Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger became Virginia’s next governor on Nov. 4, which also makes her the state’s first female governor. She finished the race with almost 15% more votes than her Republican opponent Winsome Earle-Sears.
Environmental advocates believe Spanberger will advance bills that have been brewing in the General Assembly for years but have been stuck on outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk. While that remains to be seen, Spanberger made platform promises to make energy more affordable, and subsequently, ensure renewable energy is part of the conversation.
The governor-elect grew up in Henrico County, which nearly surrounds Virginia’s capital. Like many in Virginia, she worked for the federal government, joining the Central Intelligence Agency and working on drug cartel cases from 2006 to 2014. In 2018, she was elected to the U.S. Congress in Virginia’s traditionally Republican 7th District. During her time in the House, where she served until this year, she was deemed part of the “mod squad,” which reflected her moderate views and ability to work with Republicans on rural issues.
Two years ago, she set her sights on office at the state level. In the governor’s race, Spanberger took the lead in polls for months leading up to election day. According to a poll conducted by Emerson College Polling and the Washington politics newspaper The Hill, Spanberger owes her lead mostly to independents, to men and to voters younger than 50.
Christine Mahoney, professor of public policy and politics at University of Virginia, said independents are drawn to Spanberger because of her centrist platform. Also, she and other political scientists say Virginians tend to elect candidates in parties opposite of whoever is in the White House.
“People want to see checks and balances, and they’re not seeing a lot of checks and balances at the federal level … and so at least having a different party in states helps provide some kind of checks to federal overreach,” Mahoney said.
Spanberger’s press office did not respond to the Bay Journal’s requests for comment. According to Spanberger’s website, she’s supportive of lowering greenhouse gas emissions and protecting natural resources.
Reversing the outgoing governor’s efforts, Spanberger plans on returning Virginia to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. RGGI is a partnership that aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the power sector 30% by 2030. To reduce emissions, power plants in participating states pay a fee if they exceed their emission limits. In 2022, Youngkin issued an executive order directing state agencies to begin withdrawing Virginia from RGGI — though last November a Virginia Circuit Court Judge ruled that the order was unlawful.
Among all environmental issues, Spanberger’s platform has focused heavily on affordable energy, including renewable energy.
During the last gubernatorial debate, Spanberger said the country is facing an “impending energy crisis.” Data centers, which enable the world’s internet use, are projected to increase energy demand in Virginia by 183% by 2040 if left unconstrained. Lawmakers have tried passing bills to regulate the industry’s use of water and energy, but Youngkin vetoed the only three bills, out of 30, that made it out of the General Assembly last year.
Spanberger has said data centers can benefit Virginia — which has the largest concentration of them in the world — but she wants to ensure they won’t drive up costs for ratepayers. According to her energy affordability plan, data center companies would be expected to pay for their own electricity generation and transmission lines. She also encourages clean on-site and off-site generation, which could be hinting at replacing data centers’ diesel backup generators.
As with Youngkin’s energy policy, she is also taking an “all of the above” approach to meet the demand. That includes supporting solar power and the offshore wind project near Virginia Beach. But she also favors new natural gas plants and small modular reactors — “mini” nuclear reactors that Youngkin and many lawmakers have promised but which are years away from fruition.
Mahoney said that approach could include processing the thousands of megawatts of renewable energy projects stuck at the review stage before the State Corporation Commission.
“The amount of energy that’s going to be drawn by those data centers is going to need to be met, and it has to have an all-types approach because we need so much energy,” Mahoney said.
Lee Francis, chief program and communications officer at the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, said one of Spanberger’s strengths is working with the agriculture industry because of her time on the U.S. House of Representative’s Agriculture Committee. She’s pushing for solar arrays on rooftops and abandoned land, but she could find a compromise with rural Virginians who are hesitant to allow them in their communities.
“[Solar] can be revenue for farmers who are having a really tough time with tariffs and other sorts of policies that are making farming less lucrative and less profitable, and I think we just have to bring folks to the table and sort through some of those issues,” Francis said.
Youngkin tried to weaken the Virginia Clean Economy Act during the legislature’s 2025 session. The act requires Dominion Energy to source 100% of its energy from renewables by 2045 and install about 16 gigawatts of solar and onshore wind energy by 2035. Spanberger has said she is committed to the act’s long-term goals.
“There’s going to be a lot more emphasis on clean energy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be a challenge to Dominion’s monopoly and Dominion’s influence in this state,” said Alex Keena, political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Dominion Energy donated $250,000 to the Earle-Sears campaign. According to Keena, Dominion did not donate to Spanberger’s campaign but did donate to other Democrats who were running for seats in the House of Delegates.
The Virginia governor cannot introduce legislation but can set the tone for policy by appointing leaders for government agencies such as the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. As in most states, the governor can also veto bills that are passed by the General Assembly.
Also, Spanberger’s time in Washington has shown she’s supportive of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. She introduced legislation that helps farmers earn credits for using conservation practices, and she supported a bill that would simplify harvesting invasive blue catfish in the Bay.
Bills aimed at reducing limits on harvesting blue catfish, expanding tree canopy goals, regulating toxic forever chemicals and funding electric vehicle programs have made it out of the General Assembly in several recent sessions but have been vetoed by Youngkin. Now, environmentalists say those bills could finally make it through.
Spanberger will also have help from other Democratic winners. Incoming Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, for example, has supported environmental justice efforts such as opposing a natural gas power plant in a predominantly Black neighborhood south of Richmond. And Democrats dramatically strengthened their control of the House of Delegates. If election results hold, they will have increased their margin from 51-48 to 64-36. Spanberger will likely leverage that.
“The sky’s the limit … ” Francis said. “I think it starts with having an ally in the governor’s mansion that’s going to work with the legislature on solving some of these problems and signing some of these bills.”