S6 Ep9: Virginia: National Politics is Local (with Jeff Schapiro)

The Focus Group Podcast

The Bulwark

Politics, News, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

No election in 2025 has been more impacted by the Trump presidency than the elections in Virginia. This state doesn't vote for MAGA candidates anymore, but their nominee for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, isn't really campaigning like that. So one of Sarah's favorite Democrats, Abigail Spanberger, looks poised for a solid win on Election Day. Meanwhile in the Attorney General race, the Republican incumbent, Jason Miyares could pull off an unexpected comeback, so we talked to voters who are splitting their tickets between Spanberger and Miyares. Former Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist and University of Virginia Center for Politics scholar Jeff Schapiro joins the show to put this year's election in the context of Virginia's broad political evolution.

Show notes:

Jeff Schapiro in Crystal Ball: The Virginia Elections: Plenty of Late Drama, Although Not at the Top of the Ticket

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Are you one of the 1.5 million UK customers that have used MedExpress for your healthcare journey?
0:06.1	If you're unsure as weight loss treatments are right for you, complete our online consultation
0:10.8	to see if you are eligible for support on your weight loss journey.
0:15.0	MedExpress makes managing your health easy and convenient, offering clinically backed treatment options to help you manage your
0:22.6	weight with confidence. A whole process happens from your laptop or phone. There's no need for
0:28.6	face-to-face appointments. If eligible, treatment will be delivered safely and discreetly to your door.
0:34.8	And you'll receive ongoing personalised support every step of the way with our UK
0:39.5	registered clinicians take a stack towards managing your health concerns with confidence visit
0:45.9	medexpress.co.uk to learn more and check your eligibility.
0:59.5	Hello everyone and welcome to the Focus Group podcast.
1:02.4	I'm Sarah Longwell, publisher of the bulwark,
1:06.4	and this week we're taking you across the Potomac River from my office to Virginia,
1:10.4	which has a couple of the marquee elections of 2025.
1:16.4	In the governor's race, one of my personal favorite Democrats, Abigail Spanberger, is on track to be the next governor because Republicans nominated a MAGA insane person in a state that
1:22.0	doesn't vote for Republicans who are MAGA insane people.
1:25.3	She could win by anywhere from two to three points to 13 points,
1:29.2	looking at the distribution of the polls. Perhaps somewhere in the middle of that, I don't know,
1:34.0	I'd probably go a little bit higher. But Republicans do have a chance to salvage one of the key
1:38.4	races for Attorney General, where the Republican incumbent got a new lease on his political life
1:43.4	because of some
1:44.2	completely deranged behavior by his Democratic opponent. We're going to spend some time on that one today,
1:50.0	too. My guest today is an institution in Virginia politics. Jeff Shapiro, scholar at the University of
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Bulwark, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Bulwark and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.