RICHMOND, Va. — Abigail Spanberger made history Saturday when she took the oath of office as Virginia’s 75th governor, becoming the first woman elected to lead the commonwealth in its 250-year history.
Standing on the Capitol steps where generations of leaders have sworn their oaths, Spanberger delivered an inaugural address emphasizing unity, affordability and public service while outlining her vision for Virginia’s future.
“It is the honor of my life to stand before you and take the oath today,” Spanberger said. “The history and gravity of this moment are not lost on me.”
Working-class roots shape policy priorities
Spanberger highlighted how her middle-class upbringing influenced her approach to governance. The daughter of a law enforcement officer and a nurse, she described how her family benefited from public programs like the G.I. Bill that helped her father attend college.
“My middle class upbringing was a result of their struggle, their hard work and programs like the G.I. Bill that sent my dad to college and strong community colleges that allowed my mom to put herself through nursing school,” Spanberger said.
Following her father’s path, Spanberger served in law enforcement before becoming a CIA officer. These experiences, along with being a mother to three daughters, have shaped her policy priorities focused on economic opportunity and public safety.
Historic moment builds on Virginia’s legacy
The inauguration took place as Virginia marks the 250th anniversary of two milestones: the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the inauguration of Patrick Henry as Virginia’s first governor.
Spanberger paid tribute to civil rights pioneers who fought for equality on the same Capitol grounds, including women’s suffrage advocates and civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who addressed crowds in Richmond in 1960.
She also acknowledged former governor L. Douglas Wilder, who attended the ceremony on his 95th birthday. In 1990, Wilder became the nation’s first elected African American governor.
Executive orders address affordability, healthcare
Immediately after the ceremony, Spanberger signed 10 executive orders aimed at fulfilling campaign promises to make Virginia more affordable and responsive to citizens’ needs.
The orders include a directive requiring all state agencies to identify cost-saving measures within 90 days and the establishment of an Interagency Health Financing Task Force to reduce healthcare costs.
“Today, we are responding to the moment,” Spanberger said in a statement after the signing. “We are setting the tone for what Virginians can expect over the next four years: pragmatic leadership focused on lowering costs and delivering results.”
Housing and economic initiatives
Other executive orders address housing affordability through regulatory review and the creation of a Commission on Unlocking Housing Production to recommend ways to increase housing supply.
Spanberger also established an Economic Resiliency Task Force to coordinate responses to federal workforce reductions, funding cuts and tariffs affecting Virginia workers and businesses.
“We will work to lower energy costs by producing more energy and by ensuring that high energy users pay their fair share,” Spanberger pledged in her address. “And we will contend with an impending healthcare crisis by protecting healthcare access, cracking down on the middlemen who are driving up drug prices.”
Education and public safety focus
Spanberger committed to making Virginia’s public schools “the best in the nation” through strengthening core instructional systems in literacy and mathematics.
One executive order directs the Department of Education to implement recommendations from a recent report and accelerate efforts to expand access to advanced mathematics instruction.
Another order rescinds a previous requirement that state and local law enforcement assist with federal immigration enforcement, allowing agencies to focus on core public safety responsibilities.
Call for bipartisan cooperation
With Democrats now controlling both the governor’s mansion and the General Assembly, Spanberger enters office with a favorable political landscape. Nevertheless, she emphasized the importance of working across party lines.
“We will not agree on everything, but I speak from personal experience when I say we do not have to see eye to eye on every issue to stand shoulder to shoulder on others,” Spanberger told lawmakers from both parties.
She closed her address with an appeal to all Virginians to help write the next chapter in the commonwealth’s history: “Choose to stand united. Choose to serve one another. Choose to act together.”
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