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Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 189

Navigating the Nonsense

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 189: Navigating the Nonsense

Races Tighten in Virginia

October 27, 2025 · 4:04 pm ET · Leave a Comment

A new Wason Center survey of Virginia likely voters shows tightening races across the statewide contests as Election Day is right around the corner.

In the race for governor, Abigail Spanberger (D) leads Winsome Earle-Sears (R) by 7 points, 50% to 43%.

In the race for lieutenant governor, Ghazala Hashmi (D) leads John Reid (R) by 2 points, 47% to 45%.

In the race for attorney general, Jason Miyares (R) now leads Jay Jones (D) by 1 point, 46% to 45%, following reports of a 2022 text messaging scandal involving Jones.

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Spanberger Comfortably Ahead in Virginia

October 23, 2025 · 10:05 am ET · Leave a Comment

A new Suffolk University poll in Virginia finds Abigail Spanberger (D) leading Winsome Earl-Sears (R) in the race for governor, 51% to 43% among likely voters.

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Abigail Spanberger Opens Big Lead in Virginia

October 22, 2025 · 7:26 am ET · Leave a Comment

A new State Navigate poll in Virginia shows Abigail Spanberger with a 13-point lead to become the next governor, her widest lead yet in any public poll, 55% to 42%.

“Weighing down Republicans’ chances of winning in Virginia this year is, of course, President Trump. The President is deeply unpopular with likely voters this year: 40 percent say that they approve of how he is handling his job as president, while 59 percent say they disapprove, including 55 percent who disapprove strongly.”

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Abigail Spanberger Is Way Ahead in Virginia

October 6, 2025 · 4:32 pm ET · Leave a Comment

A new Wason Center poll in Virginia finds Abigail Spanberger (D) leading Winsome Earle-Sears (R) by 10 points in the race for governor, 52% to 42% among likely voters with 6% still undecided or don’t know.

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Abigail Spanberger Holds Wide Lead for Virginia Governor

October 3, 2025 · 1:28 pm ET · Leave a Comment

Abigail Spanberger (D) leads Winsome Earle-Sears (R) by double digits in the contest for Virginia governor, 55% to 43% among likely voters, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll.

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Spanberger Holds 10-Point Lead for Virginia Governor

October 2, 2025 · 6:18 am ET · Leave a Comment

A new Emerson College survey of the Virginia Governor’s race finds Abigail Spanberger (D) leading Winsome Earle-Sears (R), 52% to 42%, with 5% of voters undecided.

Those who have already voted early in Virginia report voting for Spanberger, 60% to 38%, while likely voters who have yet to cast a ballot support Spanberger 50% to 43%.

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Will the Shutdown Upend the Virginia Governor’s Race?

October 1, 2025 · 8:44 am ET · Leave a Comment

This is not the first time Virginia voters have dealt with a government shutdown just a few weeks before they elect their next governor, NBC News reports.

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Spanberger Up by Double-Digits in Virginia

September 18, 2025 · 9:56 am ET · Leave a Comment

A new Wason Center poll in Virginia finds Abigail Spanberger (D) leading Winsome Earle Sears (R) in the governor’s race by 12 points, 52% to 40% among likely voters.

Another 8% remain undecided or don’t know.

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Virginia Governor’s Race Shifts Towards the Democrats

September 11, 2025 · 4:02 pm ET · Leave a Comment

Cook Political Report: “Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has stabilized her once-chaotic campaign in recent weeks and found some momentum by seizing on social issues, but her early missteps and the national environment continue to work against her in the open Virginia gubernatorial race.”

“Accordingly, we are shifting our rating from Lean to Likely Democrat.”

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Trump Endorsement Eludes GOP Candidate in Virginia

September 11, 2025 · 9:17 am ET · Leave a Comment

“Virginia Lt. Gov Winsome Earle-Sears is continuing to ask President Donald Trump to back her bid in the high-stakes Virginia governor’s race — but the president, as of now, is refusing to endorse her,” Bloomberg reports.

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Spanberger Maintains Solid Lead in Virginia

September 9, 2025 · 11:35 am ET · Leave a Comment

A new Virginia Commonwealth University poll shows Abigail Spanberger (D) ahead of Winsome Earle-Sears (R) in the race for governor, 49% to 40%.

And don’t forget tonight: Another Test of the Special Election Surge

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Spanberger’s Lead for Virginia Governor Narrows

August 19, 2025 · 10:06 am ET · Leave a Comment

Abigail Spanberger (D) holds a 7-point lead over Winsome Earle-Sears (R) in the race for Virginia governor, 46% to 39%, according to a new Roanoke College Poll that shows the contest tightening since the spring.

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Virginia Governor’s Race Has Republicans Reeling

July 23, 2025 · 7:01 am ET · Leave a Comment

Jonathan Martin: “The convergence of paltry fundraising, weak polling and a candidate seen as incapable of fixing either has some in the RGA’s orbit unenthused, I’m told, about giving much more than the $500,000 the group has already contributed to Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears.”

“And while Sears and Trump met privately earlier this year in the White House, the president has yet to embrace her candidacy, a non-endorsement that stems from her criticism of him between his two terms.”

The Hill: Virginia Republicans sound alarm over governor’s race: “It’s a disaster.”

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GOP Worries DOGE Cuts Will Sink Them in Virginia

June 7, 2025 · 11:38 am ET · Leave a Comment

“Republicans are increasingly worried that budget cuts by Elon Musk’s DOGE could cost them dearly in November’s vote for Virginia governor — an early electoral test of President Trump’s policies,” Axios reports.

“Virginia has one of the highest percentages of federal employees in the country — more than 5% of the state’s workforce by some estimates — and Republicans’ internal polls are starting to show the damage from tens of thousands of federal layoffs.”

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Spanberger Is Poised to Win Big in Virginia

June 1, 2025 · 3:47 pm ET · Leave a Comment

“Six months out from November, Virginia Democrats believe the governor’s race is Abigail Spanberger’s to lose,” Politico reports.

“There’s a risk the former member of Congress could get bogged down by national malaise toward the Democratic Party, and her margins could end up being tight because of the negative Democratic brand.”

“But Democrats are hopeful that Spanberger can overcome that national dynamic. She flipped a competitive district in 2018 that stretches into rural Southwest Virginia and she benefits from the unpopular actions of President Donald Trump. His stop-and-start trade war coupled with the elimination of thousands of federal jobs and looming Medicaid cuts are widely unwelcome in the Commonwealth. Spanberger enjoys strong name recognition and is far out-fundraising her opponent, a candidate who even some fellow Republicans are wincing about.”

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Abigail Spanberger Launches First TV Ad

May 29, 2025 · 8:31 am ET · Leave a Comment

Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) “is launching her first TV ad of the 2025 Virginia governor’s race, detailing her background as she ramps up her campaign in one of the most closely watched elections of the year,” NBC News reports.

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Virginia Republicans Already Bracing for Grim November

May 20, 2025 · 6:50 am ET · Leave a Comment

“Virginia Republicans are bracing for November with a growing sense of doom,” Politico reports.

“The GOP already faced a tough climate in this year’s elections thanks to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s war on the state’s robust federal workforce. Then came a bitter, intraparty feud over Republicans’ lieutenant governor candidate. Now, some Republicans are privately expressing concerns about the viability of their gubernatorial nominee, Winsome Earle-Sears.”

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Virginia Governor’s Race Moves to Lean Democrat

May 1, 2025 · 10:15 am ET · Leave a Comment

Cook Political Report: “The Virginia governor’s race is officially set, with both Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears avoiding a primary. This means that the commonwealth will elect its first female governor come November.”

“When we initially rated this contest in December, we put the race in Toss Up, given the absence of early polling and the uncertainty of the political climate before Donald Trump’s second term began. However, after talks with sources on both sides of the aisle — taking into consideration the political environment, Democratic enthusiasm and private polling — we are shifting the Virginia governor’s race from Toss Up to Lean Democrat.”

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Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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