ROANOKE, VA – In what many are calling a historic moment for Virginia, the 2025 governor’s race is already making headlines because the Commonwealth is on track to elect its first woman governor.
10 News anchor Abbie Coleman met with both candidates to probe their plans, their priorities, and their paths to history.
She sat down one-on-one with Democratic Candidate Abigail Spanberger to talk about her vision for Virginia and why she believes she’s the right person for the job.
You can watch Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears’ interview here.
Read the full transcript of her interview with Spanberger below.
I want to thank you so much for joining us this morning!
Thank you for having me.
Abigail Spanberger
You’ve had a very unique background, from working in the CIA to being a member of Congress. How has that background really shaped your perspective on all of these issues we’ve seen in the election, and really your decision to run for governor?
Well, certainly my background is one of service, and my time first as a law enforcement officer - and then ultimately as a CIA officer - my whole goal was keeping the country safe, was doing right by the community, was serving my fellow Virginians or fellow Americans. And I think my experience, particularly as an intelligence officer, led me to understand very clearly that everything’s complicated, which sounds like a pretty simplistic statement. But, the reality is, when we’re looking at the policies that I might be pursuing, the things that I’m working on, recognizing just how impactful every choice that I made as a federal legislator, or that I’ll make as governor, has deep levels of impact across our communities. While sometimes people may realize that, really digging deep into the impacts of the choices or the policies that I’m pursuing and understanding the complex nature of every challenge, I think, is something that, with the background work in terrorism and narco trafficking cases, it does, in some ways, transfer.
Abigail Spanberger
Now, there are a lot of issues that Virginians are very concerned about, this election in particular. On your campaign, what have been your top priorities, and if elected, what are you going to address day one in office?
So, the top priorities that I have built out as the groundwork of my campaign, is based on what I’ve heard from Virginians. And since I first launched my campaign, Virginians have been talking about the issue of affordability, particularly in housing, in healthcare, and in energy. The strength of our public schools, whether it is ensuring that we contend with the teacher shortage, or that we work on rebuilding some of our aging infrastructure in our classrooms. We work to ensure that we’re getting our kids and their learning back on track. These are the priorities that so many Virginians have brought to me, all across our communities, and so I have laid out my plans for affordability, for education, for growing our economy. And so day one, I will take action as governor initially, you know, through executive action, but also in concert with the General Assembly to pull on every lever to contend with the housing affordability crisis, to work to lower costs in health care, and to contend with a real challenge facing so many Virginians when we get our energy bills.
Abigail Spanberger
I’ve always said that Virginia is a very diverse and unique state in the fact that you can go up to Northern Virginia and it can feel like a whole different state than us down here in Southwest Virginia. I know you’ve been in Southwest a lot this campaign season - what have you heard from voters, and how are you going to address the needs, specifically for us down here in Southwest Virginia?
Well, I’ve certainly never been on the ballot in Southwest, Virginia, so I’ve spent a lot of time just listening to people and hearing about some of the unique ways that issues of infrastructure impact Southwest Virginia, issues of where investments are coming, of site readiness projects to bring investments to Virginia, making sure that what I’ve heard from folks across Southwest is, you know, that people need to sit at the table to talk about what type of investments should come to the region rather than being dictated from Richmond. And certainly, we know that so many of the challenges that we’re facing as a commonwealth, as it relates to healthcare, will really truly impact Southwest Virginia. We’ve already seen, [that] Augusta health clinics have mentioned three, have announced the closure of three health clinics. And we know that because of the bill passed and signed into law in July at the federal level, that four of our rural hospitals across Southwest and Southside Virginia are in danger of closing, in addition to the potential loss of healthcare of so many Virginians. So recognizing the specific impacts of policies coming out of Washington on Southwest Virginia, but also recognizing the priorities that so many people across Southwest want their governor to pursue is, you know, is central to being able to actually take action to understand the unique challenges, but also the unique draws and the ways we can bring business, bring investment, and make choices that I can ensure serve the communities across Southwest well.
Abigail Spanberger
Healthcare is something that our viewers here at 10 News have told us is a big concern for them, not only with these hospitals closing, but also with so many people at risk of losing their healthcare coverage. How do you plan to address those needs and make sure that families don’t fall through the cracks?
Well, principally, one of the changes made at the federal level is a change in the way that employment verification is mandated in order for someone to receive or to be eligible for Medicaid. Currently, Virginia has a standard of a once-a-year employment verification. That standard is now changing to twice. The challenge is, that under the current system, under this current administration, we have a significant backlog. And so even we’re not able to meet that once-a-year verification at this moment. So it will be incumbent upon the next governor, upon my administration, to add great efficiencies and effectiveness to contend with that backlog and make sure that we are ready to be able to meet this new federal standard, which currently the state is not ready for that, so that people don’t fall off of their healthcare, so people don’t lose it. In addition, from the state level, we need to recognize and take action to strengthen the value of our rural health clinics, community-based providers, because we know that as we risk seeing the closure of hospitals across predominantly rural communities in Virginia, that impact will have significant impact for those who require healthcare and ensuring that we’re at the very sort of baseline level of frontline providers ensuring access. It doesn’t mitigate all of the harm, but it is the way that at the state level, we can try and take action to mitigate some of it.
Abigail Spanberger
I also want to talk about abortion and reproductive rights and access to that. They are key issues not only statewide but nationally. Where do you stand on access to abortion in Virginia, and if elected governor, how do you plan to address that?
Well, certainly as a woman, as a mother, it’s important to me that other women are able to have frank and honest conversations with their medical providers, that their doctors are able to give their best advice. And I don’t think that any elected official or politician, myself included, should be dictating those conversations. So I think that it’s important that Virginia continue with our current set of laws. There’s an effort within the General Assembly to ensure a constitutional amendment that would set the standard that our current laws would be guaranteed under the state constitution. That’s something that I support. But importantly, I also recognize that access to contraception is an important element of this larger conversation. And there was a bill within the General Assembly that, unfortunately, my opponent voted against and ultimately said she was morally opposed to. That would just guarantee access to contraception for men and women. And as governor, if that bill were to come to my desk, I would sign it, and I support the constitutional amendment to ensure that doctors and patients can have conversations without dictates from politicians or elected officials.
Abigail Spanberger
Our viewers have told me the economy is one of their top concerns. People are feeling the squeeze from higher prices. If elected, what steps would you take to ease that financial burden on so many families in Virginia?
The real challenge is, it’s hitting all of us in different ways. We’ve got healthcare prices, energy prices, and particularly, while energy prices continue to rise across the state, folks in Southwest Virginia are particularly impacted by rising costs. And when we look at the impact of the trade wars and the tariff policies coming out of Washington, the impact is felt by consumers all across Virginia, by farmers all across Virginia, and by business owners of all sizes. And so as governor, the things that I will do to contend with these issues are try to ensure that Virginia is as steady of a place as possible, that we can continue to bring investment here, that we can continue to be a valued trading partner, despite the tariff policies that might be impacting the country at a national level, but importantly, as it relates specifically to energy costs, we need to increase our domestic, here within Virginia, energy production. Virginia is the largest net importer of energy in the country. And that means that we have to buy more energy to be able to serve our communities than any other state in the country. And we need to ensure that we are moving forward, creating more energy here. We’re on the right path, but we need to continue it.
Abigail Spanberger
You have talked a little bit about eliminating the car tax. It’s a move that would certainly be popular with many drivers. We’ve heard from our viewers about the car tax before. How would we make that happen and where would that replacement revenue come from?
Yeah, so Abbie, a little bit of background on this. Literally in high school, my husband once wrote a paper about how terrible the car tax is. We have a rule in my house that we’re not allowed to talk about it before 9 a.m. So, anybody who might be lobbying for the removal of the car taxes, please know you have the best advocate in the world in my husband. But you raise an important point, which is that the car is also an essential part of revenue for so many of our localities to fund things like schools and first responders. And so I will work with anyone, Democrat or Republican, on any type of policy change that we could use to ultimately remove the car tax, because everyone hates it - just about everyone hates it. But we have to do it in a really thoughtful way and ensure that we are still able to fund our schools and first responders and contend with the day-to-day requirements that localities currently, unfortunately, have to depend on this antiquated and hated tax to be able to find.
Abigail Spanberger
Parental rights, especially when it comes to transgender students and transgender student athletes, have been a very controversial, hot-button topic, especially in the last few months. Where do you stand on this topic, specifically when it comes to schools, and how do you plan to address that?
So the perspective that I bring to this conversation is I’m the mom of three daughters who are in Virginia public schools, and I know that for me as a parent, there’s nothing more important than my kids’ safety, when they participate in school activities, their feeling of inclusion, and certainly competitiveness and fairness. And so I think that what’s most important is that a lot of these conversations be driven at the local level in conversations between parents, and administrators, and principals. And in fact, as it related to sports participation, we used to have a process up until recently that on a case-by-case basis, parents, and principals, and coaches would make decisions about a child’s individual ability to participate in a sport. And that decision was based on competitiveness, and safety, and fairness. And I think that that’s where the heart of those decisions should, you know, across the board really remain because it needs to be a conversation about ensuring that all of our kids have the ability to feel safe and to engage in competitive, fair play at school.
Abigail Spanberger
You’ve led in many polls throughout the race, but that gap has been closing a little bit as we’ve, you know, gotten closer to election season. How do you plan to keep up that momentum and kind of entice voters as we round that final corner?
The exciting thing about Virginia is, we are a purple state. It’s always competitive. And so the fact that the race is one where voters know they have a choice, I think is important. It’s important for the strength of the campaigns that we have to run and the arguments that we have to make to voters. And so I’m traveling all across the state, and I will continue to travel all across this state through November 4, making you sure voters know who I am, and what my background is, and why I’m asking for their vote, and importantly, what it is that I intend to do for them as governor. And so I’m gonna continue working hard in every corner of this commonwealth to earn every vote. And people who want to learn more about my plans to lower costs can go to my website, affordablevirginia.com, that lays out that plan. I’ve got a plan for strengthening our schools, and I also have a plan to grow our economy. All of that can be found at my website, abigailspanberger.com.
Abigail Spanberger
Now this is a very historic election for a lot of reasons, if you were elected, you would be elected as the first female governor of the commonwealth. What does that milestone mean for you if you were to be elected?
I look at it, frankly, for the next generation. It isn’t about me. It’s about the fact that any kid in school, boy or girl, can look and see, ‘Okay, I might one day become governor. I might, one day, be able to serve my community. I might one day continue to work hard.’ And there’s so many people who are leading in incredible ways and setting great examples for our kids about what’s possible, whether it’s in public service as a first responder. I was just out with a group of firefighters earlier this morning. I was out with the Virginia Trucking Association this morning, and they have a strong effort to recruit more women into trucking, and have a doll, you know, a little girl doll to grow up and make sure kids know that any opportunity is theirs. And so, whether it’s in trucking, firefighting, or the governorship, I want every kid, boy or girl, to know that all options are available to them in whatever way they want to serve or be a part of our community.
Abigail Spanberger
Abigail, I want to thank you so much for joining us this morning. Is there anything else that you want to add that I didn’t touch on as we kind of approach this final month before the election?
Well Abbie, it’s always nice to be with another Abigail, but I’m grateful for the chance to sit down and certainly [if] people want to learn a little bit more about my campaign and where I’ll be it’s abigailspanberger.com is my website, and I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the issues that I know are important to so many Virginians, and I thank you for your work in ensuring that people know their options.
Abigail Spanberger
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Abigail Spanberger