Former Virginia congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D.) secured victory over lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R.) in the Old Dominion’s gubernatorial race. The result, though expected, came at a cost for Spanberger, who struggled to answer questions on transgender issues and faced criticism late in the race for standing by her party's disgraced attorney general nominee, Jay Jones. Earle-Sears trailed Spanberger by 9.2 points with 34 percent of the vote reported when the Associated Press