Commentary: Abigail Spanberger is too radical for Virginia

Nowhere are Ms. Spanberger’s far-left sympathies more obvious than on the issue of border security. Last March, she voted against the Laken Riley Act, a commonsense bill that protects American citizens by requiring the Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal aliens who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting.

Thirty seven House Democrats voted in favor of the Laken Riley Act last year. Forty six House Democrats and 12 Senate Democrats voted in favor of it this year on its way to final passage. Yet Ms. Spanberger chose to side with anti-border security radicals more concerned with protecting illegal aliens from deportation than preventing violent criminals from victimizing American citizens.

Ms. Spanberger also voted against the No Bailouts for Sanctuary Cities Act — a bill that earned 12 Democrat votes in the House. As the title suggests, this bill was crafted to ensure federal funds do not go to cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities. Ms. Spanberger claims to be a strong supporter of law and order. Yet here she voted to continue sending taxpayer dollars to localities actively trying to thwart national immigration laws.

On multiple other occasions, Ms. Spanberger also had the opportunity to condemn the Biden administration’s border policies that led to bloodthirsty foreign gangs setting up shop in Virginia along with horrific crimes like the rape of a woman in Herndon, the sexual assault of a minor in Manassas, the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl in Campbell County, the brutal murder of a grandmother in Sterling, and other heinous acts. She refused every time.

Ms. Spanberger has also claimed that as governor she would “make sure every kid gets the high-quality education they deserve.” But in 2023 she voted against a resolution “condemning the use of elementary and secondary school facilities to provide shelter for aliens who are not admitted to the United States.” How can Virginia parents trust Ms. Spanberger to prioritize the education of their children when she doesn’t even have the courage to stand up and say it is wrong to use public schools to house illegal aliens?

For a glimpse into how Ms. Spanberger would manage our state’s finances, look no further than the fact that she voted for all of the Biden administration’s wasteful spending that added a jaw-dropping $7.2 trillion to our national debt and led to 20% cumulative inflation.

Virginia families simply can’t afford for Ms. Spanberger to bring Washington’s tax-and-spend insanity to Richmond. Under the leadership of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, we’ve seen multibillion-dollar budget surpluses. Virginia Republicans have worked with Democrats to return these funds to taxpayers — while still making historic investments in infrastructure and our schools. All Ms. Spanberger has to show for her time in Washington is a ballooning deficit and partisan gridlock.

Virginians concerned about violent crime also won’t find much to like in Ms. Spanberger’s voting record. In 2023, she voted to allow D.C.’s radical overhaul of its criminal code that would have lowered maximum penalties for some violent crimes and hamstrung police in their ability to keep the city’s streets safe.

That D.C. bill was so extreme, in fact, that a resolution blocking the measure passed the Democrat-controlled Senate and was signed by President Joe Biden. Ms. Spanberger refused to stand with law enforcement groups and concerned citizens then, and we can’t trust her to stand with them now.

Ms. Spanberger’s stance on the Second Amendment is equally concerning. Instead of focusing on gun crimes and keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals, Ms. Spanberger has instead supported measures that primarily target responsible gun owners. She has made clear that, as governor, she would see our commonwealth become just as hostile toward gun owners and concealed carry rights as liberal bastions like California and New York.

Even while she wasn’t voting to advance their priorities in Congress, Ms. Spanberger has spent her career in Washington cozying up to the most-far left figures in the Democrat Party. Along with voting with Joe Biden 100% of the time, Ms. Spanberger accepted campaign cash from New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, widely regarded as one of the most extreme left-wing members of the party.

When she was at home in her Virginia swing district, Ms. Spanberger talked like a moderate, promising to work across the aisle and deliver bipartisan solutions. But while she was in Washington, she revealed her true colors by voting and hobnobbing with progressive elites.

If Virginians elect Ms. Spanberger this November, they’ll get more of the same — reasonable-sounding proposals followed by hard left actions and legislation. The stakes are simply too high for voters to entrust the future of our commonwealth to a dyed-in-the-wool progressive partisan like Abigail Spanberger.

Rich Anderson is the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. Contact Anderson at comms@virginia.gop.