ROANOKE, Va. – Democratic gubernatorial candidate and current US Representative, Abigail Spanberger made a campaign stop in Roanoke.
Representative Spanberger was at Sweet Donkey Coffee on Sunday afternoon saying she wants women to have access to more reproductive rights.
Spanberger said if elected as governor, her first priority would be to address the challenges within the educational system.
“The issues related to recruiting and retaining teachers and the real need with support within our public school systems for our educators but most importantly our kids. I’m a mom of 3 school-aged children, so this is deeply personal to me,” Spanberger said.
As of now, the only other Democratic gubernatorial candidate is Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
We reached out to his campaign team who gave the following statement:
As Mayor of Richmond, Levar Stoney turned around a City that was chronically broken - and now poverty rates are down 22%, school funding is up and the City has a budget surplus. Now he’s running for Governor on a promise to make sure every Virginian has a fair shot at success, with stronger schools and more economic opportunities, the same shot he got despite growing up in a working poor family. In the Governor’s race, Mayor Stoney already has support from all corners of the Commonwealth - including from former Gov. McAuliffe, Senate President Louise Lucas and locally in Roanoke, from former House Majority Leader Dick Cranwell and Mayor Sherman Lea.
As for Republican candidates, Merle Rutledge is the only Republican so far running for 2025 Virginia Governor, according to Balletpedia.