Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears are in a neck-and-neck race for Virginia governor, according to the first Emerson College Polling/The Hill poll of the 2025 election. Spanberger leads Earle-Sears by a razor-thin margin, 42% to 41%, with 4% of voters supporting another candidate and 13% undecided, the survey found. 

With 10 months to go before the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election, the race “is tight overall, but significant demographic differences are emerging”, said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. 

Kimball noted that Earle-Sears has strong support among male voters, who favor her 52% to 37%, and white voters, who back her 50% to 35%. Spanberger, on the other hand, leads among women, 47% to 31%, as well as older voters over 70 and younger voters under 30, who support her 46% to 43% and 43% to 33%, respectively.

Both women are currently the only declared candidates for their parties in Virginia’s 2025 gubernatorial race. Earle-Sears appears poised to secure the Republican nomination after endorsements from Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares. 

On the Democratic side, however, the race could expand, as U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, has openly mused about running. Meanwhile, former GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman is considering a bid for governor or lieutenant governor as an independent candidate.

Thursday’s survey shows little change in the dynamics of the Virginia gubernatorial race since a September poll by the University of Mary Washington’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, which found Spanberger and Earle-Sears tied at 39%, reflecting a consistently tight contest as the 2025 election approaches.

The new poll further highlights significant voter dissatisfaction with the economy, as 51% of respondents feel their financial situation is worse than it was four years ago. Only 27% believe their situation has improved, and 22% feel it has stayed the same.

“Among those who feel their economic situation is worse than four years ago, 56% think the state is headed in the right direction and 56% have a favorable view of the Governor,” Kimball said. 

“Additionally, 66% of those who feel they are worse off than four years ago have an unfavorable view of President Biden, suggesting they may be blaming the president rather than Governor Youngkin for their current economic situation.”

Youngkin, who is term-limited, remains popular among Virginia voters, with a 48% favorable rating and 35% unfavorable. 

Both gubernatorial candidates are less well-known to voters: Spanberger has a 38% favorable rating and 21% unfavorable, with 24% neutral and 17% unfamiliar. Earle-Sears holds a 33% favorable rating and 22% unfavorable, while 27% are neutral and 18% unfamiliar.

Voters are evenly split on President-elect Donald Trump, with 47% holding a favorable view and 47% unfavorable. President Joe Biden fares slightly worse in Virginia, with a 43% favorable rating and 50% unfavorable.

The poll shows a majority of voters (59%) believe Virginia is headed in the right direction, while 41% think the state is on the wrong track. The economy is the top issue for Virginia voters (38%), followed by housing affordability (14%), healthcare (10%), education (8%), and threats to democracy (8%).

Additionally, 56% of voters agree that climate change could be a factor in the recent heavy snowstorms that disrupted parts of the state, while 44% disagree.

The Emerson College Polling survey, conducted Jan. 6-8, included 1,000 registered Virginia voters and has a credibility interval of +/- 3 percentage points. Data were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration and region.

Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — JJ Quinerly scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half when No. 17 West Virginia held Texas Tech to 17 points, and the Mountaineers beat the Lady Raiders 89-53 on Wednesday night.

The Mountaineers scored the first 11 points of the game and led 20-2 before settling for a 24-8 lead after one quarter with Quinerly scoring 11. Then West Virginia ended the second quarter on a 14-2 run to lead 42-17 at halftime.

West Virginia shot 54.5% and went 16 of 16 from the foul line in the first half, while the Lady Raiders shot 28% with just two free throw attempts and had 14 turnovers.

Jordan Harrison added 20 points, going 12 of 12 from the foul line, for the Mountaineers (13-2, 3-1 Big 12 Conference) and Sydney Shaw scored 19, 16 coming in the second half. Kylee Blacksten and Celia Riviere both had 10.

Bailey Maupin scored 15 points for Texas Tech (12-5, 1-3). The Lady Raiders finished with 26 turnovers and 25 fouls.

Maupin hit a 3-pointer with two minutes to go in the third quarter to give the Lady Raiders 35 points but the deficit was still 25 entering the fourth.

West Virginia opened the fourth with a 16-3 surge to lead by 38 as Texas Tech went more than five minutes without a field goal because of six turnovers.

The Mountaineers finished at 51% for the game and made 28 of 31 free throws.

West Virginia plays at Oklahoma State while No. 11 TCU visits Texas Tech on Saturday.

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A water treatment plant failure threw North America’s oldest continuous lawmaking body into crisis this week, as lawmakers were effectively shut out of the Virginia State Capitol for safety reasons.

Throughout the rest of Richmond, residents were dealing with a lack of water, and hospitals had to employ tanker trucks to provide the water needed not only to quench patients, but to provide heat and sanitization of medical implements, according to one state lawmaker.

The right-leaning group Virginia Project said the crisis may be the reason for the legislature to take an immediate interest in infrastructure funding, before offering a Confederate-era suggestion:

“Perhaps the waterless legislature should retreat to Appomattox,” a social media post from the group said, referring to the community about 100 miles southwest of the Capitol: where the Richmond-based Confederate States of America surrendered to the Union in April 1865.

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Others, like Virginia Republican Party chair Richard Anderson, placed blame on the recently-departed Democratic mayor who is now running for lieutenant governor.

“[The crisis is] a direct result of inept leadership by former Mayor Levar Stoney of Richmond–who presided over his city’s crumbling infrastructure,” Anderson said.

“Stoney as LG? Never.”

The crisis hit less than one week after the current Democratic mayor, Dr. Danny Avula, took office.

Avula, previously a pediatrician at Chippenham Hospital in neighboring Chesterfield County, said he has been hands-on since the water system first failed.

Avula said he spent much of Tuesday night at the city plant and announced Wednesday morning that some of the pumps are beginning to come back online.

“We’re starting to see that reservoir level fill up. It’s really encouraging. Right now the reservoir level is at 7ft for some context. [Our] reservoirs typically run at about 18ft.”

Avula’s work drew him bipartisan praise, including from one prominent Republican.

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Drivers are welcomed to Virginia near Lee Highway in Arlington. (Getty)

State Sen. Mark Obenshain of Harrisonburg, the Senate GOP Caucus Chair, said he’s never seen a legislative session begin in such chaos in his 21 years in the Capitol.

“Kudos to the new mayor for his tireless efforts to resolve this inherited crisis,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. 

State Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, told Fox News Digital the water outage doubly affected his work, as both the Capitol and his district office in nearby Mechanicsville both felt the effects.

McDougle said the outage’s reach has gone beyond Richmond’s limits and into Henrico and Hanover counties to the north and east. Constituents have been reaching out to his office for help.

McDougle praised Gov. Glenn Youngkin for being “extremely aggressive in trying to find solutions to the problem that was created in the city,” and offered the same for officials in suburban counties.

“[We are] trying to make sure that we’re getting water to infrastructure like hospitals, so that they can continue to treat patients and to get water available to citizens so that they can take care of their families.

“But this has been a real effort on behalf of the state government and local jurisdictions trying to assist Richmond.”

He said Avula does not deserve blame for the crisis, as he only took office days ago.

“It’s a shame this had to be on his first week,” McDougle said. 

“But we need to really investigate and get to the bottom of how [the Stoney] administration could have let this become such an acute problem that would impact so many people.”

Schools in McDougle’s district were shut down Wednesday, and the legislature was gaveled out until Monday — after concerns from leaders and staff that the fire-suppression system in the iconic Capitol could malfunction without enough water flow.

McDougle remarked that while exercising caution is wise, Virginia’s spot as the oldest continuous legislature obviously predated utilities, and that the people’s work can and should be done in whatever way possible while the Capitol is out-of-order.

Another state lawmaker put the blame at the foot of Richmond’s longtime Democratic leadership.

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Recently-departed Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney speaks on infrastructure alongside Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, D-DC, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA.

Del. Wren Williams, R-Stuart, said Richmond has been a city “plagued by systemic neglect and a lack of accountability.”

“Now, Stoney wants to be our commonwealth’s next lieutenant governor. Despite the city’s growing infrastructure needs, Democrats in Richmond allowed critical issues like water contamination and aging pipes to fester, leaving residents vulnerable to unsafe drinking water and deteriorating public health,” Williams said.

He previously proposed a bill that would have allowed state agencies to study utility upgrades and provide engineering support.

With Democrats marginally in control of the legislature and hoping to prevent Youngkin’s deputy Winsome Sears from succeeding him in November, Williams said the crisis is emblematic of Democrats’ “larger failure… in Virginia, where promises of progress and equity often ring hollow when the real work of maintaining essential services is neglected.”

Richmond businessowner Jimmy Keady echoed Williams, telling Fox News Digital the crisis isn’t just a failure of infrastructure but of past city leadership:

“For nearly 48 hours, businesses have forced to close. Residents were left without clean water, and hourly workers lost wages,” Keady said.

“The political implications are just as severe,” added Keady, who is also a political consultant.

He noted Virginia’s legislature is only in session for a few months, and referenced how lawmakers must explicitly pass resolutions to extend business beyond a term’s end date.

“By losing nearly 11% of this short session, Virginia lawmakers are losing valuable time to pass legislation that will address growing problems throughout our commonwealth, such as economic growth, rising medical costs, and — sure enough — aging infrastructure.”

Richmond’s water supply is primarily sourced by the James River.

Fox News Digital reached out to Stoney’s campaign and House Speaker Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth. Avula could not be reached.

In remarks late Wednesday, Youngkin praised public and private partners around the capital region that have helped residents deal with the lack of water, from Avula to companies like Amazon and Publix.

“The collaboration from the surrounding counties with the city of Richmond and the state resources has been truly inspiring. The counties of Hanover, Henrico and Chesterfield not only brought to bear all their expertise in emergency management, but their resources.”

“They all mobilized fire-pump trucks in order to make sure that if there was a fire emergency and there was no water available in the city, that in fact the city could react really quickly to those urgencies.”