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 every county and city shifted toward Democrats compared with 2021. 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 he would join seven federal lawsuits on his first day in office, January 17, 2026.

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

Jones also reversed his predecessor’s position on Virginia Beach city council representation and withdrew the previous AG’s position in a federal lawsuit against Virginia’s in-state tuition law for undocumented students, promising to defend the law.

The previous AG, Jason Miyares, told VCU and UVA Health in January 2025 to stop gender-affirming care for patients under 19. In June 2025 he agreed to a consent decree under which the state will not discipline counselors for talk conversion therapy, and in November 2025 he led a 21-state brief arguing that Title IX does not require the Fairfax and Arlington school boards’ bathroom and locker room policies for transgender students.

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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 removed from 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. It directs state agencies to write guidance for employees who encounter federal immigration enforcement at courthouses, polling places, health care facilities and public schools. She had already ordered state law enforcement to exit federal 287(g) immigration agreements in February.

Spanberger also signed HB 1482 and SB 352, which bar all law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from wearing face coverings on duty, with exceptions. She vetoed SB 351 and HB 650, which would have barred immigration arrests in protected places such as courthouses, polling stations and schools without a judicial warrant.

Spanberger said federal agents wearing masks during enforcement operations in other states led to confusion and fear, and she cited the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota. The new face-covering law applies to federal officers operating in Virginia.

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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. On February 6, 2026, Spanberger signed bills sending all four to voters. The redistricting amendment passed in an April 21 special election, then the Supreme Court of Virginia struck it down. The other three are on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The reproductive rights amendment faces court challenges but remains on the ballot.

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). 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 minimum wage rises to $13.75 on January 1, 2027 and $15 on January 1, 2028.

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What You Can Do in Virginia

1. Learn the three amendment questions. Reproductive rights, marriage equality, and voting-rights restoration will be on the November 2026 ballot. Read the ballot language on the Department of Elections site before you vote on November 3.

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.