Police Union That Endorsed Glenn Youngkin for Virginia Governor in 2021 Splits Ticket to Back Democrat

AP Photo, File (U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, left, and Republican Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, right)

Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) picked up another advantage over her GOP opponent in the battle to be Virginia’s next governor, scoring the endorsement of a police union that has backed a straight Republican statewide ticket for nearly fifteen years, including supporting current Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin for the gig in 2021.

Spanberger has been consistently trouncing Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears on the campaign trail, leading her in the polls by double digits for months and doubling her fundraising — not to mention ending the last quarter with almost triple Earle-Sears’ cash on hand. Virginia Republicans are viewing Earle-Sears’ hopes this November as so dire, with some even attacking her “clown car” campaign on the record with reporters, worried her problems will drag down the rest of the Republican ticket.

Youngkin, who is barred from running again by the state constitution, scored the endorsement of the Virginia Police Benevolent Association when he first ran in 2021, along with Earle-Sears as his running mate.

This year, however, the VAPBA gave the nod to Spanberger, as reported by Axios’ Andrew Solender.

The press release announcing the endorsement read:

RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Police Benevolent Association (VAPBA) — the largest police representative organization in Virginia — today announced its endorsement of Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger to serve as the next Governor of Virginia. VAPBA cited Spanberger’s strong, bipartisan record of supporting law enforcement and demonstrated commitment to working with communities and law enforcement to keep the Commonwealth safe. Spanberger sat down with VAPBA representatives last week to discuss the issues that matter most for Virginia public safety. In 2021, Winsome Earle-Sears received VAPBA’s endorsement to serve as Lieutenant Governor.

“Abigail Spanberger grew up in a law enforcement family and is a former federal law enforcement officer herself, so she understands the responsibility of putting on the badge. As a Member of Congress, she repeatedly voted to increase funding for local police departments and sheriff’s offices – and she was relentless in pushing her bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act across the finish line to secure the earned benefits of thousands of Virginia’s retired police officers. Abigail has a deep, expert-level knowledge of the unique challenges facing Virginia’s law enforcement officers, and she is a leader who shares our goal of building trust across our communities and working towards a safer, stronger Commonwealth. The VAPBA Board of Directors is proud to publicly endorse Abigail Spanberger for Governor of Virginia,” said Joe Woloszyn, Virginia Police Benevolent Association President.

Spanberger shared the endorsement on social media, writing that she was “honored” to have the VAPBA’s support and vowing, “as Governor, I will always make sure our brave men and women in blue have the tools, resources, and training they need to do their jobs and keep us safe.”

The VAPBA’s other two statewide endorsements went to Republicans, lieutenant governor candidate John Reid and Attorney General Jason Miyares, the incumbent, reported The Washington Post. In Virginia, the governor and lieutenant governor candidates run on their own separate tickets, allowing groups issuing endorsements — and voters — to split their tickets.

Spanberger’s history of taking more moderate positions and chastising her fellow Democrats who supported “defund the police” positions undoubtedly helped her win over the VAPBA, and the endorsement also cited her history as the daughter of a law enforcement officer and a former federal agent herself.

According to 13News Now in Norfolk, the VAPBA had not endorsed a Democrat in nearly fifteen years before deciding to back Spanberger for the November 4 election.

Richard Goska, a VAPBA field representative, told 13News Now that the group’s board, which consists of 30 active Virginia police officers, questioned both gubernatorial candidates about the issues and felt that many police concerns had not been addressed by the current administration.

The endorsement of Spanberger “surprised a lot of people,” he said. “But after four years of reporting fraud, waste, abuse, and criminal acts committed by agency heads, and officers not getting any pay … The turnover continues, people are bleeding out, police is losing people, corrections is losing thousands of people,” the VAPBA was “looking for a new chance and a new partnership.”

“The board saw, in this case, that Spanberger answered the questions more completely, and in fact, it was one of the best interviews we’ve seen in this cycle compared to her counterparts,” he added.