Spanberger and Sherrill were roommates on Capitol Hill. They’re now making history in their states

By Arit John, CNN

(CNN) — Six years ago, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill were roommates and freshmen members of Congress, part of a record-breaking wave of women who helped Democrats win back the US House.

On Tuesday, the two made history once more. CNN projected that Spanberger will be Virginia’s first female governor and Sherrill will be the first Democratic woman elected as governor of New Jersey.

Their wins come at a time when Democrats are navigating difficult questions over who the next leaders of the party should be and what messages will work to win over voters who shifted toward President Donald Trump last year.

Spanberger and Sherrill’s victories offer at least one path forward for Democrats. Both ran aggressively on affordability issues and promises to lower health care, housing and utility costs. It appears to have resonated with voters: Spanberger and Sherrill both surpassed the total number of votes their predecessors won in 2021 before votes were fully tallied in their states.

“Tonight we sent a message,” Spanberger told supporters at her election night rally. “We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship.”

Spanberger, a former CIA officer, and Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, both won Republican-held seats in 2018 by running as national security-minded centrists. In Congress, they – along with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and former Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia – formed the Mod Squad, a more centrist version of the progressive Squad.

Years after they ran and won their first races, the two newest members of the Democratic Governors Association will enter this next phase of their careers side-by-side as well. Spanberger described the feeling of running in one of this year’s few competitive races alongside her friend as “amusing.”

“Being able to compare notes has been fun,” she told CNN recently. “But I think what I’m most excited about is just — I know what I’m about to say sounds cheesy, but I mean it sincerely — how hardworking she is … I think there will be some really interesting value in thinking through different issues or different challenges because we’re aligned in many places, but we get to the same place from different directions.”

Spanberger, 46, and Sherrill, 53, moved in with each other after growing tired of living on Capitol Hill on their own. The pair ate dinner off Sherrill’s gold-rimmed wedding china and sat on a two-decade-old couch Spanberger brought out of storage, they told the Washington Post last year.

They’re both eldest of three girls. They both have multiple children – Spanberger has three kids, Sherrill has four. The Virginia governor-elect was born in New Jersey, while the incoming New Jersey governor grew up in northern Virginia.

“I don’t think either of us thought we were going to run for office until in 2018 we felt called to serve again and have been in it ever since,” Sherrill told CNN last month.

During a campaign event this summer, Spanberger told reporters they were both eager to meet voters across their districts when they challenged longtime incumbent Republicans in 2018.

“I maintain my friendship with her, so I know a bit about what she’s been doing across the campaign trail, and she’s been traveling everywhere in New Jersey,” Spanberger said. “The common thread is that we’re relentlessly focused on the issues that people across our communities bring to us.”

After their races were called, the two governors-elect also reflected on the historic nature of their wins. Sherrill mentioned “the little girls who come up to me and say they’re going to be a governor, or they’re going to be a president.”

Spanberger noted that her husband had told their three daughters minutes earlier that their mother would be the state’s next governor.

“And I can guarantee that those words have never been spoken in Virginia ever before,” she said. “The history Virginia is making tonight is yours.”

CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report.

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