Governor Glenn Youngkin congratulated Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger in a post-election news conference Wednesday morning.
Youngkin spoke to reporters at the state capitol complex in Richmond. The outgoing governor said his office is committed to working with Spanberger's transition team. Youngkin, who could not run for a consecutive term, will leave office in January when Spanberger is sworn in.
Youngkin also thanked all those who ran for office and those who ran elections across the state.
“Once again, Virginians stood up. We ran elections. We ran them accurately and transparently and our elections teams worked around the clock for 45 days of early voting plus the Election Day. So thank you for the endless professionalism,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin said pundits will theorize about what led to the Democratic wave that swept all three statewide races and flipped 13 seats in the House of Delegates. But he also recognized the impact of the ongoing federal shutdown.
“The government shutdown is a big challenge," he told reporters. "To have it extending as the longest shutdown ever has been extraordinary.”
Abigail Spanberger will enter governor's office after her inauguration in January, but Youngkin’s job isn’t done yet. He’ll still present an outgoing budget in December, though the incoming democrat is likely to amend it.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
