Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger won the election by portraying herself as a moderate or centrist Democrat whose priority was “affordability.” This is nothing new for her. Spanberger first came to national prominence after the 2020 elections when she blamed Democrats' poor performance in House and Senate races on the association of too many Democrats with radical positions—like defunding the police and an open embrace of socialism.
However, a look at her actual record in the House shows she is far from a moderate. For example, Spanberger received an F from the National Taxpayer Union’s ranking for her entire congressional voting record. The issues ranged from taxes to spending, and/or government debt. Every year of her six years in Congress she received an F, except in 2020 when she received a D. “Moderate” Spanberger’s record on taxes and spending is actually slightly worse than that of self-proclaimed “democratic socialist” (and Bernie Sander”s ideological daughter) Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez!
Spanberger’s moderate persona is also revealed as phony by her co-sponsorship of the “Pro Act”, which she voted for twice. This legislation would repeal Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act. This is the section of federal law that authorizes state Right to Work laws, like the one adopted in Virginia in 1947. The Pro Act also makes it easier for unions to organize a workforce by authorizing card check. Card check allows a union to be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of a workforce as long as a majority of a business’s employees sign a card supporting the union. Unlike the current system, which requires that a union obtain majority support from workers in a secret ballot election—card check allows cards signed by workers in front of union organizers and pro-union coworkers to count as valid, raising obvious concerns about intimidation and coercion.
Despite voting to repeal all Right to Work laws as a member of the House, Spanberger said she opposed “full repeal” of Virginia’s Right to Work law while campaigning for Governor. However, she said she would support “reform” of the law. This is an odd statement, since Right to Work laws simply say that no worker in Virginia should be forced to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of employment. It is thus hard to see how such laws could be “reformed” unless Spanberger favors forcing workers who choose not to join a union to nevertheless pay a fee for union “representation.” Union bosses complain that Right to Work laws are unfair because they require unions to represent all workers in the work place—including those who choose not to join the union. This is not an unreasonable position, but the solution is to allow unions to only represent those workers that choose to join and pay union dues. The National Right to Work Committee has offered to help pass legislation freeing unions from this burden in exchange for unions dropping their opposition to Right to Work.
Union officials have rejected this offer, suggesting they are perfectly happy to be forced to represent all workers, as long as they can force all workers to pay dues or fees to the unions. Allowing unions to collect a fee from non-members to pay for the privilege of union representation would turn Virginia into a Right to Work state in name only, leaving workers with no choice but to pay union fees to an organization they have no say in—or else pay full membership dues and hope to have some influence on the union's negotiations.
Spanberger’s interest in “reforming” Right to Work contradicts her promise to focus on affordability. According to the National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR), Virginia’s per capita disposable income is $66,772. But the average per capita disposable income in non-Right to Work states is $59,403. Thus, Virginians enjoy higher wages than their counterparts in non-Right to Work states. Virginia also enjoyed a 5% increase in employment compared to the average non-Right to Work state, where employment decreased by 0.2%.
Reforms that weaken Right to Work laws will make Virginia less attractive to employers—reducing job growth and increasing Virginians' cost of living. Governor-elect Spanberger should reassure Virginians that she opposes any legislation weakening her citizens' Right to Work because she understands that protecting worker freedom is central to her abundance agenda.
