Free Republic

Newly-minted Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger was compared to a 'Bond villain' after enacting far-left policies on her first day in office despite campaigning as a moderate Democrat. Spanberger, a former Congresswoman and CIA officer, stormed to a blowout victory over sitting Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears in a momentum boost for Democrats. However, many conservatives have been horrified by some of Spanberger's first week executive orders, which includes reducing cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Spanberger campaigned on the order.

The newest governor of Virginia immediately rolled back anti-sanctuary policy which helped federal immigration authorities take custody of criminal illegal migrants. Within hours of being sworn into office Saturday, Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Executive Order 10, a proclamation rescinding an executive order signed by her Republican predecessor requiring Virginia law enforcement officials to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Critics have framed the move as a “disaster” which will lead to an increase in crime. “This is a disaster for the public safety of the Commonwealth. Mark my words, there will be Virginians who will be robbed, raped...

On Wednesday's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough sought to present himself as the kindly, non-partisan political consultant, saying he had warned Republicans not to overreach after their 2024 victories, or imagine they'd occupy the White House forever. How phony. That was just cover for his gloating proclamation that Republicans didn't listen to him: "And if you go too fast, voters will knock you on your ass immediately. And that's what happened yesterday." Democrat ex-senator Claire McCaskill didn't even bother trying to disguise her glee, saying of President Trump: "Yeah, I'd say he's on his ass." Morning Joe proceeded to give the...

It was a long shot for Republican Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, and now it’s over. Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) has won the gubernatorial race, ending a contest that’s been riddled with drama. Sears had opportunities to turn things around. A white elderly Democrat carried a sign that was primarily seen as racist when Sears spoke out at an Arlington School Board meeting regarding the story of Richard Cox, a sex offender, who camped out at a high school girls’ locker room, claiming to be transgender. Spanberger’s answer to this question was also a trainwreck. Truth be told, Abby...

We are tracking who is casting ballots ahead of Election Day for the mayor’s race in New York City and governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia. Here, we are comparing voters who have cast ballots so far with the makeup of the early and overall electorate in the 2024 presidential election. One of the most closely watched metrics in New York this year is age. Since the city’s mayoral elections are held in off years (without a presidential election on the ballot), the electorate tends to be much smaller. And it skews older than in presidential elections, since older...

Matthew Hoffman, the ex-husband of former Congresswoman and gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter, reportedly suffered the indignity (and injury) of having Porter pour boiling potatoes over his head. Now that Porter's volatile temper and bad behavior to her staffers has been exposed for all to see, Hoffman has decided to break his silence on their relationship and confirm what most of us already know: she's a terrible politician, and would make an even worse governor. Hoffman spills the tea. Fortunately, since he lives in OR now, he has a state between them to insulate him from any blowback. Katie Porter is...

Imagine if in the middle of a heated political contest one of the candidates is forced off the campaign trail. That would be big news right? And also very strange. But do you know what would be even stranger? If the country's primary outlet for reporting political news declines to explain the reason for such a candidate even needing to leaving the campaign trail or even the fact that she was being forced to cease campaigning.You really don't need much of an imagination to dream up such a seemingly implausible scenario because that is exactly what Politico is currently doing....

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One of the many problems facing Jay Jones' campaign this month has been a story about reckless driving. Back in 2022 Jones went driving on the I-64 freeway east of Richmond, VA and got pulled over for speeding. The speed limit on this stretch of freeway is 70 mph. Jones was caught driving 116 mph, which works out to 46 mph over the limit. Any speed more than 20 mph over the limit is automatically classified as reckless driving and usually results in more than a fine. But not for Jay Jones. He got a sweetheart deal from the court.If...

"The stakes couldn't be higher," Jay Jones, the Virginia Democrat running for state attorney general, said Monday in an X post. It was an ironic post, coming 10 days after National Review reported numerous violent text messages Jones sent to a colleague in the legislature about a Republican lawmaker. Jones fantasized about urinating on the graves of political opponents as well as shooting then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert with "two bullets to the head." He also texted that he hoped Gilbert's wife, Jennifer, would one day hold one of her children as they died. He followed that post with the...

Gubernatorial candidate voted against Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act Abigail Spanberger, the Virginia Democrat gubernatorial candidate, really wants voters to know she has three daughters, and that should scare every Virginia mother and father straight to the polls. The girl mom crosses her heart that she’ll put families first, even though she refuses to pull her endorsement from attorney general candidate Jay Jones, who dreamed of putting bullets in a former Virginia House speaker and watching his children die. Maybe she isn’t talking about putting the speaker’s family first. SPANBERGER QUIET ON TWIN CONTROVERSIES IN FINAL STRETCH...

Was it only weeks ago in mid-September that I wrote a column about Democrats embracing the assassination culture that took the life of young Christian evangelist Charlie Kirk? And now in Virginia they’re doubling down. Virginia Democrats are endorsing the murderous candidacy of Jay Jones, who comes from a prominent black Virginia Democrat family. You see Jones in the photograph above, applauding the Democrat candidate for governor, former U.S. Rep Abigail Spanberger. You’ve heard of Jones and his dark fantasies over texts to a colleague, seeking the murders of his Republican opponents. And their children. Yes, their kids who he...

Former President Obama will campaign with Democratic Virginia gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger in Norfolk, Va., on Nov. 1, according to a Tuesday announcement from Spanberger’s campaign.Obama last campaigned in Hampton Roads in 2012. His upcoming campaign stop with Spanberger will mark the first campaign visit of any Democratic president to the area in over 10 years. The announcement comes less than a week after Obama cut two ads urging Virginia voters to back Spanberger in next month’s governor’s race.

Virginia Republicans scored a monumental victory in 2021. After 12 years of sustained statewide losses, the party emerged from the wilderness and swept the three statewide races that year, led by outsider Glenn Youngkin, who became the commonwealth’s first Republican governor since Bob McDonnell left office in 2014.Virginia’s gubernatorial elections are unique in American politics in that no other state makes its governor a lame duck the moment he is sworn in, as term limits prohibit consecutive terms. No Virginia governor has ever run for reelection as an incumbent, although two governors have succeeded in winning nonconsecutive terms.The commonwealth’s proximity...

🚨 Abigail Spanberger in 2024:“The question related to ‘why doesn’t Biden just shut down the border?’ It’s because there’s actually no legal authority to do so.” pic.twitter.com/18jOMDD56x— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 20, 2025

Campaign ads for Democrats Mikie Sherrill, top, and Abigail Spanberger, link their Republican opponents to President Trump.Credit...From top: Greater Garden State, Spanberger for VA GovernorIn New Jersey, Virginia and beyond, voters have been inundated with ads linking Republican candidates to the president. Some Democratic strategists see a missed opportunity to forge a more positive message.Campaign ads for Democrats Mikie Sherrill, top, and Abigail Spanberger, link their Republican opponents to President Trump.Credit...From top: Greater Garden State, Spanberger for VA GovernorIn New Jersey, the most expensive attack ad in the governor’s race so far this fall accuses the Republican nominee, Jack Ciattarelli,...

Jay Jones gave speech condemning Ralph Northam’s blackface controvery, then campaigned with him. Democratic Virginia attorney general hopeful Jay Jones gave an impassioned speech on race in 2019 which criticized then-Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam over wearing blackface — and then Jones embraced and campaigned with the disgraced Democratic governor during his unsuccessful bid to be attorney general in 2021 and again during his current bid in 2025.The yearbook photo depicting two people, one dressed up in Ku Klux Klan robes and the other in blackface, appeared on Northam’s 1984 yearbook page at Eastern Virginia Medical School and came to...

… “I don’t have a lot of faith in the Democrats right now,” Alex, a construction worker who traveled to Washington from northern Virginia on Saturday and declined to provide his last name, told NBC News. “They don’t have — they don’t seem to have a lot of spine or a single message. They’re just too disorganized to put up a good fight against this bulls---.” “It pains me to say it, but Trump’s goons are f-----g organized compared to the Dems right now,” he added. Clark Furey, 40, who lives in Washington, called on elected Democrats to “throw some...

From crime and energy to national security, Spanberger was often to the Left of AOC.Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat candidate seeking to be the next governor of Virginia, has pitched herself as a moderate who opposes “extremism” in an attempt to win the purple state. When asked about basic policy positions, she’s dissembled and deflected, refusing to answer or giving what her opponent has called a “word salad.”But actions speak louder than words, and the former congresswoman has plenty of actions on record. How did she actually vote when taking a stance was part of the job? According to a new...

The🐰FOO @PolitiBunny White Democrat yells at Winsome Sears, tells her to go back to Haiti (she’s not Haitian), and calls her a traitor. You know he thinks he’s the good guy.