Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger will make history once she takes office this weekend, becoming the state’s first female governor.
Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger will make history once she takes office this weekend, becoming the state’s first female governor.
Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in November, but the election set the state up for a historic inauguration weekend regardless of the winner.
Spanberger, who will become the state’s 75th governor, has an inaugural ceremony scheduled for Saturday at noon in Richmond. The event’s theme is “United for Virginia’s Future.”
“Virginia has known that it was going to have a woman governor for the last several months, but it will be a crowning moment for Virginia politics when that day comes to pass,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Spanberger said she’s still processing the significance of the moment.
With Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill’s election victories, there will be 14 female governors in the U.S. But, Kelly Dittmar, director of research at Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics, said that women are still underrepresented at the gubernatorial level.
“It shows progress, because it wasn’t only that those women came out of nowhere, right?” Dittmar said. “These were women who’ve established their political credentials and qualifications and done so in ways that are similar to their male counterparts.”
In Virginia, Ghazala Hashmi was elected to be the state’s next lieutenant governor, the first Indian American to win statewide office there.
Having two women top a statewide ticket has become more common, Dittmar said, and what it demonstrates is that “women are in the kind of pools and of potential candidates to be recruited and supported and ultimately nominated to be governor and then, of course, to be successful at the end of the day.”
Many of the women who have become governors served in state legislatures or Congress, which could be “feeder positions” for gubernatorial or higher offices, Dittmar said.
“We have seen that the challenge for women to get into the running and ultimately into gubernatorial office also comes from some gatekeeping we’ve seen by parties,” Dittmar said.
“And so the fact that we again saw parties really backing these women in terms of selection, to some extent, at least at the state level, that was evidence that also, party leaders are starting to see the benefit of more inclusion in office.”
Generally, most women who run for political office aren’t themselves making a case to be elected because it could be historic, Dittmar said.
“What we saw with Sherrill and Spanberger, in particular, is that they were focused on, ‘Here are the issues that are most important to the voters in our state. I am fully qualified to do this job,’” Dittmar said.
“When and where they kind of brought gender into their campaign was more in the specific roles and experiences, the lived experiences they have had as women, particularly as mothers, I think in both cases, talking about how that perspective and lived experience is going to help them to do the job better.”
However, Dittmar said, there’s been little racial and ethnic diversity among the women who have served, “and so that is something to look forward toward.”
Spanberger’s latest administration appointments
Ahead of her inauguration weekend, Spanberger tapped Jenna Conway to be the state superintendent of public instruction.
Conway is currently chief of early learning and specialized populations at Virginia’s Department of Education, helping make sure every child is prepared for kindergarten. She’s a Charlottesville City Schools graduate.
Connor Andrews, meanwhile, was named deputy secretary. He worked as a policy analyst under former Gov. Ralph Northam, and has been working as the University of Virginia’s director for state government relations.
Spanberger named Carrie Chenery the secretary of commerce and trade. Chenery once worked as assistant secretary of agriculture and forestry in the Office of the Governor. She founded Valley Pike Partners, a consulting firm based in the Shenandoah Valley.
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