JUST IN: Winner Projected In Virginia Gubernatorial Race

Former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is projected to be the winner in Virginia’s gubernatorial race, defeating incumbent Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.

As of publication time, unofficial results show Spanberger winning 55.8 percent of the vote compared with 43.9 percent for her Republican opponent. The race was called with roughly 26 percent of precincts reporting.

Spanberger’s victory was widely anticipated, as she had held a comfortable lead in polling averages for several months. She did experience a brief polling slide following the emergence of the text messages scandal affecting Democratic Party attorney general nominee Jay Jones, though the average never flipped.

Spanberger, a former CIA officer and U.S. representative, mirrored a number of fellow Democrats in making her campaign heavily Trump-centric. She also heavily marketed to federal workers in Northern Virginia amid the ongoing government shutdown.

The governor-elect will replace incumbent Governor Glenn Youngkin, who leaves office with positive approval ratings. Youngkin and incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares managed to cruise to victory in 2021 amid brutal economic data for then-President Biden and a transgender bathroom rape scandal in Loudon County.

Decision Desk HQ is also projecting a victory for Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic Party nominee for lieutenant governor. With 30 percent reporting, Hashmi leads Republican challenger John Reid with 52.8 percent of the vote to Reid’s 46.9 percent.

In perhaps the most shocking development of the night, Jay Jones is currently projected to defeat Attorney General Miyares after weeks of polling and betting markets largely projecting the opposite. A number of last-minute polls found Jones — who openly fantasized about murdering his political opponents and their children — in the lead, however.

According to the odds site Polymarket, Jones currently holds a 97 percent chance of winning after dropping below 30 percent following the emergence of the scandal.

All told, Spanberger is outrunning former Vice President Kamala Harris by 29 in Loudon County, while Jones is doing the same by 12.