Spanberger, Youngkin meet at Governor's Mansion in Richmond to begin transition
Youngkin, Spanberger meet at governor's mansion in Richmond
Virginia’s new Democratic governor-elect, Abigail Spanberger, sat down with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday as the handoff of power is already underway. The two met for lunch with their families at the governor’s mansion in Richmond. FOX 5’s Tom Fitzgerald was there for it all.
RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia’s new Democratic governor-elect, Abigail Spanberger, sat down with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday as the handoff of power is already underway.
The two met for lunch with their families at the governor’s mansion in Richmond.
Preparing for the transition:
The meeting is a tradition that goes back centuries in Virginia and kicks off Spanberger’s gubernatorial transition.
The incoming and outgoing governors have met before; Spanberger served in Congress before running for governor and making history as Virginia’s first female governor.
Soon-to-be first gentleman Adam Spanberger and First Lady Suzanne Youngkin also talked about everything from running the governor’s mansion to setting up a smooth handoff between their staffs.
They had Virginia crabcakes for lunch.
On policy:
The governor-elect told FOX 5 that she will first focus on the priorities laid out in her campaign, like housing, the economy and lowering healthcare costs once she takes office.
"Obviously, there’s going to be some challenges along the way, with the impacts of the federal legislation on this state and continuing with a very specific bill priorities and administrative priorities that I pushed out in the three plans that I released over the summer and building upon that," Spanberger said.
Signs of change can already be seen around the Virginia State Capitol building.
Grandstands are being constructed to hold the crowds at Spanberger’s inauguration on Jan. 17, when she will take the Oath of Office as the Commonwealth’s 75th governor.
Governor Youngkin, who went through this transition himself four years ago, told FOX 5 that even though he and the governor-elect are from different parties, he will be a partner in this transition.
"That’s what this is all about and that’s why this transition period is one of cooperation to make sure that Governor-elect Spanberger’s administration is ready to go on day one and any way that we can help in that, we’ll do," Youngkin said.
What's next:
Spanberger will be sworn in on Jan. 17.
As is required by law, the governor-elect, her husband and their three daughters will be living in the governor’s mansion.