now shifts to the General Assembly session, where Democrats plan to take up issues such as redistricting, recreational marijuana sales, the minimum wage, among other issues. Spanberger gave her first address to a joint session of the General Assembly on January 19.
