OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:00 PM – Saturday, January 17, 2026
Democrat Abigail Spanberger has been sworn in as the 75th governor of Virginia, making her the first ever female to hold the position in over 250 years.
The new governor took the oath of office on a Bible at about noon on the South Portico of the Virginia State Capitol building in Richmond on Saturday.
Spanberger (D-Va.), a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2018 until she left office to run for governor. In late 2025, she defeated Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R-Va.) to succeed Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.).
During her speech, the former congresswoman highlighted Virginia’s rich history as one of the original 13 colonies, noting that President George Washington and President Thomas Jefferson were both Virginians, with Jefferson even having served as the state’s second governor.
She also called for unity, quoting Virginia’s first governor, Patrick Henry’s appeal, “United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.”
She then went on to recognize the first African-American governor of the state, Doug Wilder, who celebrated his 95th birthday while in attendance at the ceremony.
According to “A Guide to Virginia Protocol and Traditions,” men wear morning coats, and women wear dark suits for the governor’s inauguration. Spanberger’s husband, Adam Spanberger, was among the many attendees to follow the tradition, even sporting a top hat. The new governor, however, wore all white, a possible reference to the women’s suffrage movement.
Continuing with traditional formality, Spanberger will be referred to as “Madam Governor” and sometimes “her excellency.”
No woman has served as governor in Virginia during the colonial era, or for the last 250 years, after it became a commonwealth in 1776.
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