In one of the first big elections during President Donald Trump’s second term, voters in Virginia came out in droves on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to elect a new governor to replace the outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

An hour after the polls closed, Democratic former U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger was declared the projected winner and the state’s first female governor.

In the Virginia governor’s race, among the 36% of voters who said opposing Trump was a factor in their vote, 98% backed Spanberger, according to the SSRS Voter Poll, conducted for a consortium of U.S. networks and the Associated Press.

Who won the Virginia governor election?

Polls throughout the campaign showed Democrat Abigail Spanberger ahead of Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. That difference held on election night, as Spanberger defeated Earle-Sears, becoming the first woman to serve as Virginia’s governor.

Spanberger, 46, served as the U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District before running for governor. Her win marks the first time a Democrat will serve as Virginia’s governor since Terry McAuliffe, who was in office for four years between 2014 and 2018.

When will the new governor be sworn in?

According to the Virginia General Assembly, the new governor will be sworn in on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026.

The date for the swearing-in is set by the Constitution of Virginia, which requires that swearing-in ceremonies be held “on the Saturday succeeding the second Wednesday in January.”

Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who won the Virginia governor race? See election results.

Reporting by Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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