Virginia politics in 2026 looks very different from Virginia politics even five years ago. Democrats hold the governor’s office, the lieutenant governor’s office, the attorney general’s office, and both chambers of the General Assembly for the first time since the Northam years, and Governor Abigail Spanberger is working through an agenda that includes a constitutional amendment on abortion, a failed attempt to redraw the state’s congressional map, a $250 billion utility merger, a reckoning over data center growth, and the state’s return to a regional carbon-trading program the previous governor abandoned.
How a Red State Turned Blue
Virginia voted Republican in every presidential election from 1964 through 2004, when George W. Bush carried the state by eight points. The turn began almost immediately after. Tim Kaine won the governorship in 2005, Jim Webb unseated Senator George Allen in 2006, and Barack Obama carried Virginia by more than six points in 2008, the first Democratic presidential win in the state in 44 years.1UVA Center for Politics. States of Play: Virginia
The engine was Northern Virginia. Only about 22 percent of its residents were born in Virginia, and roughly 15 percent were born abroad. Between 1988 and 2004, the region swung 23 points toward Democrats, driven by white college graduates and growing Asian and Hispanic communities. Loudoun County, which Bush carried by double digits, gave Hillary Clinton a 17-point margin in 2016. The Richmond metro area and Hampton Roads moved 14 and 12 points left over the same period, while rural southern and western counties went the other way, with Donald Trump exceeding 80 percent in parts of Appalachia in 2016.1UVA Center for Politics. States of Play: Virginia
Republicans have not won a statewide race in Virginia since 2009. Glenn Youngkin’s 2021 gubernatorial win briefly complicated that story, but in 2024 Kamala Harris carried the state 51.8 percent to 46.1 percent, closer than Joe Biden’s 10-point margin but still comfortably Democratic.2AP News. Virginia Election Results 2024
The 2025 Sweep
On November 4, 2025, Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer and two-term congresswoman, won the governorship with 57.2 percent of the vote over Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, becoming the first woman elected governor of Virginia.3PBS NewsHour. Democrat Abigail Spanberger Wins Virginia Governors Race State Senator Ghazala Hashmi won the lieutenant governor’s race, and Jay Jones took the attorney general’s office.4Virginia Department of Elections. November 4, 2025 General Election Candidate List
In the House of Delegates, Democrats went from 51 seats to 64, flipping at least nine Republican-held districts, including a suburban seat the incumbent had held in 2023 by just 53 votes. Combined with a 21-19 Senate majority, the 64-35 House gave Democrats a full governing trifecta.5Virginia Mercury. Blue Wave Rebuilds the House6National Conference of State Legislatures. State Partisan Composition
Spanberger’s First Moves
Spanberger used her inauguration in January 2026 to sign ten executive orders. The headline order required state agencies to identify cost-cutting measures for residents within 90 days, created a housing production commission and a health financing task force, and established an economic resiliency team to manage fallout from federal workforce reductions, tariffs, and immigration policy changes.7Office of the Governor of Virginia. Governor Spanberger Day One Executive Orders
Another order rescinded a Youngkin directive that had encouraged state and local law enforcement to assist with federal immigration enforcement, redirecting those resources to core criminal justice work.7Office of the Governor of Virginia. Governor Spanberger Day One Executive Orders By spring, she had signed bipartisan school safety legislation and bills targeting healthcare, housing, and energy costs.8Office of the Governor of Virginia. Governor of Virginia Official Website
What the 2026 Legislature Passed
The 2026 General Assembly session ran from January 13 to March 14, with a reconvened session on April 22. Lawmakers passed 1,156 bills but adjourned without a two-year budget, which was finally sent to Spanberger in late June after a special session.9VPM. Virginia Redistricting and Legislative Developments
Wages and Labor
The state minimum wage was raised to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2028, with automatic inflation adjustments starting in 2029. A paid family and medical leave insurance program was created, with benefits beginning in April 2028. Lawmakers also repealed the longstanding ban on collective bargaining for public employees and set up a Public Employee Relations Board.10Williams Mullen. General Assembly Hot Topic Bills End 2026 Virginia Legislative Session
The Abortion Amendment
A proposed constitutional amendment establishing a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” cleared the legislature for the second consecutive session, which is what Virginia requires before an amendment can go to voters. The House passed it 64-34 in January, the Senate followed, and Spanberger signed the measure on February 6, 2026, placing it on the November ballot.11Virginia Legislative Information System. HJ1 – Right to Reproductive Freedom12KFF. Abortion on the 2026 Ballot The amendment would protect abortion access until the third trimester, and would allow state regulation in the final trimester only if that regulation does not prohibit abortion when a physician determines it is medically necessary or the fetus is not viable. A companion amendment repealing the state’s same-sex marriage prohibition also passed both chambers.
Virginia is currently the only Southern state without either a total abortion ban or an early gestational limit. Monthly abortion procedures in the state rose from fewer than 2,500 before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 to nearly 3,500 by mid-2025, as patients traveled from neighboring states with bans.13The Guardian. Virginia Vote on Abortion Rights A legal challenge filed in March 2026 by a Bedford County supervisor alleges procedural defects in how the amendment was distributed to circuit clerks, and the outcome could decide whether the measure actually appears on the November ballot.12KFF. Abortion on the 2026 Ballot
Healthcare and Cannabis
The session also produced a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, a ban on non-compete agreements for healthcare professionals, and a framework for retail marijuana sales overseen by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, with retail sales prohibited before January 1, 2027. Spanberger vetoed bills that would have legalized “skill gaming” machines and permitted casino gaming in Fairfax County.10Williams Mullen. General Assembly Hot Topic Bills End 2026 Virginia Legislative Session
The Redistricting Fight That Collapsed
Virginia’s current congressional map, drawn after the 2020 census, splits the 11-seat delegation 6-5 in favor of Republicans. Democrats pursued a constitutional amendment that would let the General Assembly redraw the lines outside the normal decennial cycle, a change projected to flip the delegation to a 10-1 Democratic advantage.
On April 21, 2026, voters approved the amendment 50.7 percent to 49.3 percent on roughly 2.5 million ballots. Combined spending by “Yes” and “No” committees exceeded $100 million, much of it from dark-money groups. House Speaker Mike Johnson and several Republican incumbents campaigned against it; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries campaigned for it.14VPM. Virginia Redistricting Referendum15Virginia Mercury. Virginia Voters Back Redistricting Amendment
The win lasted 17 days. Republicans had challenged the process, arguing that the legislature’s first vote on the amendment came during an October 2025 special session after more than 1.3 million early ballots in the general election had already been cast, violating the constitutional requirement that an amendment be approved in two legislative sessions divided by a House of Delegates election. On May 8, 2026, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in Scott v. McDougle that the amendment was invalid. Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, writing for the majority, held that “election” means the combined act of casting ballots and closing polls on the final day, not the early voting period, and that the procedural violation “incurably taints the resulting referendum vote.” Chief Justice Cleo Powell dissented.16Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Supreme Court Virginia Vacates Redistricting Amendment17SCOTUSblog. Court Denies Virginias Request to Reinstate Congressional Map18CNN. Virginia Redistricting US Supreme Court
FBI Raid on Senator Louise Lucas
On May 6, 2026, FBI agents executed a court-authorized search warrant at the Portsmouth office of state Senator L. Louise Lucas, the 82-year-old president pro tempore of the Senate and chair of the Finance and Appropriations Committee, who had been a driving force behind the redistricting effort. Agents also searched an adjacent business called “The Cannabis Outlet,” which is linked to Lucas. At the cannabis business, a SWAT team ordered occupants to exit, and three individuals were reportedly placed in handcuffs.19Virginia Mercury. FBI Raids Sen. Louise Lucas Portsmouth Office, Cannabis Business
According to New York Times reporting, the investigation predates the current administration and concerns alleged corruption and bribery involving marijuana dispensary businesses.20Cardinal News. 6 Things to Know About the FBI Raid on Louise Lucas’s Office The FBI confirmed only that it conducted “court-authorized law enforcement activity” and said there was no threat to public safety. Lucas has not been charged. She called the raid “political intimidation” linked to her redistricting work. House Speaker Don Scott urged against speculation, saying there was “far more theatrics and speculation than actual information available to the public.”21Politico. FBI Executes Search Warrant at Louise Lucas Office
Data Centers and the Dominion-NextEra Merger
Northern Virginia hosts an estimated 70 percent of global internet traffic, and the data center industry has become one of the most contested issues in state politics. A single campus requires roughly 300 megawatts of power, equivalent to the consumption of 300,000 people, and a state-commissioned study found unconstrained growth could nearly triple Virginia’s power needs by 2040.22University of Virginia. Are Data Centers Putting Too Much Pressure on Virginia
The legislature considered 61 data center bills in 2026 and sent 15 to the governor. New laws require site assessments for large facilities covering noise and environmental impacts, mandate water-use reporting by utilities serving data centers, and tighten emissions standards for backup generators.23Multistate. Virginia Lawmakers Pass 15 Data Center Bills Another measure directs electric providers to shift the cost of new generating capacity to high-demand users consuming 25 megawatts or more.
The industry’s sales and use tax exemption, worth about $1.6 billion a year, remains the flashpoint. The Senate, led by Lucas, pushed to eliminate it. The House, under Speaker Don Scott, proposed tying it to compliance with environmental rules and argued the incentive generates “good union jobs.” Spanberger said existing business contracts should be honored. The disagreement held up the state budget for months before lawmakers reached a June 2026 compromise that pushed the tax question to the 2028 session.23Multistate. Virginia Lawmakers Pass 15 Data Center Bills
On May 18, 2026, NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy announced plans to combine into what would be the world’s largest regulated electric utility, with a combined market capitalization of roughly $250 billion. Dominion’s Virginia operations would continue under their current name from a dual headquarters in Richmond and Juno Beach, Florida. The companies have pledged $2.25 billion in customer bill credits over two years, about 79 percent earmarked for Virginia ratepayers.24Virginia Mercury. What the Dominion and NextEra Energy Merger Means for Virginia Customers The merger needs approval from shareholders, FERC, the NRC, Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, utility regulators in North Carolina and South Carolina, and federal antitrust authorities. The companies plan to file their Virginia application between July and September 2026, triggering a 180-day review.25E&E News. Energy Megamerger Looms Over Virginia, Florida
State Senator Russet Perry called the deal “extremely concerning” given rising utility bills driven by data center growth, and noted that data center load contributed to a nearly 30-million-megawatt-hour increase in commercial electricity sales between 2019 and 2025. Perry also urged the SCC’s chair to recuse herself because of her prior work as a NextEra attorney.26Utility Dive. Virginia Senator Suggests SCC Judge Recuse From NextEra Dominion Merger Clean Virginia has warned regulators to examine NextEra’s record in Florida, where its subsidiary Florida Power & Light has been linked to “ghost candidates” in state races, journalist surveillance, and a $7 billion rate hike now under appeal.25E&E News. Energy Megamerger Looms Over Virginia, Florida
Dominion’s political footprint shapes the backdrop. The company has spent at least $40 million on Virginia elections since 2020, making it the state’s biggest corporate political spender. Virginia is one of only five states with virtually no limits on campaign contributions, and one of two where utility regulators are chosen by the legislature.25E&E News. Energy Megamerger Looms Over Virginia, Florida27OpenSecrets. Virginia Legislature Killed a Bill to Limit Campaign Donations
Rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
Virginia first joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program for power-plant carbon emissions, in January 2021 under Governor Ralph Northam, generating about $827.7 million in allowance proceeds during roughly three years of participation. Youngkin pulled Virginia out in December 2023, but a state court ruled the withdrawal unlawful in November 2024 because participation was mandated by statute.28Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Carbon Trading
Spanberger signed a budget amendment in February 2026 directing the Department of Environmental Quality to take all steps necessary to rejoin, followed in April by a separate bill directing the state to maintain a market-based trading program consistent with RGGI. Virginia is being treated as though it never left, which subjects it to tighter caps: a 61 percent reduction in CO₂ by 2030 and a 92 percent reduction by 2037 from 2027 levels. Participation formally resumes July 1, 2026, with Virginia entering regional auctions in September and December.28Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Carbon Trading The reentry has already moved markets. RGGI allowance prices jumped from about $25 in January 2026 to roughly $52.50 by early May, driven by tighter caps and the expectation that Virginia’s current emissions will exceed its allowance allocations for the rest of the year.29American Action Forum. Virginia Rejoining RGGI
Felony Voting Rights in Federal Court
A federal lawsuit is reshaping which Virginians with felony records can vote. In King v. Youngkin (also referenced as King v. O’Bannon), the ACLU of Virginia argued that the state’s automatic disenfranchisement for any felony conviction violates an 1870 federal law that readmitted Virginia to Congress on the condition it would not strip voting rights except for a specific list of common-law felonies. In January 2026, U.S. District Judge John Gibney agreed, ruling that Virginia can only disenfranchise people convicted of 11 common-law felonies as they existed in 1870: arson, burglary, escape, larceny, manslaughter, mayhem, murder, rape, robbery, sodomy, and suicide.30VPM. King v. Youngkin Felony Voting Rights Order
Compliance is still contested. In June 2026, the ACLU filed a motion alleging that state election officials are marking voter registration applications from people with non-disqualifying felony convictions as “incomplete” and leaving them in administrative limbo. The state responded that individually verifying whether a modern conviction maps to an 1870-era common-law felony is complex and requires interagency coordination. The fight is playing out as early voting for the August 4, 2026, congressional primaries is already underway.31News From the States. Civil Rights Group Files Motion to Speed Virginia Voter Registration Reform for Ex-Felons
What’s on the Ballot in 2026
Early voting for congressional primaries began June 18, 2026, with primaries on August 4. Seven Democrats are competing to challenge Republican incumbent Rob Wittman in the 1st District, and Republican challengers are contesting several other seats. Because the redistricting amendment failed, those races will run on the existing 6-5 Republican-leaning map.32VPM. Virginia Congressional Races and Election Cycle The November ballot is expected to carry the reproductive freedom amendment if it survives the pending legal challenge, which would make Virginia a test of whether abortion rights can be written into a Southern state’s constitution by popular vote.