VIRGINIA VOTERS ARE ABOUT TO MAKE HISTORY FOR THIS GOVERNOR ELECTION. WITH REPUBLICAN WINSOME EARLE-SEARS AND DEMOCRAT ABIGAIL SPANBERGER ON THE BALLOT, THE STATE IS GUARANTEED ITS FIRST WOMAN GOVERNOR. IF EARLE-SEARS WINS, SHE’D ALSO BE THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO HOLD A GOVERNORSHIP IN U.S. HISTORY.

FOR MOST OF THE NATION’S PAST, WOMEN WERE KEPT OUT OF THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE.

AMERICA’S FIRST WOMAN GOVERNOR, DEMOCRAT NELLIE TAYLOE ROSS OF WYOMING, TOOK OFFICE IN 1925 AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND, GOVERNOR WILLIAM B. ROSS. IT WASN’T UNTIL 50 YEARS LATER, IN 1975, THAT ELLA GRASSO OF CONNECTICUT BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN ELECTED IN HER OWN RIGHT AS GOVERNOR OF A US STATE.

AND EVEN TODAY, 18 STATES, INCLUDING CALIFORNIA, FLORIDA, AND ILLINOIS, HAVE NEVER ELECTED A WOMAN GOVERNOR.

THE RECORD HIGH WAS SET ONLY THIS YEAR, WITH 14 WOMEN GOVERNORS IN OFFICE. PROGRESS, YES. BUT NOT YET EQUAL. IN VIRGINIA, WOMEN NOW HOLD MORE THAN 40% OF PARTY NOMINATIONS, BUT HAVEN’T YET REACHED THE STATE’S HIGHEST SEAT.

THAT’S WHY THIS RACE STANDS OUT. WHOEVER TAKES THE OATH IN JANUARY 2026 WILL DO WHAT NO WOMAN HAS DONE BEFORE IN VIRGINIA.