Despite campaigning as a moderate, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has unleashed a flurry of leftism on her state by rescinding former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s policies, hindering immigration enforcement, and injecting affirmative action into government hiring processes.
On her first day in office, the former congresswoman signed a batch of 10 executive orders covering a range of progressive goals with a focus on diversity.
Executive Order 4, on the quality of public education, explicitly mentions providing policies and regulations aimed at “preventing discrimination for all students, including historically marginalized students.”
Spanberger notoriously offered a “word salad” response when asked about transgender-identified males being allowed in girls’ school bathrooms and sports on the campaign trail, refusing to directly answer the question.
EO 4 also demanded efforts to “address contributing factors to disparities in outcomes” in the education system, with an emphasis on rooting out “discriminatory policies, resource inequities and opportunity gaps, and other factors.”
Spanberger’s EO 9, an “equal opportunity” directive, instructs state agencies to take “affirmative measures … to emphasize the recruitment of qualified minorities, women, disabled persons, and older Virginians to serve at all levels of state government.”
The text of the order states that the policy “specifically prohibits discrimination” on the basis of “gender identity or expression.”
The new governor, who the New York Times calls a “centrist” and “moderate,” also rescinded Youngkin’s EO 47, which deputized state law enforcement to assist the Trump administration with federal immigration enforcement.
“Dangerous illegal immigrants should not be let back into our communities to assault, rape and murder,” the Republican governor said when announcing the mandate last year. “They should be sent back to where they came from.”
Spanberger got rid of that, writing that “the Commonwealth should prioritize the safety and security of all residents in Virginia.”
Just this month, she issued another EO stating that Virginia “does not engage in fear-based policing” or “enforcement theater,” and should focus on upholding state law rather than the “administrative enforcement of civil status.”
In another February move, Spanberger signed the pro-abortion “Right to Reproductive Freedom Act” to the November ballot.
She also endorsed multiple tax hikes on Virginians in the beginning of her tenure, including rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and creating a statewide paid family and medical leave program that increases childcare subsidies.
“And yes, Virginia — at long last, raise our minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour,” she added in her first joint address to the state assembly.
Since being selected by fellow Democrats to deliver the party’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next Tuesday, Spanberger has received some laughter from conservatives on social media.
Former Breitbart News senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak joked that Trump himself may have been the one to select Spanberger to give a response:
“Did Trump get to pick which Democrat gives the response to the State of the Union? Abigail Spanberger is Trump’s Exhibit A in showing What Happens When You Elect a ‘Moderate’ Democrat,” he wrote. “She’s raising every possible tax, and gerrymandering her state 10-to-1.”
“Wonder if she’ll talk about the 50 new taxes she and her fellow Democrats want to soak Virginia taxpayers with,” mused radio personality Bo Snerdley:
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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