Virginia

Virginia’s 2025 elections gave Democrats the governor’s office, attorney general, lieutenant governor, and a 64-36 House of Delegates majority. Governor Abigail Spanberger won by 15 points and the largest raw vote margin in state history. That mandate is already being tested by federal job losses, benefit cuts, and immigration raids.

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Federal lawsuits

Attorney General Jay Jones announced seven federal lawsuits on his first day in office, January 17, 2026. No warm-up period. No quiet transition.

The suits target dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, illegal firing of 10,000 HHS workers, and a new rule stripping Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility. Other cases challenge USDA guidance that kicked lawful permanent residents off SNAP and efforts to block Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood.

Jones also reversed his predecessor’s position on Virginia Beach city council representation and restored in-state tuition for immigrant and undocumented students that the previous AG had bargained away.

Target	What Jones challenged
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau	Joined multistate suit against dismantling
HHS workforce	Challenged illegal firing of 10,000 workers
Department of Education	Challenged dismantling and subsequent firings
Public Service Loan Forgiveness	Moved to block rule stripping eligibility
SNAP eligibility	Challenged USDA guidance restricting lawful permanent residents
Planned Parenthood	Sought to join cases protecting Medicaid reimbursements
Election interference	Joined fight against Trump executive orders targeting elections

The previous AG, Jason Miyares, spent his final weeks ordering VCU and UVA Health to stop gender-affirming care for patients under 19, entering a consent decree to not enforce the conversion therapy ban, and leading a multistate effort against gender identity protections in Title IX. Jones inherited an AG’s office that had been pointed at Virginians instead of defending them.

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Federal workforce

Virginia lost 23,500 civilian federal jobs in 2025. In a state where the federal workforce anchors entire regional economies from Northern Virginia to Hampton Roads, that number hits housing markets, school enrollments, and local tax bases all at once.

100,913 Virginians kicked off SNAP between July 2025 and January 2026

Medicaid enrollment dropped by 365,719 people compared to 2023. Starting January 2027, Medicaid expansion enrollees must prove 80 hours per month of work, education, or community service or lose coverage. That paperwork burden will knock more people off the rolls even when they qualify.

Senator Tim Kaine pointed out that $1 billion diverted to Trump’s ballroom could instead help Virginians, and criticized the $1.5 trillion military budget request paired with deep domestic cuts. The Trump budget is expected to cost Virginia hundreds of millions in the next state budget cycle.

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Immigration

Governor Spanberger signed Executive Order 16 in May 2026, restricting ICE activity on state property including schools, hospitals, courthouses, and polling places. She had already ordered state law enforcement to exit federal 287(g) immigration agreements in February.

Spanberger also signed HB 1482 and SB 352 to back up the executive order with legislative authority. The laws limit how state and local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration operations.

Spanberger called out a specific failure. Federal agents wearing masks during enforcement operations in other states led to confusion, fear, and the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota. Virginia’s order requires accountability and identification from federal officers operating on state property.

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Public schools

Virginia school systems removed 223 book titles from library shelves between 2020 and 2025. Seventy-five percent of those removals were concentrated in just five school divisions. Hanover County alone pulled 125 titles.

A JLARC study found the majority of removals came from school systems incorrectly applying Youngkin’s 2022 book challenge law. The law did not require most of those removals. School administrators misread it, and students lost access to books they had a right to read.

$50 million+ in federal grants at risk for five Northern Virginia districts that refused to roll back transgender student protections

The Trump administration placed Fairfax County, Arlington, Alexandria, Prince William, and Loudoun on “high-risk status” in August 2025. Those districts refused to ban trans students from bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity. The federal Department of Education says the policies violate Title IX. The districts are now required to pay expenses upfront and request reimbursement, a financial squeeze designed to force compliance.

Youngkin’s administration had already issued model policies allowing teachers to misgender trans students, prohibiting different names or pronouns without written parental permission, and barring trans students from sports teams matching their gender identity. The new state leadership has not yet reversed those model policies.

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Constitutional amendments

House Democrats advanced four constitutional amendments on the first day of the 2026 session. Spanberger signed bills sending three of them toward November 2026 ballots after the state Supreme Court struck down the redistricting measure.

The amendments cover reproductive rights (abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, pregnancy-related care), marriage equality (removing Virginia’s defunct same-sex marriage ban), and voting-rights restoration (automatic restoration after completing a felony sentence). These are not symbolic. If voters pass them, future governors and legislatures cannot undo the protections without another constitutional amendment.

Virginia is the only state that completely prohibits consecutive gubernatorial terms. That means every four years, political control can shift. Constitutional protections are the only way to lock in rights that survive the next governor.

Spanberger also signed laws raising the minimum wage to $15/hour and banning ghost guns. The legislative session showed what a 64-36 majority can do. The amendments test whether voters will make the results permanent.

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Protect yourself right now

1. Learn the three amendment questions. Reproductive rights, marriage equality, and voting-rights restoration will be on the November 2026 ballot. Read the actual ballot language before the campaign noise starts.

2. Verify your registration. Use the Virginia Department of Elections voter portal and confirm your address, polling place, and ID requirements.

3. Check your SNAP and Medicaid status. If you receive benefits, keep your contact information current and respond to every renewal notice. Missed paperwork is the fastest way to lose coverage.

4. Contact your school board about book access and trans student policies. Ask whether your district correctly applied the 2022 law and whether Youngkin-era model policies on trans students have been updated.

5. Tell your state legislators to fund the mandate. The $15 minimum wage, ghost gun ban, and immigration protections all need enforcement funding. Laws without budgets are press releases.