Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed four bills this week authorizing $7.1 billion in business investments and roughly 3,250 new jobs, then took a victory lap. The problem: every one of those deals was announced while her Republican predecessor, Glenn Youngkin, was still in office.
The signing covered legislation tied to aerospace firm Avio USA, pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca, and one additional energy-sector project. Spanberger's office issued a press release framing the package as proof that her administration is delivering economic results. Republicans who watched Youngkin negotiate those commitments over the course of 2025 see it differently.
As Fox News Digital reported, former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, Youngkin spokesperson Justin Discigil, and the president of Virginians for Safe Communities all pushed back sharply, accusing the first-year Democratic governor of stamping her name on someone else's work.
The four bills tell a clear story when matched against the calendar. HB 1531 allocates $537 million to Avio USA and is expected to create more than 1,500 jobs. That award was announced in December 2025, a month before Spanberger took the oath of office on January 17, 2026.
HB 799, worth $457 million and projected to generate over 825 jobs, traces back to a September 2025 announcement under Youngkin. The company tied to that bill has not been publicly identified in available reporting. HB 800, the Eli Lilly deal, directs more than $2 billion toward manufacturing active ingredients for major cancer, autoimmune, and other advanced drugs, with roughly 450 jobs expected. That commitment was also announced in September 2025.
The largest single item, HB 1076, channels $4 billion into an AstraZeneca investment expected to produce around 500 jobs. AstraZeneca's commitment was announced in October 2025.
Every one of these announcements predates Spanberger's inauguration. She inherited the deals. The legislation she signed this week formalized award allocations that Youngkin's team had already negotiated and publicized.
Former Attorney General Jason Miyares did not mince words when he spoke to Fox News Digital. He laid out the contrast between what Youngkin built and what Spanberger is now claiming.
Miyares told Fox News Digital:
"She's trying to take credit for somebody else's work. In grade school we call that cheating."
He went further, arguing that Spanberger's own policy record is actively undermining the business climate Youngkin cultivated. Miyares pointed to three pillars, tax policy, regulation, and the litigation environment, and said the new governor is weakening Virginia on all three fronts.
"Three pillars of a good business environment is a good tax environment, a good regulatory environment and an environment that, from a litigation perspective, is not anti-business. Spanberger has already indicated and done a rash of bills that will make Virginia less competitive. Virginia does not compete by itself, we compete with 49 other states, and Spanberger seems h***bent to hurt us with her tax, regulatory and litigation."
Miyares also said he was aware of multiple Virginia businesses recruited by Youngkin that were now reconsidering expansion because of Spanberger's policies. He added that the governor "does not believe in energy abundance."
Spanberger's early approval numbers have already set a grim benchmark for the Commonwealth, and the credit-claiming episode is unlikely to help.
Youngkin's team issued its own press release noting that the former governor had secured $156 billion in total CEO commitments during his term, more, they said, than the previous six gubernatorial administrations combined. The four deals Spanberger signed into law this week represent a fraction of that broader portfolio.
Youngkin spokesperson Justin Discigil offered a pointed assessment of the current political landscape:
"The last three months have been nothing but horrible news for Virginians as Abigail Spanberger broke every single promise she made on the campaign trail and now has the lowest approval rating of any Virginia governor this century."
He added that Youngkin was "happy that Virginians are being reminded of some good news, even if it means Gov. Spanberger taking credit for the economic deals he secured for the Commonwealth."
The Virginia GOP had already been on offense in February, responding to headlines about rising unemployment in the state. In a statement, the party noted that Spanberger inherited a $2.7 billion surplus and hundreds of thousands of jobs created under Republican leadership, and argued she and her Democratic allies were squandering that inheritance.
The broader pattern of internal Democratic conflict in Virginia has only sharpened the scrutiny on Spanberger's political maneuvering.
Sean Kennedy, president of Virginians for Safe Communities, reached for a familiar line to make his point. He told Fox News Digital:
"My simple message for Abigail Spanberger is, to quote Elizabeth Warren, 'You didn't build that!'"
Kennedy went on to connect the credit-claiming to what he described as Spanberger's broader ambitions within the national Democratic Party:
"Spanberger has to take credit for her Republican predecessor's accomplishments bringing jobs to Virginia because her policies are actually raising taxes, killing jobs, and hiking energy costs. Spanberger has to play make believe that she is delivering on her affordability agenda to impress the 2028 Democratic Party kingmakers. I expect that Spanberger will nevertheless persist in her false claims."
That reference to "2028 Democratic Party kingmakers" is worth noting. Spanberger is the first woman to hold the governorship in Virginia. She delivered the Democratic response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on February 24, 2026, from Williamsburg, a high-profile platform that fueled speculation about her national profile.
She used that moment to position herself as a leading voice for Democrats, which makes the question of what she has actually accomplished on her own watch all the more relevant.
In her press release, Spanberger framed the bill signings as evidence of her economic vision. She stated:
"From my very first day in office, I have been working to create a stable business environment so companies can hire, expand, and continue to invest in our Commonwealth."
She also said she was "proud of the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment we have already announced this year" and expressed eagerness to "make clear that Virginia is the top state in the nation to grow or start a business."
The gap between those words and the timeline is the whole story. The investments she signed into law this week were not announced this year. They were announced in September, October, and December of 2025, under a Republican governor who spent his term courting exactly those commitments.
Fox News Digital requested comment from Spanberger's office on the criticism. She did not respond.
Meanwhile, questions about Virginia Democrats' redistricting maneuvers continue to hang over the party's governance in the Commonwealth, adding to the impression that consolidating political power matters more to this administration than building anything new.
Taken together, the four bills authorize $7.1 billion in investment and project roughly 3,250 new jobs. Those are real numbers with real consequences for Virginia workers and communities. Nobody disputes the value of the deals themselves.
What is in dispute is who deserves the credit. Youngkin's team says these were part of his $156 billion portfolio of CEO commitments, a record they claim exceeds the previous six administrations combined. Spanberger's office frames the signings as her own achievement. The calendar says otherwise.
The broader economic picture adds context. Virginia's unemployment numbers drew headlines in February. The state GOP pointed to a $2.7 billion surplus that Spanberger inherited and argued that the new governor's tax and regulatory agenda is eroding the gains built under Republican leadership.
Miyares put it bluntly, calling the whole episode "laughable and pathetic." Whether voters agree may depend on whether Spanberger can point to a single major deal she actually closed herself, rather than one she signed after someone else did the work.
Governing is about results. Taking a bow for results you inherited is about something else entirely.
