On a brisk November evening in Richmond, history was made in the heart of Virginia. The Richmond Convention Center buzzed with anticipation as supporters of Abigail Spanberger gathered, their hopes pinned on a moment that had eluded the Commonwealth for centuries. By night’s end, Spanberger — a former CIA officer and three-term congresswoman — shattered the glass ceiling, becoming Virginia’s first woman governor. The victory was not hers alone; it marked a sweeping Democratic triumph across the state, with wins for lieutenant governor, attorney general, and a thirteen-seat gain in the House of Delegates that cemented the party’s control. According to RVA Magazine, the energy in the convention hall shifted from anxious to euphoric within an hour of the polls closing, as flags waved and chants rose in celebration of a watershed moment.
Spanberger’s win was historic for several reasons. Not only did she become the first woman to hold Virginia’s highest office, but her path to victory also underscored the state’s evolving political landscape. Her opponent, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, ensured that 2025’s gubernatorial contest would be Virginia’s first all-woman race for the office. The symbolism ran deep. Decades earlier, Mary Sue Terry had come close, becoming the first woman nominated by a major party when she ran for governor in 1993, only to lose to George Allen. More recently, Jennifer Carroll Foy, now a state senator, mounted a strong but ultimately unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in 2021. Spanberger’s election, then, was not just a personal achievement but the culmination of years of incremental progress by women in Virginia politics.
The Democratic sweep extended beyond the governor’s mansion. With victories in the races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, and a significant gain in the House of Delegates, Democrats now hold a government trifecta. This consolidation of power paves the way for bold policy changes, particularly in the realm of energy and climate — issues that featured prominently in Spanberger’s campaign and victory speech.
"We’re going to produce more energy and we’re going to lower energy costs. We are going to produce more energy here in Virginia and make sure that data centers pay their fair share," Spanberger told a cheering crowd, as reported by Virginia Mercury. Her message was clear: the days of incremental progress were over, and a new era of ambitious energy policy was beginning. The significance of this shift cannot be overstated. Under outgoing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, Virginia had seen a series of vetoes on legislation designed to expand renewable energy, including bills that would have increased requirements for utility investment in solar-powered battery storage. Youngkin, a frequent critic of the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), argued that such measures would be too costly for ratepayers. The political winds have now shifted.
Spanberger’s agenda is multifaceted. She has pledged to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state carbon credit program from which Youngkin withdrew, citing it as an unnecessary tax. Before the withdrawal, Dominion Energy customers paid a little over $2 per bill to support RGGI, funds that flowed back into the state for energy efficiency and flood resiliency projects. Spanberger sees participation in RGGI as a crucial tool for integrating resiliency efforts into state priorities, from road and bridge investments to business attraction and agricultural sustainability. "I think the governor has to lead these conversations and bring resiliency efforts into everything that the state might prioritize," she said in an August interview with The Mercury.
With Democrats firmly in control, there is renewed hope among party leaders and advocates that Virginia can accelerate its transition to clean energy. Delegate Rip Sullivan, D-Fairfax, expressed optimism, stating, "We’ve made some minimal progress over the course of the last four years. But with the change of administration, yes, I am hoping that we make more progress and faster progress." The state’s major utilities, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company, remain bound by VCEA requirements to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Yet, the path forward is not without obstacles. Utility-scale solar projects, while seen as the fastest-to-deploy renewable source, often run into resistance in rural areas, where concerns about land use and siting persist. As Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, put it, "The movement for utility-scale solar is all coming from our urban and suburban areas, and the burden is being imposed on our rural areas."
This tension underscores the complexities of energy transition in Virginia. Conservatives and some utility officials argue that solar and wind alone cannot meet the state’s growing energy demand, warning that large solar farms could consume valuable agricultural land. Meanwhile, Spanberger’s campaign echoed an "all of the above" energy strategy, with a nod toward nuclear power as a long-term, carbon-free solution. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), touted by some as a reliable alternative to solar and wind, remain years away from deployment. Brennan Gilmore, executive director of Clean Virginia, noted, "The problem with nuclear power is that even Dominion … have pushed a timeline back for that and the timeline has been pushed back repeatedly in the past decade. They’re now looking at 2035 before even a model SMR could be put on the grid."
Spanberger’s approach to data centers — a booming sector in Virginia — has also drawn attention. Her call for these facilities to "pay their fair share" remains light on specifics, but Dominion’s pending rate case could create a separate class for data centers and other high-load users, potentially locking them into 14-year contracts with substantial demand charges. Nate Benforado, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, emphasized the need for balance: "Data centers are an important part of Virginia and its future moving forward, but at the same time we need to be smart about growth. We need to make sure communities are on board and that we can power this industry in a way that’s good for Virginians."
Advocacy groups and some lawmakers want the costs of new transmission lines and infrastructure for data centers to be shouldered by the companies themselves, not by ordinary ratepayers. The debate is far from settled, but the new administration’s stance suggests a willingness to revisit utility regulation and ensure that the costs of growth are distributed more equitably. Clean Virginia’s Gilmore argued, "We have got to remove that block from the utilities and start harnessing every type of energy, clean energy technology that’s out there, and that includes strengthening our energy efficiency outlay as well."
One thing that unites legislators across the aisle is the urgency of addressing affordability. As Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, recently said, "If there is anything the election told us, affordability is front and center." Virginia’s voters have made it clear: rising energy bills and the cost of living cannot be ignored. The new Democratic majority, emboldened by their sweeping victory, now faces the challenge of delivering on these promises while managing competing interests and the realities of the state’s energy landscape.
As the dust settles from a landmark election, Virginians find themselves at a crossroads. The state has turned a historic page, embracing both a new leader and a new direction. Whether Spanberger’s ambitious agenda can bridge the divides between urban and rural, progressives and conservatives, remains to be seen. But for now, the sense of possibility is palpable — and the eyes of the nation are watching Virginia’s next move.
