Virginia will make history this Election Day when voters pick the commonwealth’s first female governor.
Polling has favored former Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
“It's nice that we have some options there and they both have experience,” said Jill Love of Norfolk on Election Day. “There's one that I prefer over the other, but it's really nice to have that option.”
Erich Hart, with OV Advocates for Reproductive Rights, voted at the Ocean View Community Center in Norfolk and was open about which woman he wanted to lead Virginia.
“I'm very excited to have the first female governor. Both candidates are women, and I think it's important, and most importantly, they're both very well qualified, but we're extremely happy that it's going to be Abigail Spanberger,” Hart said.
“I hope that she wins for many reasons. She supports women's reproductive rights, (and) she also supports the environment.”
Spanberger supports a state constitutional amendment that would codify certain reproductive health care procedures. Earle-Sears signed a version of legislation on the topic, with a note saying she was morally opposed to it.
Edna Moore in Hampton thinks Virginia is slower than other states, considering how long it's taken to get a female governor.
Virginia elected the country’s first Black governor, Douglas L. Wilder, in 1990. Since then, white men have led the Commonwealth.
“I'm not going to condemn Virginia because we don't even have a female president in the country yet, but I think we're making progress,” Moore said. “I think it's good that we'll have a female, we'll get a different perspective, we'll get a person who's got good ideas. I feel that women can somehow run things a little bit better than men.”
Shirley Krause in Chesapeake wasn’t concerned about the historic event unfolding when she went to vote.
“Just may the best person that the Lord wants be in there,” she said. “A woman is just as good as a man. What the Lord said, ‘We're all equal.’”
Rhonda Russ of Virginia Beach felt the same as Krause. She said she doesn’t care about “male, female. I care about the most qualified to do the job.”
Russ said she made her decision to vote for Earle-Sears based on one issue: “The male-female issue, you know, males in female sports. That's very important to me because I think females have worked too hard to come too far to have a transgender female play in a sport and win a state title and all that. It's not fair to the females that are actually females.”
Earle-Sears made transgender issues a cornerstone of her campaign, specifically transgender youth access to bathrooms and sports teams.
During the only gubernatorial debate at Norfolk State University in October, Earle-Sears said she would like to sign legislation restricting bathroom use by birth sex, and doesn’t think that discriminates against transgender people. She declined to give a straightforward response on whether she believes transgender people are inherently unsafe.
Spanberger told debate moderators she thinks the issue needs to be handled locally.
In Norfolk, Caroline Williams wasn’t expecting politics to dramatically shift because of new female leadership.
“It’ll just be some lipstick instead of Chapstick,” she said.
@whropublicmedia Virginia will make history this Election Day when voters pick the commonwealth’s first female governor. Polling has favored former Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. WHRO News went to the polls and asked voters in Hampton Roads how they feel about this landmark election. #whropublicmedia #LocalNews #757tiktok #virginia #hamptonroads #whronews ♬ original sound WHRO Public Media