RICHMOND, Va. — Democrat Abigail Spanberger was sworn in Saturday as Virginia’s 75th governor and the first woman to hold the office in the state’s 250-year history as a commonwealth, succeeding Republican Glenn Youngkin after defeating his lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears. The ceremony took place amid a cold drizzle at the state Capitol in Richmond.
The swearing-in also produced two additional historic firsts: Ghazala F. Hashmi became the first Muslim woman to serve in statewide office in the United States, taking the oath as lieutenant governor with her hand on a Quran, and Jay Jones became Virginia’s first Black attorney general — both sworn in at the former capital of the Confederacy.
“The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me,” Spanberger said in her inaugural address. “I maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who work, generation after generation, to ensure women could be among those casting ballots, but who could only dream of a day like today.”
Only men have held Virginia’s governorship since the state first became a commonwealth in 1776, and no woman served as a colonial governor before that. Spanberger will be addressed as “Madam Governor” under Virginia protocol.
Following the ceremony, Spanberger signed 10 executive orders. Among them was an order rescinding a Youngkin directive that had instructed state law enforcement and corrections officers to assist with federal immigration enforcement.
“Local law enforcement should not be required to divert their limited resources to enforce federal civil immigration laws,” she said.
In her address, Spanberger warned of pressures from Washington without naming President Donald Trump by name. “I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington,” she said. “You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities, cutting health care access, imperiling rural hospitals and driving up costs.”
Spanberger wore all white for the ceremony — AP reported it as a possible tribute to the women’s suffrage movement — along with a gold pin reading “One country. One destiny.”
Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the nation’s first elected Black governor, attended the inauguration on his 95th birthday. Spanberger acknowledged his presence in her address.
“On these steps, Virginia inaugurated our 66th governor and our nation’s first elected African American governor,” she said. “Gov. L. Douglas Wilder changed what so many of our fellow citizens believed was even possible.”
Prominent Democrats attended the ceremony, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, and U.S. Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Adam Schiff.
Democrats now control the governorship, lieutenant governorship, and attorney general’s office in Virginia, and hold a strengthened majority in the House of Delegates after picking up 13 seats in last year’s elections, according to AP. State Democrats have said they plan to redraw the state’s congressional district map ahead of this year’s midterm elections.