Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is less popular than each of the eight previous governors of her state was on average, according to a Washington Post poll released Monday.
The survey, conducted by the outlet and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, found that 47% of registered Virginia voters approve of Spanberger, a percentage lower than all of the WaPo-Schar School polling averages of her eight immediate predecessors’ approval ratings. Furthermore, 46% of respondents disapproved of Spanberger, making her the only one of Virginia’s last nine governors to have a job disapproval rating greater than 40%.
The poll’s release comes just over two weeks before Virginia voters will head to the polls to vote on a proposed Spanberger-backed gerrymander that would, if approved, likely shift the state’s House delegation from six Democrats and five Republicans to 10 Democrats and just one Republican. (RELATED: Democrat Gerrymanding Gambit Will Give Huge Middle Finger To Rural Americans, Group Argues)
Spanberger’s immediate predecessor, former Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, had an average approval rating of 54% and an average disapproval rating of 39%, according to past WaPo-Schar School polling. Meanwhile, Democrat Ralph Northam, who led the state from 2018 to 2022, had an average approval rating of 48% — the second lowest of the nine governors — an an average disapproval rating of 37%.
During his tenure in office, a photo from Northam’s medical school yearbook in which he either posed in blackface or a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood resurfaced. It remains unclear which costume the Democrat had worn.
The Schar School’s dean, Mark Rozell, told the WaPo that it is “unusual at this early stage of her administration” that Spanberger’s reception is so split, given that she had long cultivated a centrist image.” Slighty more independent voters disapproved (46%) of Spanberger’s job performance than approved of it (45%), according to the WaPo-Schar School poll released Monday.
Former Virginia first lady Pamela Northam, former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger and Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) attend an unveiling ceremony for a statue of civil rights leader Barbara Rose Johns. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The governor took office in January, just over two months after winning the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election in a 15-point landslide during which she had notably emphasized affordability. However, her state’s Democratic Party introduced dozens of new taxes and tax hikes — including levies on dog walking and electric leaf blowers — just in the first few weeks after she took office. Virginia Democrats have also sent multiple restrictive gun control bills to Spanberger’s desk in recent weeks.
Spanberger’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Besides Spanberger and Northam, the other seven of Virginia’s most recent nine governors had average WaPo-Schar School approval ratings over 50%: Democrat Terry McAuliffe (52%), Republican Bob McDonnell (59%), Democrat Tim Kaine (62%), Democrat Mark Warner (78%), Republican Jim Gilmore (63%) and Republican George Allen (67%).
Warner, now a senator seeking his fourth term in office, had both by far the highest average approval rating at and the lowest average disapproval rating at 20%, less than half that of Spanberger’s, during his time as governor from 2002 to 2006.
“It’s no surprise that Governor Spanberger is the most unpopular governor Virginia has seen in modern history,” Senate candidate Mark Moran, a former Democrat who left the party Thursday and is now challenging Warner as an independent, told the DCNF in a statement.
“Virginians elected her [Spanberger] on promises of moderation, but instead she’s pushed a radical agenda that attacks Virginians Second Amendment rights and rigs the maps through gerrymandering to protect her party’s power. When you govern against Virginians, we notice,” Moran added.
Upon voting “yes” on the April 21 Virginia redistricting amendment, Spanberger claimed that the proposed lopsided gerrymander is “responsive to this moment in time where we have a president who has gone to other states seeking additional congressional seats saying he’s quote entitled to them.”
The proposed 10-1 Virginia House map would most likely result in a House delegation that is 91% Democratic in a state where Democratic nominee Kamala Harris won just shy of 52% of the vote in the 2024 presidential election. Meanwhile, the Trump-backed map Texas is using for the midterm elections seeks to place 79% of seats under Republican control in a state Trump carried with over 56%.
As Virginia is the only state in the union that does not allow governors to seek consecutive terms, Spanberger is ineligible to run for reelection in 2029.
The WaPo-Schar School poll surveyed 1,101 registered voters in Virginia from March 26 to 31. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
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