Abigail Spanberger Rallies Voters
Two weeks before Election Day, when Virginians will be electing their first female governor, Democratic candidate for governor Abigail Spanberger took to The Jefferson Theater for her Charlottesville Get Out the Vote Rally. Joining her as featured guest speakers were former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and celebrity scientist Bill Nye.
The event was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but due to a large turnout of over 1,000 attendees, the start was pushed to 7:25 p.m. to ensure everyone made it inside. The audience overfilled The Jefferson, so the overflow crowd was directed to The Southern to watch a livestream of the event. The energy in The Southern was as high as in the main venue, with attendees clapping, cheering, shouting, and laughing together along with the audience in the stream.
The first speaker of the night was Jimmy Flood, a field organizer for the Spanberger campaign, who spoke about canvassing for Spanberger and motivated audience members to sign up to do the same. The next speaker was Patricia Harper-Tunley, chairwoman of the 5th Congressional District Democratic Committee of Virginia. Harper-Tunley encouraged the crowd to tell those around them to vote in the upcoming election, calling it “a fight for democracy.”
After Harper-Tunley, Virginia State Delegate Katrina Callsen took the stage to return to her roots as a teacher and share a metaphor with the audience. She described a car in which the local government is the wheels and the General Assembly is the engine. Callsen reminded the audience that all 100 spots in the Virginia House of Delegates are up for election on Nov. 4 and that “it is more important than ever to build an engine that works and moves us where we want to go.” She said that the federal government is a passenger in the car, and the governor is the driver that Virginians must elect to drive to their destination. “This is your car,” Callsen said. “We work for you. It is your job to build the car you want and think about where you want that car to go.”
The crowd chanted the first name of the fourth speaker of the night to the beat of a familiar song as he walked out in his signature bowtie. Bill Nye, known to most as Bill Nye the Science Guy, high-fived several members of Team Spanberger, who held up “VOTE” signs behind the speakers throughout the rally. He detailed some of Spanberger’s past work as a congresswoman and shared how “fired up” he was for her campaign. Addressing her political stance, Nye said, “Some may describe her as a moderate. I describe her as someone who is paying attention. She has thought about the Commonwealth and the work that needs to be done.”
The final speaker before Spanberger was Pete Buttigieg, who wasted no time stressing how important this election was. “Right now, this fall of 2025, Virginia is pretty much the center of the political universe,” Buttigieg said. “No pressure.” Buttigieg spoke of his own experience working alongside Spanberger and praised her for her accomplishments and action. He referenced the No Kings protests and urged that same energy for the polls. He also noted Spanberger’s bipartisanship and her focus on just “getting good things done.”
Each speaker had their own intro music, and Spanberger’s was the optimistic “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence + the Machine. Spanberger, a University of Virginia alumnus, gave an enthusiastic “Wahoowa!” to the cheering crowd and told stories of her experiences as a student, mother, and worker in Virginia.
Spanberger touched on her experience as a lawmaker and her plans for the future of Virginia, all of which are explained in further detail on her website, abigailspanberger.com. Spanberger also spoke about strengthening Virginia’s public schools, universities, and community colleges. She reminded the audience that only Virginia and New Jersey are holding gubernatorial elections this year.
“We know the stakes of this election, and we know what we are for,” Spanberger said to the crowd. “We are for a governor focused relentlessly on lowering costs. Lowering costs in housing, healthcare, and energy. Recognizing that there are a lot of challenges facing people in every corner of Virginia, and we need a governor who has a plan.” She promised to “make life more liveable for Virginians.”
She stressed the importance of showing up at the polls and enacting the civic duty of voting. “Politics is about the air that we breathe, the schools that we attend, the roads that we drive on, the internet that we do or do not have, the electricity that is generating in our communities; it’s about the healthcare that we have,” Spanberger said. “Everything is political.”
True to Spanberger’s message about honoring what her constituents want, she didn’t go straight home after leaving the stage. After the rally, Spanberger, Buttigieg, and Nye visited The Southern to speak to the spillover crowd. They thanked the audience there for attending and offered some final encouragement. Spanberger talked about “a Virginia that is focused on doing right by our neighbors,” and motivated audience members one more time to Get Out the Vote.
Election Day will be on Tuesday, Nov. 4. For more information on the candidates on the ballot, the PVCC voter guide is available from The Forum.
