Virginia governor election: Spanberger and Earle-Sears vie to succeed Youngkin

Virginia voters connected Tuesday are poised to prime their archetypal pistillate politician and measurement successful connected a scandal-rocked authorities lawyer general's race.

The contention for politician volition marque history, careless of whether the victor is Democratic erstwhile U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger oregon Winsome Earle-Sears, the state's Republican lieutenant governor.

Virginia is 1 of 18 states that person ne'er had a pistillate governor. The victor volition win Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who is term-limited from moving again.

Polls of the governor's race, 1 of conscionable 2 specified contests taking spot the twelvemonth aft President Donald Trump's predetermination successful 2024, person consistently favored Spanberger.

Meanwhile, the authorities lawyer general's contention betwixt Democratic nominee Jay Jones and Republican incumbent Jason Miyares has tightened to an evident toss-up amid a large controversy.

Jones erstwhile appeared apt to predominate implicit Miyares, polls showed. But Jones' run has travel nether aggravated occurrence since aboriginal past month, erstwhile his 2022 texts envisioning unit against a GOP governmental hostile were published by National Review.

Jones has repeatedly apologized for sending the texts, including during his Oct. 16 statement with Miyares.

The ungraded shook up elections statewide, with Republican groups spending millions connected a flurry of ads attacking Jones, NBC News reported. The texts emerged arsenic Republicans person sought to nexus Democrats' rhetoric to acts of governmental violence, including the assassination of blimpish activistic Charlie Kirk.

Some Virginia Democrats disavowed the texts, but fewer if immoderate called connected Jones to driblet retired of the race. Jones joined Spanberger and erstwhile President Barack Obama astatine a get-out-the-vote rally successful Norfolk connected Saturday.

Earle-Sears saw a fundraising boost arsenic the contention unfolded, and she sought to capitalize connected the ungraded successful her mid-October statement versus Spanberger. But aggregate polls released soon earlier Election Day amusement Spanberger maintaining a double-digit pb implicit her opponent.

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