Democrats scored major victories in Virginia elections on Tuesday, as they swept the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general races.
Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate and a former congressional representative, defeated Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican gubernatorial candidate and current lieutenant governor. Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor and a state senator, defeated her Republican opponent, conservative radio talk show host John Reid.
Jay Jones, the Democratic attorney general candidate, unseated the Republican incumbent, Jason Miyares. Jones had been embroiled in a controversy over reported text messages sent in 2022 stating that he fantasized about shooting Todd Gilbert, then the speaker of the state House and a Republican.
Henry Olsen, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, stated that Spanberger’s “landslide is also pushing losses” into seats that usually go Republican and that Democrats would likely gain 13 seats in the Virginia state House, giving them 64 out of 100 seats.
“Massive landslide win in the offing,” he said.
Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, told JNS that the JCRC “looks forward to partnering with the new administration to ensure the safety and security of Jewish children and families in Virginia and to improve the lives and health of all residents.”
“As Virginia faces one of the highest rates of antisemitism in the country and at a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, residents are counting on policymakers and community organizations to expand the social safety net and help make the commonwealth a place where people want to live, work and raise their families,” he said.
Daniel Staffenberg, CEO of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, told JNS that the Federation congratulates and looks forward to working with all of the newly elected candidates.
“We have a strong relationship with all of the candidates on both sides of the aisle and are excited to continue to work together to benefit Jews in the community and throughout the commonwealth as well as the general community,” he said.
‘Really intense discussions’
Rabbi Dovid Asher of Keneseth Beth Israel, an Orthodox synagogue in Richmond, Va., told JNS that he has “very close” relationships with both gubernatorial candidates.
He called Sears “a great friend of the Virginia Jewish community” and said “it’s very exciting to see a female governor of the commonwealth” in Spanberger.
Spanberger has “always been a great friend of AIPAC” and has an “insider’s knowledge of the vital way in which the Israeli military helps the American military with intelligence in terms of threats against our country,” as well as “a deep knowledge of foreign affairs,” he said. (The governor-elect is a former intelligence officer.)
Asher added that he and Spanberger had some “really intense discussions” about the Iran nuclear deal forged under the Obama administration, which she supported and he did not.
“We both have the same goals of stopping the Iranian nuclear program, and she thought that President Obama’s way was the best way forward at the time,” Asher said. “We, the Virginia pro-Israel community, felt that the best approach was to be sensitive to Israel and said was necessary to deter the Iranian nuclear threat.”
He said that Spanberger “may not be the Zionist that President Biden is and was, but her heart has always seemed to be in the right place in terms of supporting democracy and the Middle East.”
“More so than anything else, she is a friend of the community, a staunch supporter of equal rights of the Jewish people and standing up against antisemitism,” the rabbi said.
‘Interested in the conversation’
Hashmi, who will reportedly be the first Muslim American woman elected to a statewide office in the country, had caused concerns among Jews over her record on Israel and antisemitism, Jewish Insider reported in June.
The publication noted that the Federation rebuked Hashmi in October 2024 for leading a hearing in the state Senate about anti-Israel protests on college campuses without alerting Jewish organizations ahead of time.
Staffenberg told JNS that “we have a long relationship with Ghazala and have appreciated her willingness to have difficult and meaningful conversations on issues that we agree on as well as those that we disagree on.”
“We have always seen her be present for the community and interested in the conversation,” he said. “We’ve definitely had some issues where we disagreed, but we have enjoyed a long relationship, and we appreciate that the lieutenant governor-elect has always been willing to engage deeply in those conversations.”
Asher told JNS that he and Hashmi “have been out several times for coffee to discuss the Jewish community, so that I can help guide her on the dangers of antisemitism and anti-Zionism.”
“She’s a great listener, and above all, I give her credit for showing up for an Oct. 7 memorial and all the Jewish events that we have here locally,” he said. “We’ve had a chance to connect over the threats targeting religious minorities.”
Asher said that while Reid is a “great friend of the community,” Hashmi “has taken a strong interest in learning about what she needs to know about the Jewish community.”
“I am optimistic that she will make sure our universities are welcoming, tolerant places that embrace Jewish students and provide the equity and equality for Zionist students that we all want for Virginia here in the Virginia Jewish community,” he said.
Regarding the attorney general’s race, Staffenberg told JNS that he has “had the honor of working with the current attorney general on his task force to address antisemitism and some of the work that he has started on behalf of the commonwealth.”
He added that he’s “really grateful” to Miyares “for how much they have done to make sure the commonwealth is a place that is welcoming, not just for the Jewish community but to all.”
“We have met recently with Jay Jones, and look forward to building and continuing that relationship, and I hope he will continue to do the work that was started by the current administration,” Staffenberg said.
Asher said that he hasn’t had any personal experience with Jones, but Miyares “has become an increasingly impressive elected official.”
“He was one of the most outspoken attorneys general in the whole country in support of the Jewish community in the aftermath of Oct. 7,” Asher said. “I’m very proud to have collaborated with him during his tenure here in Virginia.”
Miyares collected “excess law enforcement material” for Asher’s synagogue to pack up and send to women and older men in Israeli border towns once the men in those towns had left to serve in the war, according to Asher.
“I am optimistic that our statewide elected officials will work toward unity, decreasing the polarization, expanding the tolerance for religious minorities and in particular, fighting with gusto against the antisemitism that has broken out all over the country,” he said.
Staffenberg is “excited” that the newly elected candidates delivered a message of “unity” and “remembering that there’s a lot more that unites us than divides us, and getting back to less inflamed rhetoric in politics.”
“That was across the board the message that I heard,” he said.
