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Northam endorses Spanberger in run for governor [1]
['Michael Martz Richmond Times-Dispatch', 'Michael Martz', 'Shaban Athuman', 'Bob Brown Times-Dispatch', 'Photos Bob Brown Times-Dispatch']
Date: 2023-11
Former Gov. Ralph Northam is endorsing Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, in her bid for the 2025 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, giving the three-term congresswoman a high-profile supporter from the Hampton Roads area.
Northam, who led Virginia through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic to both cheers and jeers, is the second prominent Democratic elected official to endorse Spanberger since she announced her campaign Monday morning. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-10th, who was first elected to Congress the same year as Spanberger but is retiring at the end of her term, endorsed her fellow congresswoman Tuesday.
“As governor, I saw Abigail’s incredible commitment to the Seventh District of Virginia and Virginia as a whole,” Northam said in announcing his endorsement Wednesday morning. “I saw an effective leader, and I saw someone who never stopped working to deliver results.”
Northam’s endorsement could help Spanberger in a highly populated region of Virginia where she has less name recognition than in the Richmond area and Northern Virginia, parts of which she has represented in two radically different versions of the same congressional district.
He also helped her by not endorsing her principal rival for the Democratic nomination, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who served as secretary of the commonwealth in the administration of Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Northam served in the McAuliffe administration as lieutenant governor after running with McAuliffe in 2013 on a statewide ticket that also included Mark Herring, who became attorney general. McAuliffe was governor from 2014 to 2018, Northam from 2018 to 2022.
Prominent contenders for the Republican nomination could include Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Earlier this week, Northam endorsed former House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, who is seeking election to Congress to succeed Wexton, rather than challenging Spanberger and Stoney for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
“Abigail is a very impressive listener,” Northam said Wednesday. “And because she truly listens to our neighbors, Abigail will remain focused on the issues that matter most — creating jobs, investing in our schools, lowering drug prices, protecting our natural resources, defending the rights of all Virginians and returning Virginia to being the number one state for business.”
Spanberger praised Northam, a pediatric neurologist from Norfolk who also served in the Virginia Senate for six years, as “a man who has dedicated his life to serving Virginia and putting others first.”
She was serving her first term in Congress, representing a district that included parts of Henrico and Chesterfield counties, when the pandemic began in March, 2020, prompting Northam to close schools and sharply restrict public gatherings to avoid transmission of the deadly coronavirus.
“As governor, he guided Virginia through moments of unprecedented crisis and through moments of tremendous opportunity,” Spanberger said.
“Under his leadership, Virginia saw real, tangible progress, including expanding Medicaid, signing new gun violence prevention laws, prioritizing rural development and protecting voting rights,” she said.
Northam’s term as governor was tumultuous. He began with a political triumph that had eluded McAuliffe — expanding the state’s Medicaid program to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Virginians, most of them parents and childless adults. He also won a golden economic development prize with Amazon choosing Arlington County for its multibillion-dollar East Coast headquarters and twice led Virginia to being named best state for business by CNBC cable network.
His governorship almost came to an abrupt end in February 2019, when a photograph surfaced of one person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan outfit on Northam’s page of the Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. Northam initially apologized, then disavowed being in the picture or being aware of its existence. He survived calls by other Democratic officials, including McAuliffe, for him to resign and dedicated the rest of his term to addressing longstanding issues of racial inequity in Virginia.
Northam recovered politically to help Democrats win control of both chambers of the General Assembly in late 2019, setting the stage for passage of a flood of Democratic legislation — on criminal justice and public safety, education, transportation, health care and other party priorities.
He then faced two new challenges — the COVID-19 public health emergency and the sometimes violent public protests that erupted after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Northam closed schools and imposed significant restrictions on public activities, which led to a backlash among Republicans who objected to what they considered unconstitutional limits on their individual freedom.
Northam also supported efforts to remove Confederate statues from public spaces in Richmond, including the state-owned site of the monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond.
Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated McAuliffe for governor in 2021, asserting that Virginia had closed schools unnecessarily for too long and that it lagged other, more lenient states in recovering jobs lost in the pandemic. Youngkin, after winning the race, praised Northam’s civility and heart, but continued to castigate many of the policies Northam had signed into law.
Spanberger cast Northam in a much more positive light.
“His achievements moved Virginia forward, and his spirit of service continues to inspire leaders throughout our commonwealth,” she said.
PHOTOS: Gov. Northam gives final State of the Commonwealth address
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[1] Url:
https://richmond.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/abigail-spanberger-ralph-northam-virginia-governor/article_f2f97b5c-831d-11ee-b163-335d1a65d369.html
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