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Gov. Spanberger and AG Jones slam Trump election interventions at Alexandria NAACP event

By James Cullum
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Governor Abigail Spanberger (D) heavily criticized President Donald Trump on Thursday night in Alexandria and said that his administration’s attempts to upend voter registrations across the country won’t work in Virginia.

Spanberger was the keynote speaker at the Alexandria branch of the NAACP’s annual Freedom Fund Dinner, held at The Satire, Autograph Collection hotel in Old Town North. Spanberger, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D) and Mayor Alyia Gaskins (D) all received “breaking barriers” awards from the organization.

“In just the last few years alone, the United States Supreme Court has dismantled so many of the protections provided by the Voting Rights Act, putting up barriers to vote,” Spanberger said in her keynote speech. “States across the country, have used that opening to make it harder to go to vote, make it harder to vote, closing polling places, purging voter rolls, creating new barriers where the old ones were supposed to have been torn down.”

Spanberger said that Trump lies “repeatedly, verifiably, and shamelessly” about the results of the 2020 presidential election that he lost to former President Joe Biden (D), and “uses those lies to justify his efforts to undermine the basic machine of American democracy.”

“This is why I have made it my mission in my administration to break down barriers in Virginia, especially at a time when Washington is trying to build that back up,” Spanberger said.

Jones said his office has worked hard to legally challenge the Trump administration’s attempts to impose new voter restrictions and exert control on the upcoming midterm election on Nov. 3.

“When the Trump administration demanded the unredacted voter information of our voter rolls, we fought that demand in court, and a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit,” Jones said. “Let me be clear: Virginia runs our elections well, and my job is to defend that work for every eligible voter, including people who disagree with me or will never vote for me. Their rights are my responsibility, too.”

Virginia voters, on Nov. 3, will decide on a referendum to restore voting rights to former felons, a reproductive rights referendum and repeal of an unenforceable ban on same-sex marriage.

In Alexandria, Congressman Don Beyer (D-8) is also running for reelection. At the event, Beyer expressed admiration for Spanberger and Jones and criticized the Trump administration’s stance against diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government.

“Trump has dismantled all the programs meant to provide just a sliver of justice for the centuries of discrimination, hatred and cruelty,” Beyer said. “I’m particularly dismayed by how many people like just distance themselves from DEI programs. This is a simple commitment to light, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and it’s what the NAACP has always stood for.”

The general election ballot also includes the race for Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-Va.) U.S. Senate seat.

Virginia, Iowa and Kentucky are the only states that permanently strip voting rights from citizens with felony convictions. The Virginia governor has the discretion to individually restore rights to people with past felony convictions.

“It shouldn’t be that way,” Spanberger said, criticizing her predecessor, former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) on his policy. “The process I inherited from my predecessor wasn’t much of a process at all. It was literally a pile of paperwork that had barely been touched. The previous administration removed the online portal to apply for your voting rights, moving us backwards, putting up barriers, going from digital to analog. This forced people to fill out a hard copy application, adding to a system that was already terribly backlogged.”

Early in-person voting in Alexandria runs until Saturday, Oct. 31. Voter ID is required to vote in person, or voters can sign an ID statement affirming their identity.

About the Author

  • Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.