{"id":2573794,"date":"2026-02-26T06:42:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T11:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-bet-affordability-message-on-unproven-spanberger\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T06:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T11:44:10","slug":"democrats-bet-affordability-message-on-unproven-spanberger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-bet-affordability-message-on-unproven-spanberger\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats bet affordability message on unproven Spanberger"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-bet-affordability-message-on-unproven-spanberger%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2573794&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>&#8211; The article centers on Abigail spanberger, highlighted by Democrats as their affordability champion after she campaigned on lowering prices and was chosen to deliver the Democratic rebuttal to the State of the Union.Republicans argue that, just weeks into her tenure, she has yet to produce real cost-cutting results.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Spanberger\u2019s early actions and agenda are described, including executive orders on gender-identity non-discrimination in state hiring and the reversal of a previous directive related to immigration enforcement. She is also associated with the Affordable Virginia Agenda, a package of bills addressing energy prices, prescription drug costs, and housing affordability.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; A core point of contention is the proposed redistricting initiative backed by the Virginia Democratic legislature, which would redraw maps to dramatically boost Democratic congressional seats (a shift from a 6-5 Democrat-to-Republican balance to a proposed 10-1 tilt).Spanberger had previously said she had no plans to redistrict, a stance that changed amid national redistricting trends.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Republicans, including Rep. Ben Cline and strategist Kollin Crompton, question the effectiveness and sincerity of Spanberger\u2019s affordability push, labeling the bills as \u201csoft\u201d or merely studies and commissions that won\u2019t deliver fast relief. They argue the legislation amounts to increased taxes and bureaucratic measures rather than tangible savings.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The article presents a mixed reaction: Democrats defend Spanberger as a rising star who can articulate a focus on affordability and accountability, while Republicans frame her efforts as politically calculated and insufficient. Analysts such as Bob Holsworth suggest some of the dynamics are driven by pragmatic politics within a Democratic-controlled legislature.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The piece also notes that Spanberger\u2019s office did not respond to requests for comment, and includes quotes from Democratic and Republican spokespeople, as well as coverage of the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >broader partisan debate surrounding affordability<\/a>, governance, and redistricting.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Democrats&rsquo; new affordability champion Spanberger has no record of cutting costs yet<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2515416\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democratic-party\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"288\">Democrats<\/a> have crowned Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/abigail-spanberger\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"11780\">Abigail Spanberger<\/a> (D-VA) their affordability champion &mdash; a move <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republicans\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"240\">Republicans<\/a> argue is already unraveling less than a month into her tenure.<\/p>\n<p>The party&rsquo;s uplifting of Spanberger, who promised during her 2025 campaign to bring down prices, was on full display when she was tapped to deliver the Democratic rebuttal to President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump<\/a>&rsquo;s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/state-of-the-union\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"658\">State of the Union<\/a> Tuesday night.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4472402\/mixed-gop-views-trump-ban-investors-single-family-homes\/\">Mixed GOP reception for Trump ban on large investors buying single-family homes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4470860\/trump-pledges-new-retirement-account-plans\/\">Trump pledges new retirement account plans for workers without 401(k)s<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4469755\/trump-boasts-falling-inflation-during-joint-address-context\/\">Trump boasts of falling inflation during joint address: Here&rsquo;s the context<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;So, let&rsquo;s speak plainly and honestly, and let me ask you three questions,&rdquo; Spanberger said at the top of her remarks. &ldquo;Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family? Is the president working to keep Americans safe &mdash; both at home and abroad? Is the president working for you?&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Yet, only one month in office, Republicans say that it&rsquo;s Spanberger who isn&rsquo;t working for the voters who helped put her into the governor&rsquo;s office by 12 percentage points.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4470488\/abigail-spanberger-trump-state-of-the-union-rebuttal\/\">&lsquo;WE DID NOT HEAR THE TRUTH FROM THE PRESIDENT&rsquo;: SPANBERGER SQUARES UP TO TRUMP IN STATE OF THE UNION REBUTTAL<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In just a few weeks as governor, Abigail Spanberger has turned Virginia into a Sanctuary State, driven major businesses out of Virginia, and pushed to raise taxes on Virginia families,&rdquo; said Kollin Crompton, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/from-impeaching-incitement-to-canceling-conservatism\/\" title=\"From Impeaching Incitement to Canceling Conservatism\">deputy communications director<\/a> for the Republican Governors&rsquo; Association. &ldquo;Life is harder now under Spanberger than it was under Republican leadership in Virginia, and it should serve as a warning sign to every voter in the midterms.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In her remarks, Spanberger touted the advancement of her &ldquo;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.virginia.gov\/newsroom\/news-releases\/2026\/february-\/name-1112861-en.html\">Affordable Virginia Agenda<\/a>&rdquo; package &mdash; a set of bills passed by the Virginia legislature to deal with energy prices, prescription drug costs, and housing affordability, among other issues.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation is facing criticism for not doing enough, however. Brian Kirwin, a Republican strategist, called the bills, &ldquo;nothing proposals.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re like, form a task force on this, do a study on this. She&rsquo;s a one-term governor, limited by the Constitution, and her big agenda was to form task force and commissions, and studies,&rdquo; Kirwin said. &ldquo;No, it&rsquo;s softball. No commission or study or task force has ever made life more affordable, and none of them have ever acted quickly. So it&rsquo;s a whole bunch of window dressing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>On her first day in office, Spanberger instituted several Democratic priorities via executive order, including one prohibiting discrimination in state hiring on the basis of gender identity. Spanberger also rescinded a previous directive by former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, allowing local law enforcement to support federal immigration authorities with deportation efforts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Every <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spanberger-squares-up-to-trump-in-state-of-the-union-rebuttal\/\" title=\"Spanberger squares up to ... in ... of the ... rebuttal\">minute spent sowing fear<\/a> is a minute not spent investigating murders, crimes against children, or the criminals defrauding seniors of their life savings,&rdquo; Spanberger said during Tuesday&rsquo;s speech. <\/p>\n<p>Spanberger has also signed a new redistricting initiative by the Democratic-controlled Virginia legislature. The initiative, which requires voter approval in an April special election, would erase the current 6-5 Democrat-to-Republican makeup of the state&rsquo;s congressional delegation. The new maps are drawn to provide Democrats with 10 seats to the GOP&rsquo;s one.<\/p>\n<p>The Virginia Democrat had previously said she had &ldquo;no plans&rdquo; to redistrict in Virginia. That changed after Republicans redrew congressional maps in Texas and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) pushed through a redraw via state referendum last year.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA), whose seat could be eviscerated if Spanberger&rsquo;s redraw passes, said the governor only got her party&rsquo;s &ldquo;plum speaking assignment because she&rsquo;s a model for how two-faced Democrats need their candidates to be.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If she told the truth on the campaign trail, she would never have been elected, so she concealed her true leftist agenda, as well as her plans to gerrymander Virginia&rsquo;s congressional map, until after she had taken office,&rdquo; Cline said. &ldquo;Now she&rsquo;s attempting to steal four Republican congressional seats, and this little speech was her reward.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Spanberger&rsquo;s office did not respond to a request for comment on this story.<\/p>\n<p>Bob Holsworth, a political analyst in Virginia, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that not all of the blame could be laid at Spanberger&rsquo;s feet and some of it was just pragmatic politics given the governor has a Democratic legislature.  <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The last thing I think she wanted to do was to undermine the legislative leadership by not signing on to that map,&rdquo; Holsworth said of the redistricting effort. &ldquo;At the same time, you know, and she&rsquo;s made the argument, &lsquo;Well, it&rsquo;s just simply a response to Trump.&rsquo; But will she be, if the legislative, the courts, allow this, will she spend a month out there campaigning for it? I doubt it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Virginia&rsquo;s Democratic legislature has also proposed dozens of new tax proposals, leaving Republicans an opening to accuse her administration of seeking to raise taxes, though Spanberger has not signed any into law yet.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Families across Virginia are struggling with the cost of groceries, gas, housing, and electricity,&rdquo; said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), another lawmaker whose reelection hopes will be damaged if the governor gets her redistricting wish. &ldquo;Yet, while she talks about affordability, the Democrat-controlled legislature is advancing more than 50 new taxes and fees on rideshares, deliveries, digital services, vehicle repairs, and even electricity bills.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4470271\/inside-chamber-state-of-the-union-trump-under-democrats-skin\/\">INSIDE THE CHAMBER: TRUMP GETS UNDER DEMOCRATS&rsquo; SKIN AT STATE OF THE UNION<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Despite GOP criticism of her affordability credentials, Democrats are rallying around their rising star.<\/p>\n<p>Spanberger &ldquo;knows this time period that we&rsquo;re in right now, what Americans want to hear when we&rsquo;ve had a year or two of Donald Trump, and how we can hold him accountable,&rdquo; Democratic National <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dnc\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"548\">Committee<\/a> Deputy Communications Director Hannah Muldavin <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HannahMuldavin\/status\/2026737096954622213?s=20\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HannahMuldavin\/status\/2026737096954622213?s=20\">said&nbsp;on LiveNOW with Fox<\/a> shortly after the rebuttal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spanberger named affordability champ; GOP skeptical<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2912,"featured_media":2573795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26056155491191.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[18297,3685,6571,32249,5468],"class_list":["post-2573794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-affordability","tag-democrats","tag-elections","tag-spanberger","tag-virginia"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26056155491191.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2573794"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2573798,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573794\/revisions\/2573798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2573795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2573794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2573794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2573794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}