Virginia governor election is too early to call as polls close, NBC News projects

Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA).

Anna Moneymaker | Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

Polls closed in Virginia, with results too early to call in the state’s elections for governor and attorney general, NBC News projected Tuesday evening.

Voters in the commonwealth are poised to pick between Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger or Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears as their next governor. The winner will succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who under is barred under Virginia law from seeking a second consecutive term.

In the attorney general’s race, Democratic nominee Jay Jones is hoping to unseat Republican incumbent Jason Miyares.

Regardless of who wins the gubernatorial race, the outcome will make history: Virginia is one of 18 states that have never had a female governor.

Polls of the governor’s race, one of just two such contests taking place the year after President Donald Trump’s election in 2024, consistently favored Spanberger.

Meanwhile, the state AG’s race between Jones and Miyares tightened to an apparent toss-up amid a major controversy.

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Jones once appeared likely to dominate over Miyares, polls showed. But Jones’ campaign came under intense fire early last month, when his 2022 texts envisioning violence against a GOP political opponent were published by National Review.

Jones repeatedly apologized for sending the texts, including during his Oct. 16 debate with Miyares.

The scandal shook up elections statewide, with Republican groups spending millions on a flurry of ads attacking Jones, NBC News reported. The texts emerged as Republicans have sought to link Democrats’ rhetoric to acts of political violence, including the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Some Virginia Democrats disavowed the texts, but few if any called on Jones to drop out of the race. Jones joined Spanberger and former President Barack Obama at a get-out-the-vote rally in Norfolk on Saturday.

Earle-Sears saw a fundraising boost as the controversy unfolded, and she sought to capitalize on the scandal in her mid-October debate versus Spanberger. But multiple polls released shortly before Election Day show Spanberger maintaining a double-digit lead over her opponent.

This is developing news. Please check back for updates.