By Christopher Kane

The Human Rights Campaign PAC on Tuesday will endorse Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger’s run for governor of Virginia, the organization told the Washington Blade.

The former CIA agent-turned-congresswoman, who represented her state’s 7th Congressional District from 2019 to 2025, will face off against Republican Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in this year’s gubernatorial race.

A Roanoke College survey in February found Spanberger in the lead with a comfortable margin, 39-24, while a trio of polls in January found her ahead by one, five, and 10 percentage points.

Virginia’s incumbent Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is prohibited from seeking a second term under the state’s constitution, has consistently restricted LGBTQ rights and attacked the transgender community since taking office in 2022.

HRC said Spanberger’s candidacy “offers Virginians renewed hope for a future rooted in equality,” with the group’s president, Kelley Robinson, calling her “a champion for the LGBTQ community.”

Noting the former congresswoman’s co-sponsorship of the Equality Act, legislation that would expand federal anti-discrimination protections to include LGBTQ people, Robinson said Spanberger “understands that Virginia’s future success depends on the full inclusion and protection of all its people.”

HRC’s president added, “As governor, she will work tirelessly to build a Virginia where everyone — regardless of who they are or who they love — can live, work, and go to school with dignity, safety, and opportunity. We are thrilled to support her and mobilize pro-equality Virginians to make her the commonwealth’s next governor.” 

Responding to news of the endorsement, Spanberger said “I’m honored to earn the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign, and I’m ready to work together to build on the progress we’ve made to secure equal protections for all Virginians under the law.”

“Affirming that Virginia is a welcoming home for all families goes beyond protecting marriage equality — it means defending Virginians’ right to live without fear of discrimination or harm,” she said. “As governor, I will work to make sure that no Virginian is denied government services, loses a job, or faces any other form of discrimination because of who they love or who they are.”

HRC further noted that Spanberger fought to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, which was signed into law in 2022 and codified legal protections for married same-sex and interracial couples, as well as her promise to “defend marriage equality and work with the General Assembly to enshrine marriage equality in Virginia’s constitution.”

Spanberger has also committed to “signing legislation guaranteeing Virginians’ right to access contraception and birth control,” HRC wrote, “and protecting against attempts by extreme judges and politicians to roll back Virginians’ reproductive freedoms.”

By contrast, the organization criticized Sears’s LGBTQ rights record — noting that in 2004, she pledged to “emphatically support a constitutional amendment” banning same-sex marriage, in 2021, she campaigned with a gubernatorial candidate who said homosexuality was the “work of the devil,” and in 2022, she “dodged questions” about her position on marriage equality and “attempted to rewrite her hateful history.”

Since 1977, with only one exception, Virginia has elected governors who belong to the party that is out of power at the presidential level. The state’s upcoming off-year gubernatorial contest presents an opportunity for Democrats who are eager for a major electoral victory to channel momentum against President Donald Trump and Republican majorities in Congress.