The news from Richmond on Monday is that Susan Swecker is stepping down as chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
I’ve looked around, and I’m not seeing the move is the result of anything bad or scandalous – Swecker, a Highland County native and Mary Baldwin College (undergrad) and Washington and Lee (law) alum, is 69 years old, has been the party chair for 10 years, and it seems she thinks, it’s just time.
“After our strong victories in Virginia this past November, I believe the time is right to pass the torch to a new leader who can continue to build on our successes and further strengthen our party,” Swecker said in a statement released by the party on Monday.
“Strong victories in Virginia” is a way of saying, we did our job in Virginia in 2024 – Tim Kaine held on to his U.S. Senate seat, and Democrats maintain the majority in representation in the U.S. House.
Kamala Harris also defeated Donald Trump in the state’s presidential voting.
Virginia voted for the Trump opponent in all three of his runs on Swecker’s watch – in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
The 2023 state cycle also saw Democrats regain control of the Virginia House of Delegates, giving the Ds a bulwark against Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a MAGA Republican who was the surprise winner in the 2021 gubernatorial cycle.
That 2021 election would be the nadir of the Swecker tenure.
Virginia had been trending blue for a while, dating back to the surprise Jim Webb U.S. Senate win over George Allen in 2006, with Mark Warner winning the other Senate seat in 2008, Kaine replacing Webb, who decided to step down after one term, in 2012, and Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam leading back-to-back statewide-office sweeps in 2013 and 2017.
So, one blip on the radar, and we’re already swinging back in the right direction.
I don’t know that I feel good about the timing of her move to step down now, heading into the 2025 statewide elections.
Abigail Spanberger, a former three-term congresswoman from the Northern Virginia/Central Virginia exurbs, is the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for governor, and she has a big early polling lead in the polls over the presumed Republican nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who is taking some potshots from the MAGAs because she’s a Black woman and reformed Never Trumper.
ICYMI
That election is about as important as you can imagine, as is, to me, the attorney general race, with the incumbent, a MAGA Republican, Jason Miyares, running for a second term.
The mechanics of the move to replace Swecker have it that she will formally step down on March 22, with the party’s State Central Committee, already scheduled to meet that day, electing her successor.
I’d assume the committee already has an idea of who the new person will be going forward, and that this has been in the works for a while.
I hope so. This isn’t the time to be playing dumb political games.
“As I step down, I do so with pride and confidence, knowing that our party is in capable hands,” Swecker said in the statement released on Monday, addressing the questions that people like me have right now.
“The solid foundation we’ve laid will ensure Virginia remains a beacon of Democratic strength for generations to come,” she said.
Update: Monday, 1:03 p.m. We just got this statement from Abigail Spanberger, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for governor in 2025:
“Chairwoman Swecker is a force for progress — being attentive to Virginians’ concerns, getting to work to address them, and bringing in more voices to the Party to shape Virginia’s future. Throughout her nearly 10 years as Chair and decades of work to deliver for working families, Chairwoman Swecker has kept our Party focused on every Virginian we serve. Her leadership ushered in many critical victories, including historic wins in 2019 to establish full control of our Governor’s office and General Assembly for the first time in two decades — allowing Democrats to pass landmark laws to keep our communities safe and protect the rights of our fellow Virginians.
“As she looks forward to her next chapter, I’m grateful for Chairwoman Swecker’s leadership, as well as the guidance and advice she has given me. I know that she will continue to make her voice heard on behalf of the people of Virginia, as she has always.”
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Chris Graham
