Tuesday, Nov. 4 marked a substantial Election Day across the country but especially in Virginia, as voters elected their 75th governor into office in a historically significant gubernatorial election.
Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger secured the seat in the governor’s mansion to flip the state as well as make history as Virginia’s first female governor. This election was guaranteed to be one of firsts for the state as Spanberger’s opponent, Winsome Earle-Sears, had a shot at becoming the first African American female governor of Virginia if elected.
Spanberger won the commonwealth by about 57% of the vote.
“Your mom is going to be the governor of Virginia,” Spanberger recalled her husband telling their daughters after winning the election, per AP News.
“And I can guarantee you those words have never been spoken in Virginia, ever before,” Spanberger said in her acceptance speech.
Earle-Sears addressed a crowd at the National Convention Center in Leesburg an hour after the race was called. In her concession speech, she spoke about her faith in God throughout this journey.
“I wanted to wait because I know that God had called me for this purpose,” Earle-Sears said. “Victory to the Lord looks a lot different than what we think of as victory. Victory starts with obedience. I have to tell you, I think I learn more in a loss than I ever do in a victory.”
Liberty University students who are registered Virginia voters had the opportunity to take part in this landmark election as the Alumni Ballroom in DeMoss Hall transitioned into a local precinct for the day. Students showed up to exercise their civic duties, gathering a larger turnout than the 2021 gubernatorial election, according to Director of the Office of Government and Community Relations Kenny Craig.
According to Craig, official numbers won’t be verified until after the Champion goes to print for this issue; however, we will update the online story once those numbers are certified.
President Dondi Costin came out to the polls on Tuesday to encourage students to exercise their right to vote.
“Voting is one of the most important civic duties we have, and we as Christians have a chance to vote into existence the policies that are best for our community,” Costin said. “It is so exciting that students would take the time to do what we believe every single American citizen should do.”
At the end of the day, the state was painted blue as the democratic nominees also won the seats of lieutenant governor and attorney general. Ghazala Hashmi will be written into history books as the first Muslim woman elected to statewide office as the lieutenant governor-elect of Virginia.
For the House of Delegates 52nd District, Republican candidate Wendell Walker secured his seat for the City of Lynchburg. Walker has represented his district since 2020 after victory in the 2019 election.
Walker beat out fellow Liberty alum, Risë Hayes, by about a 10% gap according to WSET. Despite his victory, Walker expressed dissatisfaction in the unity of his party in this election.
“We’ve got to learn to pull together, work in unison, agree on issues, and move forward. People get tired of the political battles that go on,” Walker said to WSET.
White is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion.