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Spanberger battles record unpopularity just 5 months after landslide election: poll
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger was swept into the governor’s mansion on a deep blue wave last November, but has seen her popularity plummet after less than 3 months in office.
Forty-six percent of Virginians disapprove of her job performance while 47% approve. Compared to Virginia governors from both sides of the aisle since 1994, Spanberger has the highest disapproval rating at this point in her term.
In additional contrast, predecessor Gov. Glenn Youngkin saw a 54-39 job approval at this point in his term, with the highest favorability going to Democrat Mark Warner – now Virginia’s senior senator – with a 78-20 rating.
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Warner’s current counterpart, Sen. Tim Kaine, was at 62-31, GOP Gov. Jim Gilmore III at 63-30, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell at 59-39 and Democrats Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam at 52-30 and 48-37 respectively.
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Spanberger defeated then-Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears by 15 points in November and completely flipped statewide offices to Democrats Ghazala Hashmi for lietenant governor and Jay Jones for attorney general.
The Post pointed out that while Spanberger’s favorability was narrow, her win dwarfed that of Youngkin’s over McAuliffe in 2021 – and the Falls Church business executive’s favorability was several points higher than hers.
George Mason University Policy & Government Dean Mark Rozell, a co-sponsor of the poll, told the Post that while some bit of political polarization is “baked in,” it was “unusual” to see such a result for Spanberger this early in her term after a campaign on a “centrist image.”
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Seven percent of Virginians, however, by contrast, cite her tenure as “too conservative.”
Spanberger’s shift on gerrymandering was recently evinced through redistricting referendum critics citing her own 2019 words back to her in recent mailers, according to reports.
“Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority,” Spanberger tweeted six years ago when Virginia considered its ultimately successful bid to remove map-redrawing power from the partisan legislature.
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However, Spanberger’s office recently denied claims that there had been any internal deals made involving her personally to help get more Democrats elected; particularly in the case of the Second Congressional District in Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore.
Spanberger has also received criticism for appearing to pivot on gun control, from a moderate stance while in Congress favoring commonsense reforms and citing her resume as a former gun-toting CIA agent and postal inspector, to a governor poised to sign sweeping gun bans drafted by far-left Fairfax Democrats.
“I’m a mother of three girls in Virginia Public Schools. I’m also a former federal agent who carried a gun every single day for my job,” she said at a 2025 rally. “So I come at this issue as someone who cares deeply about the safety of our kids and as someone who understands the responsibilities of owning and of carrying a firearm.”
The redistricting referendum has been criticized for unfairly empowering Spanberger’s base counties, as five newly-drawn districts would originate in Fairfax and envelop – and critics say overpower – the voices of rural central and Western Virginia.
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One such district in particular, unfavorably shaped like a lobster according to critics, already has three notable Democratic candidates – gun control bill sponsor State Del. Dan Helmer of Fairfax, former first lady Dorothy McAuliffe, and former Jack Smith deputy JP Cooney – despite the referendum not being officially decided by the voters until April 21.
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment.
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