Carville: Spanberger “Talks About What It Means to Wear the Badge”

RICHMOND, Va. — Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger — a former federal law enforcement officer — continues to make clear her support for the law enforcement officers who keep Virginia’s communities safe.

Read what people are saying about Spanberger receiving the Virginia Police Benevolent Association’s endorsement and her focus on supporting Virginia’s law enforcement officers as the Commonwealth’s next Governor.

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The Hill: Carville: Virginia’s Spanberger ‘delivering a masterclass’ for Democrats on crime

Spanberger has repeatedly leaned into her background in law enforcement on the campaign trail. And last month, the Virginia Police Benevolent Association notably endorsed Spanberger over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the governor’s race. The union also endorsed the Republican nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general.

“They notably snubbed Spanberger’s opponent in this year’s race, current Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who these police had endorsed in 2021 and whose campaign highlights to-date include telling recently laid-off Virginians that she doesn’t ‘understand why’ losing your job is ‘a huge, huge thing,’” Carville said.

Fox News: Spanberger raising eyebrows, picks up Virginia Police Benevolent Association endorsement

The Democratic opponent, Abigail Spanberger, raising eyebrows for a party struggling with national priorities. She’s a former congresswoman who worked as a CIA [officer] before running for public office.

Abigail Spanberger: “I may be a Democrat, but I have worked my entire life in service to our country.”

In a Fox News opinion article out today, Democratic strategist James Carville writes, “Spanberger has repeatedly stuck to her guns and buckled the party orthodoxy. She talks about what it means to wear the badge.”

NewsNation: Virginia Police Benevolent Association snubs Earle-Sears, endorses Spanberger

The state’s police union took the unusual step of endorsing Earle-Sears’s Democratic opponent, former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, before endorsing every other Republican candidate for statewide office.

There are snubs, and then there are snubs.

7News [Washington, D.C.]: Spanberger nabs key police endorsement as new poll shows lead in Virginia governor’s race

The VAPBA announced its support on Aug. 13. The group is non-profit and non-partisan and cited Spanberger’s bipartisan record during her three terms in Congress, her professional law enforcement background, and her consistent votes to increase funding for local police departments and sheriff’s offices.

VAPBA Field Representative, Richard Goszka, tells 7News that it interview all the candidates for statewide office in Virginia and made their determination based on the answers the candidates provided. Goszka says this endorsement was based on policy alone.

“It was unanimous. Abigail Spanberger has a whole lot more policy and experience when she answered the questions versus her counterpart,” said Goszka. “The content of those questions were about policies such as duplicity in law enforcement, which is taking resources away, from pay and retirement and health benefits, to accountability of leadership in police agencies to qualified immunity; which she promised not to repeal,” said Goszka.

“Abigail Spanberger understands the responsibility of putting on the badge,” said Joe Woloszyn, president of the VAPBA. “Abigail has a deep, expert-level knowledge of the unique challenges facing Virginia’s law enforcement officers, and she is a leader who shares our goal of building trust across our communities.”

Fox News: Democrats can lead on stopping crime. A Virginia candidate knows the way

Instead of following the worst instincts of her party, Spanberger has repeatedly stuck to her guns and bucked the party orthodoxy. She talks about what it means to wear the badge, and what it meant to see her dad put one on every day when he went to work.  

She crossed the aisle to vote for additional funding for police departments. She also led the charge to let retired officers receive the full Social Security benefits they paid into during their careers. That law even earned her recent praise from the Fraternal Order of Police, the same police union that endorsed Trump during each of his three runs for president.  

MSNBC: Former Rep. Riggleman: Spanberger is showing Democrats how to lead on crime issues

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA): “What she’s doing with the Police Benevolent Association, they endorsed her. Also, when you look at her background, right, going after cartels and things like that was pretty interesting because I was in counterterrorism. And she’s very blunt about the crime problem. […] We do understand there’s a problem. We got to face it. Just be factual and truthful. Tell the truth to the people. And that’s the only way you can go about it. And I think in Virginia, I think Abby’s doing it, and that’s why she’s going to win pretty handily I think.”

Washington Examiner: Virginia Police Association backs Democrat Abigail Spanberger for governor

The Virginia Police Benevolent Association gave its endorsement to Democrat Abigail Spanberger over her Republican rival, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.

The PBA’s endorsement wasn’t partisan, as it also said it would support Republican John Reid for lieutenant governor and Republican Jason Miyares for attorney general. The PBA previously endorsed Earle-Sears for lieutenant governor in 2021, when she won.

In its endorsement for Spanberger, the PBA said that while in Congress, she had voted “to increase funding for local police departments and sheriff’s offices — and she was relentless in pushing her bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act across the finish line to secure the earned benefits of thousands of Virginia’s retired police officers.”

Fox News: Carville says Spanberger is showing what credible leadership on crime looks like

Democratic strategist James Carville is even claiming she’s “delivering a masterclass in what credible leadership on stopping crime looks like.”

BACKGROUND

As a former federal law enforcement officer, Spanberger worked federal narcotics and money laundering cases — regularly working with local police departments across Virginia, Maryland, and D.C., investigated child predators, and arrested narcotics traffickers.

During her time in Congress, Spanberger worked to make sure Virginia’s law enforcement officers had the training, tools, and resources they needed to do their jobs. She led multiple efforts — together with both Democrats and Republicans — to help Virginia’s police departments pay for vetting, hiring, training, and benefits for more officers and first responders.

Spanberger also led the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act, which the President signed into law earlier this year to secure the earned retirement benefits of Americans who devoted much of their careers to public service — including thousands of Virginia’s retired police officers. Since Spanberger’s legislation was signed into law earlier this year, more than $310 million in earned retirement benefits have already been delivered to nearly 50,000 retired police officers and other public servants across Virginia.

Last month, the Virginia Police Benevolent Association — which represents more than 11,000 police officers and sheriff’s deputies across Virginia — endorsed Abigail to be the next Governor of Virginia.

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