[1] Former U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican, are considered the front-runners for their respective party nominations.

Democrat Kamala Harris won the state in the 2024 presidential election by 5.8%.

With the exception of 2013, Virginia has always elected a governor of the opposite party of the sitting president of the United States since 1973.

Virginia is considered to be a moderately blue state at the federal level, with Kamala Harris carrying Virginia by about six percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, and the last time a Republican won a federal statewide race was in the 2004 presidential election.

[9] However, after poor initial polling and growing dissatisfaction with the lieutenant governor in factions of the party, Earle-Sears drew two challengers in former senator Amanda Chase and former delegate Dave LaRock.