{"id":2631355,"date":"2026-07-17T18:37:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abigail-spanberger-defends-record-at-six-month-mark-with-approval-rating-underwater\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T18:40:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:40:49","slug":"abigail-spanberger-defends-record-at-six-month-mark-with-approval-rating-underwater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abigail-spanberger-defends-record-at-six-month-mark-with-approval-rating-underwater\/","title":{"rendered":"Abigail Spanberger defends record at six-month mark with approval rating underwater"},"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\">22<\/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%2Fabigail-spanberger-defends-record-at-six-month-mark-with-approval-rating-underwater%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=2631355&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>Virginia Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) is maintaining her stance on her economic performance after six months in office, despite a new poll indicating her disapproval ratings have increased to 47%, surpassing her approval rating of 44%. A survey by Virginia Commonwealth University highlights inflation and the cost of living as Virginia residents\u2019 top concerns, with 30% citing these issues, up from previous years. despite this, Spanberger is committed to improving affordability in Virginia, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >emphasizing recent legislative efforts<\/a> like tax relief, increasing the minimum wage, capping insulin costs, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-giving-moms-who-miscarry-paid-leave-is-pro-life-pro-woman\/\" title=\"IN Giving Moms Who Miscarry Paid Leave Is Pro-Life, Pro-Woman\">offering paid family leave<\/a>.she also signed into law the affordable Virginia Agenda, aimed at reducing living costs. <\/p>\n<p>Spanberger acknowledged the low approval ratings and recognized the importance of effective interaction between her administration, the legislature, and voters to demonstrate the positive impacts of her policies. She also highlighted lessons learned about over-communicating to ensure clarity, especially given the busy legislative environment. she remains focused on her goal of delivering a more affordable and improved quality of life for Virginians,despite the challenges reflected in the polling data.  <\/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<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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) is standing by her economic record at the six-month mark of her administration, while a new poll shows her disapproval numbers stand 3 points higher than her 44% <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/approval-ratings\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1604\">approval rating<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Virginia Commonwealth University released a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/poll\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"11479\">poll<\/a> on Wednesday showing Spanberger with a 47% disapproval rating six months into her role as <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/virginia\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"96\">Virginia<\/a>\u2018s governor. The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/voters-oppose-sales-tax-exemption-for-data-centers-new-commonwealth-poll-finds\">survey results<\/a> also ranked inflation and the cost of living as the No. 1 issue facing Virginians, six months after Spanberger took the oath of office and vowed to tackle <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/affordability\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"21532\">affordability<\/a> issues as her top priority.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4653520\/abigail-spanberger-six-month-approval-rating\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Abigail Spanberger defends record at six-month mark with approval rating underwater<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4653378\/sara-rodriguez-abandon-bid-wisconsin-governor\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Wisconsin Democrat abandons bid for governor after campaign finance inaccuracies<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4651747\/trump-questions-josh-shapiro-strength-2028-elections\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump says Josh Shapiro \u2018doesn\u2019t have what it takes\u2019 as he moves to define him before 2028<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Spanberger remains determined in her mission to deliver a more affordable commonwealth to Virginians, touting her signing of the Affordable Virginia Agenda into law in a Friday statement.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSince day one, we have been focused on the challenge Virginians tell me about everywhere I go: the high cost of living,\u201d Spanberger said. \u201cWe\u2019re delivering tax relief by increasing the standard deduction. We\u2019re raising the minimum wage. We\u2019re capping the out-of-pocket cost of insulin. We\u2019re becoming the first state in the South to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-gives-state-employees-paid-family-and-maternal-leave-in-florida\/\" title=\"DeSantis grants paid family and maternal leave to Florida state employees.\">offer paid family<\/a> and medical leave to working Virginians. And we established a first-of-its-kind energy consumption tax on data centers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thirty percent of VCU\u2019s survey respondents listed inflation and the cost of living as the top concern for Virginia taxpayers, up 2 points from the same poll in 2025, when Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/glenn-youngkin\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1456\">Glenn Youngkin<\/a> was in office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCU distinguished professor and former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder wrote in the university\u2019s survey results that it was unusual for a governor to have such low approval this early in her administration.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese findings suggest that Virginians are paying attention to the issues that matter most in their daily lives,\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/voters-oppose-sales-tax-exemption-for-data-centers-new-commonwealth-poll-finds\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/voters-oppose-sales-tax-exemption-for-data-centers-new-commonwealth-poll-finds\">Wilder said<\/a>. \u201cThe message from the people is unmistakable: Public trust is earned through leadership that listens, governance that delivers and results that improve the lives of all Virginians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Spanberger assured reporters this week that she knew affordability issues would still be a concern for voters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI did not need a poll to know that that would be what people would be talking about,\u201d Spanberger told <em>Virginia Mercury<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spanberger also told the Virginia outlet that the onus remains on the state\u2019s Democratic-led executive branch and legislature to communicate to voters how her changes can positively impact their wallets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe priority needs to be on our administration and, frankly, the members of the General Assembly who passed all these bills, to be connecting the dots,\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/virginiamercury.com\/2026\/07\/17\/six-months-in-spanberger-defends-her-record-as-economic-concerns-persist\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/virginiamercury.com\/2026\/07\/17\/six-months-in-spanberger-defends-her-record-as-economic-concerns-persist\/\">Spanberger said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/energy-and-environment\/4636807\/spanberger-distances-data-center-bans-virginia\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"4636807\">SPANBERGER DRAWS A HARD LINE ON DATA CENTER BANS: \u2018WALKING AWAY FROM THE TABLE\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also stressed the lessons she has learned about communication throughout her first six months, telling the <em>Virginia Scope<\/em> that she \u201ccan never actually overcommunicate,\u201d particularly touching on her returning legislative amendments after the General Assembly\u2019s regular session, which had reportedly been a point of miscommunication between Spanberger and the legislature.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s actually just human nature and a busy schedule, and it\u2019s something that I frankly should have clocked earlier,\u201d Spanberger <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiascope.com\/six-months-with-spanberger\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.virginiascope.com\/six-months-with-spanberger\/\">told the outlet<\/a>. \u201cBut making sure that over-communicating needs to be the bare minimum, particularly with a legislative body that moves at such an intense pace because it\u2019s part-time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spanberger&#8217;s approval dips; poll shows 47% disapprove<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3976,"featured_media":2631356,"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\/07\/AP26120705089721.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[52927,38058,4402,43554,5894],"class_list":["post-2631355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-abigail-spanberger","tag-approval-ratings","tag-congress","tag-georgia-politics","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26120705089721.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631355","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\/3976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2631355"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2631363,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631355\/revisions\/2631363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2631356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2631355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2631355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2631355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}