A rising star among Democratic Party moderates, Virginia’s first woman governor Abigail Spanberger was elected the same night last November as Democratic Socialist New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani. In a wide-ranging interview with François Picard, Spanberger outlines a pragmatic vision of politics rooted in coalition building, institutional trust, and solving voters’ everyday concerns through practical governance rather than ideological confrontation. Asked whether Germany’s chancellor is right to worry about US election meddling in upcoming regional elections where the far-right AfD leads, Spanberger says: “As a proud American, the fact that the question is a relevant one, I find distressing.” She nonetheless insists that Russia, China, and Iran remain greater potential threats to European elections and asserts that the US must rise up and “live and abide by our democratic values.”
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger in Paris: ‘There’s no single blueprint for Democratic Party’
