{"id":121967,"date":"2026-02-23T05:00:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T10:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/who-is-abigail-spanberger-and-why-did-democrats-choose-her-for-to-their-state-of-the-union-response-121967"},"modified":"2026-02-23T05:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T10:00:33","slug":"who-is-abigail-spanberger-and-why-did-democrats-choose-her-for-to-their-state-of-the-union-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/who-is-abigail-spanberger-and-why-did-democrats-choose-her-for-to-their-state-of-the-union-response-121967","title":{"rendered":"Who is Abigail Spanberger, and why did Democrats choose her for to their State of the Union response?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

All eyes will be on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger<\/a> after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, as the rising star Democrat raises her national profile with the traditional rebuttal speech.<\/p>\n

Spanberger was elected to lead the commonwealth<\/a> just last year, ending Republican control in Richmond and defeating former Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears by roughly 15 points.<\/p>\n

Since then, she’s been hailed as one of the faces representing the future of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

The Virginia Democrat was likely chosen to lead this year’s response due to her battleground district credentials, in a year when the left is working to appeal to swing voters who are turned off by Trump.<\/p>\n

VIRGINIA GOV. SPANBERGER CUTS TIES WITH ICE IN FEDERAL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Spanberger was first elected to Congress during the “blue wave” of 2018 by defeating incumbent former GOP Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., by only about 2%. She became the first woman to represent the district and the first Democrat elected there since the 1970s.<\/p>\n

And while much media attention was focused on the far-left “Squad” Democrats elected that year \u2014 Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and ex-Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo. \u2014 Spanberger sought to set herself apart with a clique of her own.<\/p>\n

Indeed, she and four other Democrat women with national security backgrounds formed a group they dubbed “The Badasses” after being elected together that same year.<\/p>\n

SPANBERGER SAYS VIRGINIA ‘CHOSE PRAGMATISM OVER PARTISANSHIP’ IN VICTORY SPEECH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Just one of those women, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., remains in the House today, however.<\/p>\n

Spanberger and ex-Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., were both elected governor of their respective states last year. Another, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., moved to the upper chamber of Congress. Ex-Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., lost her seat to current Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spanberger, for her part, is an eight-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).<\/a> She worked with the agency’s clandestine services for a time and was an operations officer by the time she left for the private sector in 2014.<\/p>\n

During her 2018 congressional campaign, Republicans seized on Spanberger’s earlier time spent teaching at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria, Virginia from 2002 to 2003, according to a Washington Post<\/a> article from the time.<\/p>\n

“Critics have dubbed it \u2018Terror High\u2019 because some students joined al-Qaeda years<\/a> after graduating. Spanberger received two federal security clearances after disclosing her teaching work to the Postal Service and the CIA, which eventually sent her overseas as a covert agent fighting terrorism,” the report said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/who-abigail-spanberger-why-did-democrats-choose-her-state-union-response <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All eyes will be on Virginia Gov. 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