It Starts With Virginia 2025
- State Fair
- 4 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Two years ago State Fair supported the Virginia elections with incredible results, defending the Senate and earning a new majority in the House. Now, we are back to the work as once again those off year elections loom!
Virginia remains a bellwether state for what lies ahead, particularly for the 2026 mid terms. This year, all 100 House seats are up for election with the current make up in the chambers at 51 Democrat to 49 Republican. Virginia also has a Governor race, with Democrat Abigail Spanberger performing strong. A House majority increase and Democratic governor would set the tone for 2026 and place Virginia in the best position to fend off right wing extremist policy, opening the door to improved legislation and send a message to the rest of the country that people do not support the MAGA agenda. This would also create the 16th pro-democratic trifecta, the ideal scenario to help with fundamentals, such as: education; reforming board members; healthcare; food for kids; and increasing governing power overall.
We are encouraged by some notable successes in Virginia since January, such as:
Kannan Srinivasan Senate of Virginia (32nd District)
JJ Singh House of Delegates (26th District)
James R. Walkinshaw House of Representatives (11th District)
We are also seeing strong polling for Abigail Spanberger for Governor and Ghazala F. Hashmi for Lieutenant Governor. Though Attorney General candidate Jay Jones' campaign was recently struck with scandal, he partook in a successful debate with his opponent and is being hailed by Virginia based advocacy groups as a proponent of reproductive rights.
Our super giving circle leader J often says that The States Project is a secret weapon, but you might also say Virginia is a secret weapon (or not so secret!). All eyes have been on Virginia for good reason, as it represents the most Southern state with the least restrictive abortion access, something we helped defend in 2023 with the candidates elected as a result of this strategic and effective work. These representatives also helped pass policies such as free childcare for low-income families, expanded monitoring for clean drinking water and impletmented protections from menstrual data misuse.
All this can be achieved by the slimmest of margins, so we know how important all the hard work and donations are that members of our giving circle put in. So far we have doubled the donations raised for Virginia in 2023 and are on our way to reaching our $200,000 goal.
These donations are crucial in fueling campaigns, ensuring candidates and their teams are supported and able to carry out key electoral work, such as door knocking, ad testing and local press. The States Project have reported back some impressive statistics for candidates participating in door knocking, which has allowed for reaching and engaging Virginians in specific conversations, discussing local issues and connecting with potential voters - even those right leaning!
Through ad testing, they have found that voters like policy and key issues range from: reproductive healthcare; voting rights; marriage equality; and fighting the right wing agenda, having encountered many who have been impacted by DOGE and a reduction in daycare/child care availability.
Local press meanwhile has shown candidates with more press overperform in elections.
No doubt you have often felt hopeless and exhausted from all the noise at the top, but take comfort in the power of the states and elections lower down the ballot.
We remain cautiously optimistic and know nothing can be taken for granted, but with numerous organisations also invested heavily in Virginia this year (such as Progressive Turnout Project; Virginia Grassroots; and Swing Left), let this be the start of the fight back and a restoring of political energy.
You can read more about The States Project's plan for Virginia here: https://statesproject.org/state/virginia/
Can you take part in supporting Virginia in these last few weeks before the elections? Find volunteering opportunities here:
You can also support this work by making a donation to our giving circle (you will be automatically added as a member when making a donation):
If you're not yet a member, you can join at the following:
