A woman has never served as Virginia’s governor. Just one has ever led New Jersey.
Come November, both states may elect women to their top executive jobs, when the Virginia and New Jersey contests will receive outsize national attention ahead of the broader 2026 campaign for control of most statehouses and Congress.
In Virginia, ex-Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) are the likely nominees. Spanberger has led in most early polling over Earle-Sears, who would also be the first Black woman elected governor of any state. In New Jersey, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D), the only woman ...