Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger took office by pitching herself as a pragmatic, middle-of-the-road Democrat. Now, she’s clashing with members of her own party.
Those disagreements are spilling out into public fights over policy and priorities.
“Democrats control the legislature in Virginia 鈥� So when they passed a bunch of bills earlier this year during the legislative session, and their fellow Democrat (Spanberger) is in the Executive Mansion, they expected that most of them would be enacted,” Gregory Schneider, who covers Virginia for The Washington Post, told 麻豆官网.
“Instead, Spanberger issued 40-some vetoes of their legislation, and that rubbed some of the Democrats the wrong way.”
Among the bills Spanberger rejected were Democratic priorities involving collective bargaining rights for public employees and the creation of a retail cannabis market. Schneider said she urged lawmakers to try again on some of those issues, while approving other Democratic-backed measures.
But the vetoes have highlighted a broader divide between Spanberger, who ran as a moderate, and a legislature where some newer Democrats are pushing more progressive priorities.
鈥淪he served three terms in Congress and was regularly cited as the most bipartisan member of Congress, and pledged to keep up that behavior once she became governor,鈥� Schneider said.
At the same time, Democrats have expanded their majority in the House of Delegates.
鈥淎 lot of the new ones who have come in are to the left of Gov. Spanberger,鈥� Schneider said. 鈥淭heir priorities are a little more aggressively what you鈥檇 call progressive than what the governor鈥檚 are. So you鈥檙e seeing a little bit of a split.鈥�
That split is now playing into a high-stakes budget fight.
Schneider said Senate Democrats want to end a tax exemption for data centers and use the money for other priorities. Spanberger and some House leaders oppose that move, arguing it would break promises made to businesses and hurt economic development.
If lawmakers and the governor do not agree on a two-year budget by the end of June, Virginia could face a partial government shutdown.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 never happened in Virginia and you wouldn鈥檛 expect it to happen when you have unified government,鈥� Schneider said.
鈥淚f they don鈥檛 resolve it by the end of the month, you鈥檒l see a shutdown like we haven鈥檛 seen in modern memory in Virginia.鈥�
Spanberger has defended her approach as consistent with her campaign pledge to focus on practical issues. Schneider said her team also describes her as a detail-oriented policy wonk who wants legislation fixed before it becomes law.
鈥淲hen she looks at these pieces of legislation, if she sees flaws in them, she wants to fix them,鈥� Schneider said.
That approach differs from the way Richmond often operates, where lawmakers may pass bills and clean up technical problems in a later session.
鈥淪panberger has a bit more of a perfectionist approach,鈥� Schneider said. 鈥淪he wants to get it right the first time.鈥�
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