WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Democratic Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton roared into Washington six years ago as part of a , many on a mission to push back against the politics of Donald Trump.
鈥淲e were part of that 2018 class, and we sort of ran in there like: 鈥楾here鈥檚 a fire. We鈥檙e here,鈥欌�� Spanberger said.
The outgoing congresswoman, who along with Wexton recently reflected on their time in Congress in interviews with The Associated Press, drew a quick breath.
鈥淚t鈥檚 slightly different than the tone of where things are right now,鈥� she said.
That is an understatement. Trump, a president the two Virginia Democrats campaigned against as they unseated established incumbent Republicans, is about to embark on a second term after mounting an improbable political comeback. Of the 35 Democratic women first elected in 2018, Spanberger and Wexton are among 14 who have since left or will be leaving Congress by next year.
That鈥檚 not to say their journey is over or that they are retreating from public discourse.
Kelly Dittmar, research director at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, described Virginia as a canary in a coal mine when voters elected more women to the statehouse in 2017, followed by the election of Spanberger, Wexton and former Rep. Elaine Luria there in 2018. But Dittmar said progress toward better gender representation hasn鈥檛 always been linear.
Last month, 21 of the original 35 female Democrats first elected in 2018 ran for reelection to their House seats, not including Rep. Elissa Slotkin, elected to the Senate by Michigan voters this year. And in those races, 20 won. They鈥檒l be among the 150 women 鈥� 鈥� serving in the 119th Congress next year, one woman shy of a record of 151 set in 2023.
Spanberger, meanwhile, is in a race comprised solely of , making it likely that Virginia鈥檚 next governor will be a woman for the first time.
But when women leave elected office, Dittmar said, their absence is felt more acutely because there is less female representation to begin with. She said it鈥檚 unclear whether the U.S. will see another surge of women filing to run anytime soon.
She looked into why women said they ran in 2018 and "yes, there is evidence that they talked about Donald Trump,鈥� Dittmar said. 鈥淚 think the difference between 鈥�16 and 鈥�24 鈥� and that we just can鈥檛 know yet 鈥� is the degree of exhaustion and the degree of toxicity that may go into a calculation about deciding whether or not to run for office.鈥�
For both Spanberger and Wexton, that path has taken unexpected turns.
After twice winning reelection, Wexton was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a life-threatening neurological disorder similar to Parkinson鈥檚 disease, and made the . Spanberger is exchanging her congressional pin for a loftier goal in state politics. They will be succeeded in Congress by Democrats Eugene Vindman and Suhas Subramanyam, cutting Virginia鈥檚 female congressional representation .
A bond forged in public service and friendship
In the stately formality of a congressional conference room, Spanberger and Wexton reminisced on their time on Capitol Hill. They have become uncommonly close, bound by time spent together, some shared views on public policy and a friendship that has managed to transcend the ups and downs of Washington politics. A stream of text messages that began after their victory speeches in 2018 has continued ever since.
Their bids for Congress were backed by many women who , phone-banked and organized in a grass-roots movement that decried Trump and worked to elect female Democrats.
They won the votes. They took an oath. And then, the women got to work.
Wexton, previously a state senator and prosecutor, developed a reputation for taking care of her district, said Rosalyn Cooperman, a professor at the University of Mary Washington. Cooperman said she vied for funding opportunities and committee assignments that helped bring tens of millions of dollars in federal investments to northern Virginia. She also tackled , and . After announcing her diagnosis, Wexton co-sponsored the , which President Joe Biden signed in July. Lawmakers named the legislation in her honor.
Spanberger, an ex-CIA operative who stopped working at an education company to run for Congress, cultivated a knack for tackling lower-profile issues: bringing , fighting and . The Lugar Center and Georgetown University鈥檚 McCourt School ranked the Virginia Democrat as the last year.
鈥淏oth women really understood the districts that they represented and what the districts needed, and went about the work very effectively and without too much fanfare,鈥� Cooperman said.
Spanberger and Wexton became fast friends while first campaigning for their House seats in 2018. The two formed a trio with Luria, who left Congress after in 2022. Spanberger described Wexton as her quick-witted big sister 鈥� someone who gave her advice on everything from raising teenagers to navigating a legislature. At one point, Wexton wrote Spanberger a script for speaking on the House floor.
Wexton, with the help of an , spoke of Spanberger supporting her in a more vulnerable way: styling Wexton鈥檚 hair as she showed up to Congress with her health struggles.
鈥淭hat is no small feat 鈥� I had experienced first-hand how hard it was becoming to do my hair,鈥� Wexton said. 鈥淔or the next almost 90 minutes, Abigail would put various potions in my hair and dry it with a round brush.
鈥淚t was wonderful. I felt so pampered.鈥�
Spanberger, with tears welling in her eyes, laughed, 鈥淵ou have so much hair!鈥�
Wexton learned she had progressive supranuclear palsy in 2023. Within the last two years, she lost her ability to speak clearly and walk without assistance. In her interview, the congresswoman used her pointer finger to type thoughts on her tablet, which she then played aloud. In her final months in Congress, she said, well-meaning colleagues would talk to her like a child or reintroduce themselves to her.
鈥淢y PSP has robbed me of my voice, and others may take that to mean it has robbed me of my cognitive ability as well,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 not true. I鈥檓 just as much me as I鈥檝e always been.鈥�
As the current term ends, are . Many Democrats say the fight isn鈥檛 over but has changed in unexpected ways.
鈥淭o be very clear, I鈥檓 super excited that Eugene Vindman and Suhas Subramanyam are replacing us,鈥� Spanberger said. 鈥淏ut it is a little bit bittersweet that we came in with this group of three women, and within three terms, we鈥檙e both 鈥� that all three of us are no longer there.鈥�
Wexton said she hoped people, and women specifically, would persevere.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to win every battle or every election,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut it is true that our democracy works best when more people participate in it.鈥�
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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.
Olivia Diaz, The Associated Press
