RICHMOND, Va. — When Abigail Spanberger is sworn in as Virginia’s 75th governor on Saturday in Richmond, she will become the first female governor in the Commonwealth’s nearly 250-year history. Prior to the swearing-in, she spoke with CBS 6’s Caroline Coleburn about the historic moment, her priorities, and how she plans to lead.
“I’m Feeling Excited”
Coleburn: You are just a couple days away from becoming Virginia's 75th governor and first female so how are you feeling?
Spanberger: “I'm feeling excited. I feel like my to-do list keeps getting longer and longer, but I'm really ready to start getting to work. I'm ready for Saturday, and then everything that comes after it.”
“What It Means to Them”
Coleburn: You were the first female governor, and you have three daughters… What do you say to them? And what are you telling your daughters as you come to this historic moment?
Spanberger: “My favorite thing is actually to just listen to other people tell me what it means to them to have a woman governor. Even just today, I was at the prayer breakfast at the beginning of the General Assembly session, and… multiple women brought their daughters forward and said, ‘I got to take a picture of my daughter with the first woman governor.’
"To hear people talk about the fact that they're so excited… I had one gentleman a couple weeks ago tell me that when he was leaving the house… he told his little daughter, she's 5, ‘I'm going to meet the next governor.’ And his daughter said, ‘Okay, tell him hello.’ And he said, ‘No, no, no, it's not a him, it's a lady.’ And she said, ‘A girl governor?’
"I think there's something really excited about just what it means to people of all ages to know that Virginia is going to have a woman governor, and hopefully many more in the many years to come.”
Affordable Virginia: Her Top Priority
Coleburn: Affordable Virginia… seems to be your top priority. What do you say to people struggling to pay their bills or buy groceries?
Spanberger: “What I know is that people are making choices every single day about whether to pick up their medicine at the pharmacy counter, whether to pull back from their career because daycare is too expensive, whether to move or not move… and every day, this feeling of just how hard things are, it's impacting Virginians. It's impacting people and communities and our economy.
"As governor, I will be laser focused on pulling on every lever possible… and working closely with the General Assembly to advance policies that will make a meaningful impact. Of course, we can't address all of them with just one fell swoop of an action, but it takes real intentionality and aggressive action to make a change that people can hopefully feel in the coming months and years.”
Tackling Child Care Costs
Coleburn: Child care is exorbitantly expensive, and child care workers are paid pennies. How will you address this?
Spanberger: “Here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, we have existing programs that are strong… but we need to do more. I've been having really interesting conversations with members of the General Assembly, looking to what other states have done… to ensure every person has access to quality, affordable child care and that… early childcare workers… are able to make a career of what we all know is so important.”
First-Day Actions
Coleburn: Governor Youngkin had 11 executive actions on his first day… How many can we expect from you?
Spanberger: “I'll be doing the usual ones… but in addition… I will be focused on issues of affordability… How can we ensure they are making life just a little bit easier for Virginians… We are working through the exact number… but they are wholly focused on… lowering costs.”
Coleburn: Any executive actions of Governor Youngkin’s you may keep?
Spanberger: “There are ones that you have to continue and redo, and ones that I'll be making adjustments to… but… most of them will be focused on affordability.”
Being Present in Rural Virginia
Coleburn: I'm from Nottoway County, and I've spoken to people there, and one thing I heard throughout your time representing that area is that even though people there may not have always agreed with you, you showed up there, and you showed up time and time again. So how are you going to show up for the people of rural Virginia, who often don't see themselves reflected in Richmond or Washington? How are you going to make sure that they are felt in your administration?
Spanberger: “I loved representing Nottoway County… and it gave me a chance to… hear their concerns… I hope that people are seeing in the cabinet that I have appointed… a clear signal… that I want to draw on the expertise and experience of people who have grown up in, worked in, or served communities across the Commonwealth… I look forward to… ensuring that every Virginian knows that I'm working for them… They may not always agree with me… but I want them to know that I am working to hear the concerns of every community and govern with those concerns in mind.”
Approach to Veto Power
Coleburn: You're taking office with a Democratic Senate and House, so I'm sure there will be lots of bills on your desk. How do you plan to use your veto power? And are there any bills that you've said, hey, don't bring me because I won't sign?
Spanberger: “I've been trying to lead with… the bills that I'm most excited about… affordability and housing, health care and energy as the priority ones… I've been very clear… that there are bills that I don't support and won't be signing… It's up to [lawmakers] how they choose to move those bills forward… I'm not looking to break [veto] records.”
The Trump White House
Coleburn: On the national perspective, with a Republican governor [Virginia] may have avoided some interactions with the federal government. When you take office, are you concerned about, maybe ICE's presence, or more of that presence here in Virginia when you take office?
Spanberger: "I think there's two elements to it. One, I think that there is a clear expectation, I would imagine, out of the Trump administration that I will disagree with them on many things, and I have been very vocal in my disagreement over DOGE and efforts to fire federal workers, the impact that's had on people, their livelihood, our economy.
"I've been very clear in the detrimental nature of the so called One Big, Beautiful bill that now my administration needs to contend with what will be a catastrophic impact of poor, bad legislation coming out of DC.
"What I have routinely said, and I'll make known to anyone in the White House, that when I was in Congress, I worked with the Trump administration, I had bills signed into law, where they are looking to do things that might be supportive of or helpful to Virginia. I'm a willing partner.
"Where they will do things that might cut down on trust, impede our economy, hurt our people, hinder public education or private business, those are places where I will clearly and vocally disagree and make the case for the people of Virginia as to why it is that I stand in stark opposition to the choices that they might be trying to impose on our Commonwealth.
Measuring Success
Coleburn: One year from now, how will you measure your success?
Spanberger: “A former governor… told me… have a whiteboard… make sure you've got it written down and… check it off… I've got a visual image of all of the lists of things that I want to deliver on.
"I think, firstly, getting the Affordable Virginia agenda bills through the legislature signed into law will be a straightforward measure of we have begun the process of endeavoring to lower costs or increase housing supply or address the challenges.
"Working among some of the executive orders that I'll be putting out requires reports back from the Secretariats on issues of affordability or issues of related to healthcare and delivering healthcare, particularly amid the challenges coming out of Washington.
"So my ability to take what we receive back from those Secretariats and act quickly to get our SNAP error rate down, which is a question of good governance, but also a question of ensuring that we can continue to provide a social safety net to those who may need it, particularly children.
"If we can fortify the way that we deliver and do the work authorizations or verifications for Medicaid, that will be certainly us being responsive to the needs of Virginians, particularly in a challenging landscape, and so I will be working furiously over the next year to be able to have both the sort of clear measures of success and bills signed into law, but also to make real progress on some of the greatest challenges I know our Commonwealth is facing.
Inauguration Morning
Coleburn: What are you doing inauguration day morning?
Spanberger: “I will be getting up to start the day a little bit faster and earlier than my daughters. So I think the first thing that will happen is, I will tiptoe into into my girls rooms, give them all a kiss on the the forehead as I start the day and and then when they're up and ready and everyone's on path over to the Capitol. I hope there's a couple moments of just quiet with with my daughters, with my husband, where I just thank them and give them a hug and get ready for what the day is going to be.”
Message to Those Who Didn’t Vote for Her
Coleburn: What do you say to those who did not vote for you?
Spanberger: “I would say that it is the greatest honor of my life to serve Virginia and Virginians as governor. I will not make everyone happy every single day, and I sometimes joke that with three teenage daughters, I'm quite comfortable with the reality that I don't make everyone happy every single day, but I want people who did not vote for me to know that I will listen to them, I will be accountable to them, and I will endeavor to do what is right.
"And so ultimately, my goal would be that when I make a decision, if someone agrees with me or they disagree with me, that they know that I have sought out the information. I'm endeavoring to make a good decision based on facts, information and principles, and that I'm endeavoring to do right by Virginia and all Virginians every single day. And so I hope to earn the respect of those along the way, and more importantly, I hope that they know that I respect them and and hope to demonstrate that through my actions.”
Legacy for Future Female Governors
Coleburn: You’re the first female governor… but you may not be the last… How do you leave a legacy?
Spanberger: “I have to work so hard, every governor does, but I will work so hard to ensure that every example I set is one of steadiness, is one of clear-eyed decision making, is one of clarity of communication, and ideally, I will leave this post in four years having done good work, having delivered as much as I possibly can for the betterment of Virginia, so that whoever runs her Governor next, whether it's in four years, 12 or 24 that that, in fact, there is a good record to stand on when, when people want to point to what was, what was done by the first woman governor, and hopefully into the future, it will become a sort of an inconsequential bit of detail.”
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