Best of 2025: Elections
The 2025 elections may well go down as monumental. A Democratic wave washed over the region and state, giving Spanberger an overwhelming victory. But in Spotsylvania, an Old Guard holds on.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Every election is consequential. The 2025 local and statewide elections may well be remembered as monumental.
Abigail Spanberger ran away with the governor’s race in 2025, winning by a double-digit margin — rare in a state that is often considered “purple.” Stephen Farnsworth, a nationally recognized political observer and a professor at the University of Mary Washington, wrote in the Advance that the victory was the result of so-called second-wave suburbanization. “Spanberger gained ground everywhere when compared to the last gubernatorial election,” Farnsworth wrote. “But only a few jurisdictions in Virginia — including Henrico and Chesterfield counties in the Richmond area and Isle of Wight County in Hampton Roads — showed increases for the Democratic candidate comparable to the two counties that surround Fredericksburg.”
The Advance also featured early in the race an interview with Democratic candidate for Attorney General and eventual winner, Jay Jones, who later became embroiled in a scandal over threatening text messages he sent years earlier. We also scored an interview with his opponent, Jason Miyares.
Locally, the races were defined by a wave of next-generation candidates who look to make significant changes to the Board of Supervisors in Stafford County, where Democrats now hold a majority, and in Fredericksburg, where two new City Council members will strengthen the city’s progressive agenda. The School Board in Stafford will be in the hands of Democratic-backed candidates this year, likely ensuring that the parents-rights push that has roiled Spotsylvania is unlikely to be an issue in Stafford for the next two years. And the Fredericksburg City School Board saw the election of two new Board members who are likely to demand significant change from the schools’ leadership in 2026.
Another story by the Advance regarding the elections in Stafford, FROM THE EDITOR: The Nation Should Turn Its Eye to Stafford County, Virginia, was picked up nationally by The Contrarian.
In Spotsylvania, the outcomes were more muddied. While Spanberger made huge gains in the county, an Old Guard (David Goosman, Chris Yakabouski, Lori hayes, and Jacob Lane) that favors preserving the county’s rural quality and is skeptical of growth gains hold of the majority on the Board of Supervisors. The Old Guard won out when Yakabouski squeaked by Baron Braswell to hold on to his seat, and David Goosman upset Kevin Marshall, who has led an unprecedented period of economic expansion in the county. With the addition of Goosman to the Board, the future of by-right data center development in the county may be in jeopardy. The School Board remains in the hands of pro-public-school Board members. There is less clarity about the agendas driving the three new Board members, meaning the School Board in Spotsylvania will be one to watch.
One story stood above all of these, however. It captured both the intensity of the elections locally and across the state, and the disturbing rise in violent speech. Our No. 1 Story of the Year in Elections:
Threats against School Board, Combative Signage Raise Tensions
By Martin Davis and Adele Uphaus
A spate of violent language has captured the headlines across the state and nation over the past two weeks. This week, that language landed in Spotsylvania.
Read the Full Story
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