RICHMOND — Gov. Abigail Spanberger took the oath of office just after noon Saturday. Of 74 previous administrations, she’s the first woman to hold the governor’s office in Virginia.

After a chilly and rainy start to the morning, Spanberger acknowledged her own groundbreaking achievement while paying homage to Virginia history.

“An inauguration ceremony like this one, with all its traditions and pageantry, represents something profound, and in its origin uniquely American: the peaceful transition of power,” Spanberger said during her inaugural address. “The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me. I maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who worked generation after generation to ensure women could be among those casting ballots, to those who could only dream of a day like today. I stand for those who made it possible for a woman to also participate in that peaceful transfer of power and take that oath.”

A crowd of around 5,000 people gathered in downtown Richmond to watch the inauguration ceremony in front of the Virginia State Capitol Building in Richmond. Wearing a white overcoat, turtleneck and gloves, Spanberger stood a stark contrast among onlookers in dark suits behind her as she placed her hand on her grandmother’s Bible to be sworn in. White is associated with the women’s suffrage movement, which was a prominent theme in her inaugural address.

Abigail Spanberger, left, takes the oath of office in Richmond Jan. 17, 2026, she becomes the 75th and first woman Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. (Peter Casey/The Virginian-Pilot)

“On these steps, Virginia suffragists brought their cause to the General Assembly session after session, decade after decade,” she said. “And though these brave women were voted down time and time again, they refused to give up.”

Spanberger’s swearing in marks the transition from Glenn Youngkin’s Republican administration to a Democrat trifecta in the state, with Democrats now holding control of the governorship, the House of Delegates and the Senate.

Spanberger, who served in Congress for six years and worked as a CIA case officer, moved quickly, signing 10 executive orders shortly after she was sworn in. Notably, they included rescinding the executive order from her predecessor that created an agreement between federal and state law enforcement that allowed Virginia State Police officers to function as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

“In Virginia, our hardworking, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say, we’ll focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them too,” she said during the address.

Several other executive orders were meant to target Spanberger’s chief policy goal of increasing affordability for Virginians. Those orders include:

Directing executive branch agencies and governor’s secretaries to identify budgetary, regulatory or policy changes that could immediately reduce costs for Virginians across sectors like housing, health care and energy.
Establishing a cross-agency Interagency Health Financing Task Force to strengthen Virginia’s long-term health care infrastructure and identify services most at risk of losing funds, particularly as a result of federal policies.
Directing a comprehensive, multi-agency review of regulations and permitting practices that affect housing development, with the goal of reducing barriers to building more housing.

Others were education related. One of her executive orders directs the Department of Education to review and evaluate the process for appointing members to public higher education governing boards. Several University of Virginia board members resigned Friday after Spanberger reportedly asked them to step down. Spanberger had implored the board to wait until after her inauguration to choose a new president, but the board acted in December promoting Scott Beardsley.

Another order directs the education department to review and take steps to strengthen school performance.

Other orders require a review of the state’s economy in light of federal workforce cuts, federal policies, funding cuts, tariffs and immigration impacts. In what could be a repudiation of some of Youngkin’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion measures, one order prohibits discrimination in employment, appointments, procurement and public services on a “broad range of protected characteristics” and calls for affirmative recruitment measures.

Kate Seltzer, (757)713-7881, kate.seltzer@virginiamedia.com

https://www.dailypress.com/2026/01/17/spanberger-first-executive-orders-inauguration-day/