FALLS CHURCH, Virginia — Virginia Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner urged voters in northern Virginia to send a message not just to Washington but to the entire nation by electing Abigail Spanberger as the next governor of the Commonwealth during a Sunday evening campaign rally.
Both senators were also former Virginia governors before they joined Congress. In their joint appearance with Spanberger, a former Democratic representative, they emphasized that Democrats are running on a campaign of affordability, jobs, and education as a counter to President Donald Trump‘s second administration.
“In these three key issues in the campaign, the contrast could not be clearer. And that’s why we have to send a message,” Kaine told a crowd of supporters at the State Theatre. “Let’s not send a soft message. Let’s send a big, loud message with a big margin.”
“Let me tell you something. It’s not just Virginians watching this race, because the nation and even the world, they want to see some hope out of the United States right now,” he continued.
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Warner, who has known Kaine for 45 years dating back to their Harvard Law School days, claimed that Trump’s second tenure has been “the hardest in our life in public service.”
“I think President Obama said this with Abigail yesterday, we knew Trump two was going to be bad, but in your wildest dreams, could you ever expect so many boundaries, laws, norms broken?” Warner asked the crowd.
The day before in Norfolk, Virginia, former President Barack Obama blasted Trump over his efforts to slash the federal workforce, reshape the Justice Department, decrease illegal immigration, and deploy the National Guard to Democrat-led cities during a campaign rally with Spanberger.
“It’s like every day is Halloween, except it’s all tricks and no treats,” Obama said. “And here’s the thing, it is not as if we didn’t see some of this coming. I will admit it is worse than even I expected, but I did warn you all. I did. You can run the tape.”
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The Virginia race is widely seen as referendum on Trump’s White House and a political bellwether ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Spanberger has consistently led the gubernatorial race against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and heads into Tuesday’s election with momentum behind her campaign, which she reiterated on Sunday.
“I am excited about what it will mean when we win on Tuesday,” she told the crowd. “Because on Tuesday, we are going to send a message. We are going to send a message that Virginia is turning the page, that Virginia is once again ready to set an example, and we are going to set an example for the rest of the country.”
In a similar move to Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), who is term-limited, a win for Spanberger on Tuesday could begin questions about a presidential run in 2028.
As Spanberger spoke on Sunday, an audience member shouted, “Abigail for president.”
