Democrat becomes first female governor in Virginia’s history and placed focus on living costs and public service
Virginia has had 74 governors over two and a half centuries. All were men. On Tuesday Abigail Spanberger smashed the state’s glass ceiling by winning election as the first female governor in its history.
The former US congresswoman and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) case officer won with a campaign emphasising cost-of-living issues and carefully targeting Donald Trump’s policies rather than the president himself.
Spanberger was born in Red Bank, New Jersey on 7 August 1979 and moved to a suburb of Richmond, Virginia, when she was 13. Her father was an army veteran then career law enforcement officer; her mother a nurse and volunteer.
She attended the University of Virginia, where she earned a degree in French literature. After graduating, she worked briefly as a substitute teacher before pursuing a career in public service.
