Virginia’s 2025 Governor’s Race: What’s at Stake for Cannabis Legalization

19 August 2025

When Virginians vote for governor on November 4, they will not only pick a leader but also decide what becomes of the state’s unfinished experiment with marijuana legalization. Four years after lawmakers allowed possession, retail sales remained illegal. The next governor will determine whether Virginia builds a regulated cannabis market or halts legalization in its tracks.

The two major candidates, Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger and Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, offer sharply contrasting visions.

Spanberger: Push for a Regulated Market

Spanberger, a former congresswoman from Henrico County, is an outspoken supporter of legal cannabis. She wants Virginia to move from decriminalization to a regulated, taxed market that ensures consumer safety, channels revenue into schools and communities, and provides opportunities for farmers and small businesses.

In Congress, she consistently backed marijuana reform, voting for the MORE Act to decriminalize cannabis federally and the SAFE Banking Act to let dispensaries access the financial system. She has also pushed to expand medical cannabis program use and industrial hemp.

A Spanberger governorship would likely put Virginia on track to join neighboring Maryland, which launched sales in 2023 and quickly generated hundreds of millions in revenue.

Earle-Sears: Stop and Reverse

Earle-Sears, Virginia’s current lieutenant governor, has been a steady critic of legalization. She calls marijuana a “gateway drug” and opposes the General Assembly’s 2021 decriminalization and legalization bills. She has pointed to workplace risks, even citing an instance when she dismissed an employee for marijuana use.

While she has expressed some openness to medical marijuana under strict limits, Earle-Sears is firmly against recreational legalization. Her election would almost certainly prevent retail markets from taking shape and could lead to tighter restrictions.

What Virginians Stand to Gain - or Lose

Polling suggests the issue may matter to undecided voters. A May survey from Roanoke College shows Spanberger leading 43% to 26%, with more than a quarter still uncommitted. Nationally, two-thirds of Americans now support legalization, and Virginia’s neighbors are moving forward.

For many voters, the question is as much economic as cultural. Without legal retail, Virginia risks watching tax dollars and small business opportunities head to Maryland or Washington, D.C., where sales are already legal. Advocates argue that a regulated market would shrink the illicit trade; opponents worry it would normalize a risky drug.

A Clear Divide

The outcome of this election will set Virginia’s course for years. A Spanberger victory would likely bring a legal retail market and a new source of state revenue. An Earle-Sears win would leave Virginia with possession legal but sales prohibited, freezing the state’s progress while others in the region move ahead.

For Virginians who care about cannabis policy, the choice could not be clearer.