The Human Rights Marketing campaign PAC on Tuesday will endorse Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger’s run for governor of Virginia, the group informed the Washington Blade.
The previous CIA agent-turned-congresswoman, who represented her state’s seventh Congressional District from 2019 to 2025, will face off in opposition to Republican Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears on this 12 months’s gubernatorial race.
A Roanoke School survey in February discovered Spanberger within the lead with a cushty margin, 39-24, whereas a trio of polls in January discovered her forward by one, 5, and 10 share factors.
Virginia’s incumbent Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who’s prohibited from looking for a second time period below the state’s structure, has persistently restricted LGBTQ rights and attacked the transgender group since taking workplace in 2022.
HRC mentioned Spanberger’s candidacy “provides Virginians renewed hope for a future rooted in equality,” with the group’s president, Kelley Robinson, calling her “a champion for the LGBTQ group.”
Noting the previous congresswoman’s co-sponsorship of the Equality Act, laws that may develop federal anti-discrimination protections to incorporate LGBTQ individuals, Robinson mentioned Spanberger “understands that Virginia’s future success relies on the total inclusion and safety of all its individuals.”
HRC’s president added, “As governor, she is going to work tirelessly to construct a Virginia the place everybody — no matter who they’re or who they love — can dwell, work, and go to highschool with dignity, security, and alternative. We’re thrilled to assist her and mobilize pro-equality Virginians to make her the commonwealth’s subsequent governor.”
Responding to information of the endorsement, Spanberger mentioned “I’m honored to earn the endorsement of the Human Rights Marketing campaign, and I’m able to work collectively to construct on the progress we’ve made to safe equal protections for all Virginians below the legislation.”
“Affirming that Virginia is a welcoming house for all households goes past defending marriage equality — it means defending Virginians’ proper to dwell with out worry of discrimination or hurt,” she mentioned. “As governor, I’ll work to ensure that no Virginian is denied authorities companies, loses a job, or faces another type of discrimination due to who they love or who they’re.”
HRC additional famous that Spanberger fought to cross the Respect for Marriage Act, which was signed into legislation in 2022 and codified authorized protections for married same-sex and interracial {couples}, in addition to her promise to “defend marriage equality and work with the Basic Meeting to enshrine marriage equality in Virginia’s structure.”
Spanberger has additionally dedicated to “signing laws guaranteeing Virginians’ proper to entry contraception and contraception,” HRC wrote, “and defending in opposition to makes an attempt by excessive judges and politicians to roll again Virginians’ reproductive freedoms.”
In contrast, the group criticized Sears’s LGBTQ rights file — noting that in 2004, she pledged to “emphatically assist a constitutional modification” banning same-sex marriage, in 2021, she campaigned with a gubernatorial candidate who mentioned homosexuality was the “work of the satan,” and in 2022, she “dodged questions” about her place on marriage equality and “tried to rewrite her hateful historical past.”
Since 1977, with just one exception, Virginia has elected governors who belong to the social gathering that’s out of energy on the presidential stage. The state’s upcoming off-year gubernatorial contest presents a chance for Democrats who’re looking forward to a significant electoral victory to channel momentum in opposition to President Donald Trump and Republican majorities in Congress.
