The freshman class of House Democrats in 2018 was swept into Washington on a wave of anti-Trump energy, brought to power to check the whims of the White House.
Now, three of those members — and possibly more to come — have launched gubernatorial bids, arguing that the forefront of the fight against President Donald Trump this time around will be waged in the states.
These Democratic women running for governor include Rep. Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in New Mexico. All three of them are making the case that as governor, they would be best positioned to punch back against Trump, who they say is hurting Americans with decisions like downsizing government, embarking on another trade war and failing to enact his promises to lower costs.
"The reality is that state government is going to be really the tip of the spear in trying to protect people; to have some continuity on health care and consumer protection in a world where Trump is dismantling them,” said former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, another member of the class of 2018 who is mulling a bid for California governor, barring a run from former Vice President Kamala Harris. “This is one of the reasons that you're seeing some of these amazing people with such bright trajectories, like Deb and Abigail and Mikie, look to gubernatorial races."
Now in the minority in Washington, Democrats are retooling their messaging after Republicans made gains up and down the ballot this past fall. Democrats have already turned to the states in their attempts to push back against Trump’s agenda, with attorneys general from across the country filing legal challenges against his executive orders.
New Jersey and Virginia, both of which are holding their gubernatorial elections this year, will be some of the first opportunities for Democrats to see if they can rely on an anti-Trump sentiment to notch some wins.
“The playbook from 2018 very much still holds, and what a big part of that playbook was and is, is holding Donald Trump and House Republicans accountable for their record,” said Dan Sena, the former executive director of House Democrats’ campaign committee in 2018. (Sena’s firm is working on an independent expenditure committee in support of Sherrill.)
“I think his diminished approval ratings, their diminished approval ratings, are already beginning to show that the honeymoon is over, and there are real cracks in the way the American electorate feel about his agenda,” Sena said.
While running for Congress and governor require different strategies, these Democrats are hopeful they can seize on a similar feeling from the early days of the first Trump administration.
Democrats are jumping on the fact that Virginia, home to nearly 150,000 federal workers, stands to be greatly impacted by Trump’s slashing of the federal government. A reduction of 10 percent of the federal workforce — the stated goal of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — would have a “significant” impact on the economy, Spanberger said, who added she’s heard concerns about that from local business leaders.
“Every choice he is making is hurting Virginians,” Spanberger said. “Everything he’s doing is creating chaos in our economy.”
In New Mexico, Haaland made an early entry in next year’s race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham — her predecessor in New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, a seat that Haaland held until 2021.
The Trump administration’s actions are already a consideration for Haaland’s campaign, which launched this month. Haaland said “people in communities across New Mexico are feeling really scared and on edge,” pointing to Native Americans being questioned by federal immigration enforcement officers about their citizenship.
“It's about the cost of living and safety issues that they're feeling, public safety and housing that people can't afford, in the midst of all of these terrible decisions that Donald Trump and Elon Musk have made since they came into office,” she said. “I think governors are going to be the first line of defense against all these terrible, cruel and chaotic policies coming out of the White House.”
The messaging strategy requires more than just being anti-Trump, Sherrill argued, a lesson she learned from her congressional campaign in 2018 when she ran in a red-leaning district.
“It gives us an opportunity to chart that path forward, to explain to people how we are going to lower costs for them, how we are going to protect them and their jobs and their families from what's coming from Washington, and how we are going to really deliver on the future for their kids,” Sherrill said. “It really gives us that ability to immediately weigh in on what the public thinks about this Trump administration.”
Aligned with demographic trends across all levels of political office, women have held far fewer governorships than men, but have been gaining ground in recent years. The number of female governorships peaked after Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s victory in New Hampshire last year, bringing the total to more than a dozen. Both Democrats and Republicans have been strategic about recruiting more women to run for office to close that gender gap, but the gender representation split is still significant. Today, eight female Democrats are serving as governor, while four are Republicans.
The upcoming gubernatorial contests could also be historic. Spanberger could become the first female governor of Virginia. (Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who is vying for the Republican nod for governor, could also claim that title in the commonwealth — and would be the first Black woman governor nationally.) Sherrill is the only woman running in her crowded Democratic primary this year, and could become the second woman elected governor of New Jersey. California has never had a woman governor, and New Mexico has had two.
“We’ve just been underrepresented in the ranks,” said Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy, the first woman to be elected governor in her state in 2022 and head of the Democratic Governors Association’s Women Governors Fund. “We just haven’t had enough women in leadership positions and in the corner office.”
The recent rise of women in politics is attributed in part to the “whisper network” of women encouraging each other to run. That was true for Porter, who is making moves to run for California governor in 2026. Porter, a law professor from Orange County, made her formal entry into politics after she was tapped by Harris, then the state attorney general, as an expert to work on the bank settlement following the foreclosure crisis.
At the time, Porter recently recalled to POLITICO, she wanted to continue to help affected homeowners. But Trump’s first election in 2016 scrambled her plans to do so in Washington. Porter immediately sought advice from her longtime mentor, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who urged her to pursue elected office over remaining in academia, researching and writing or even moving into university administration.
Now, Harris’ own possible bid for California governor is likely the only thing that would keep Porter out. Porter believes several prominent Democrats in the state would stand down for Harris, including herself.
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