Conservatives rip Virginia governor's 'moderate' label after radical laundry list of Day 1 moves

Newly sworn-in Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger wasted no time implementing her party's priorities and getting rid of Republicans' now that she is the head honcho in Virginia.

A long list of moves by Spanberger and Virginia Democrats, who now have a trifecta in the state with control of the governor's office and both branches of the state legislature, were criticized by Republicans, several of whom chastised Spanberger for campaigning as a moderate but then ushering in radical policies. 

"Screw any and all of you who lied to low-information voters and sold Abigail Spanberger as some kind of moderate," complained Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain. "She's been in office like 6 hours and is already trying to turn Virginia into Minneapolis."

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"But but but… I'm old enough to remember 'moderate' candidate Spanberger who ran ads talking about crime, touting her law enforcement experience with her retired cop father," former NRCC executive director Rob Simms posted on X. "She's a fraud, has always been a fraud, will always be a fraud."

Fox News host Mark Levin took to X to say that Spanberger "lied through her teeth" on the campaign trail about her "moderate" positions and said she has been "moving at high speed to permanently radicalize and change the state."

"Abigail Spanberger is no moderate. Sick stuff," James Laverty, the communications director for Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said on X.

Among her campaign promises, Spanberger pledged to rescind former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's executive order requiring Virginia law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration officials. On Saturday, shortly after being sworn in, she followed through by repealing the order while signing 10 new executive actions.

"State and local law enforcement should not be required to divert their limited resources to enforce federal, civil immigration laws - it is the responsibility of federal law enforcement," Spanberger said as she signed her Day 1 directive. "Virginia state and local law enforcement officers must be able to focus on their core responsibilities : investigating crime and community policing."

In addition to Spanberger's Day 1 executive orders, Democrats in the legislature also took advantage of their new power by introducing amendments to end mandatory minimum sentences for various crimes in the state. According to Jason Miyares, the outgoing Republican attorney general, those bills included a proposal to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing for rape, manslaughter, assaulting a law enforcement officer, possession and distribution of child pornography, and other repeat violent felonies. Democrats also removed the mandatory minimum five-day sentence for first time DUI offenders in the state.

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Despite Virginia Democrats running on an affordability message in 2025, they were quick to raise taxes, according to critics. Among the bills they introduced was one that would raise the state's tax rate on residents' investments; another that would extend the retail sales tax to include several service industries previously not taxed, such as dry cleaning, landscaping, animal care, cosmetic services and gym memberships; one that would impose a tax on every delivery in Northern Virginia, ranging from Amazon to UPS; and an 11% tax on Virginia firearms.

"Virginia Democrats appear to be replicating the model of California in chasing away businesses and high-income households," lamented Jonathan Turley, Fox News Media contributor and Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University.

Another controversial measure pushed by Democrats amid their new power is a bill aimed at requiring government contracts under $100,000 go to minority and women-owned businesses, leading some critics to argue the move is discriminatory against White men. The bill in question directs the executive branch in Virginia to set a target goal of picking business based on DEI criteria for at least 42% of its contracts, while also allocating a certain portion of its contracts under $100,000 "be set aside for award to certified" DEI businesses.

The last step in a series of actions needed to take place to enshrine abortion rights in Virginia's state Constitution was also just passed by the Democratic Party-led state Senate. If approved by voters in November, the constitutional amendment would permit abortion in the first and second trimesters, while letting Virginia regulate abortion in the third trimester for various reasons. The latest push has led pro-life critics to fear the new law would permit abortion up to birth and interfere with parental rights when it comes to minors. 

"What you will hear… is that all we're doing is solidifying Roe vs. Wade, and they're going to say the alternative would be a full ban on abortion in Virginia," said Victoria Cobb, Family Foundation of Virginia president. However, Cobb argued this is not the case.

"When a young girl considers an abortion, her parent would have to be involved, this amendment would essentially override that," she continued. "Same thing with late-term abortion, when we, right now, in Virginia, already have a situation where someone can get a late-term abortion, but, it has to be three doctors that sign off that in fact this is either the child is non-viable, or as they might say, 'There is a need,' we wouldn't say that exists - for women's health - that's how it can happen today. But after this amendment passes, you'll have a situation where the only person making that decision about whether an abortion is allowed at the very latest moments, is the abortionist, the one who profits from the procedure."

Other notable mentions include a bill to end hand counting of ballots that can be read by a scanner, a bill to regulate "gas-powered leaf blowers" and other electric landscaping equipment, and a constitutional redistricting amendment that some critics say would put Democrats at a 10-1 advantage. The state's new attorney general, Democrat Jay Jones, also said his office would withdraw his Republican predecessor's opinion that undocumented immigrants don't have a right to in-state tuition at the state's universities.

"Virginia's proposed redistricting amendment is a response to what we're seeing in other states that have taken extreme measures to undermine democratic norms," Spanberger said during remarks to a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly. 

Meanwhile, shortly after being sworn in, Spanberger announced Virginia would rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative - a move she said would lower costs, but that Republicans have argued will increase them.

"For me, this is about cost savings. RGGI generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Virginia - dollars that went directly to flood mitigation, energy efficiency programs, and lowering bills for families who need help most," Spanberger added during her address. "Withdrawing from RGGI did not lower energy costs. In fact, the opposite happened - it just took money out of Virginia's pocket. It is time to fix that mistake."