I'm beginning to think that Democrats will regret making Abigail Spanberger a thing. They ran her as a moderate Democrat, something those of us who were paying attention knew was a lie from the start. It was clear they had higher ambitions for Abby, making her the person to give their rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union address.
As I said at the time, the rebuttal — like Spanberger's governorship — was a massive failure. And that was six weeks ago. Since then, Spanberger has cratered in the polls, with her approval rating now only slightly better than that of an infectious skin rash. That's what happens when you blow into office and immediately raise taxes on everything Virginians buy (while giving your buddies in state government massive raises), break your promise not to gerrymander, and allow violent illegal aliens to murder innocent mothers at bus stops while your administration obstructs ICE.
But I do have to thank Spanberger for kicking open the door for Republicans in their war on the Left-wing terror groups that have been plaguing our cities for years. That's because Spanberger just signed legislation removing tax exemptions for the United Daughters of the Confederacy and other Confederate groups.
🚨 NEW: Abigail Spanberger just signed a law ending the tax exemption status for the United Daughters of the Confederacy and other Confederate groups. pic.twitter.com/0Ooojv9UQB
— Micah (@micah_erfan) April 14, 2026
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) on Monday signed into law a bill eliminating tax exemptions for multiple organizations connected to the Confederacy.
Democrats in the Virginia House and Senate passed HB167 with vote totals of 62-35 and 21-17, respectively, earlier this year. The bill specifically removes the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, among other similar groups, from the list of organizations exempt from state property taxes.
The UDC, a nonprofit, was founded in 1894 by women “seeking to honor their family members and ancestors” who served in the Confederate military or contributed to the Southern war effort, its website states.
The organization also seeks to “preserve, protect and mark” Confederate monuments and “collect and preserve the material for a truthful history” of the four-year Civil War.
In a press release from February, Julie N. Hardaway, President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy warned, "Passage of this bill will set a precedent to open the door for other valuable historical museums to lose tax-exempt status and opens wide the door for legal action. Is this simply a test case before moving on to bigger and better targets, including churches? To target any group who does not conform to the delegate’s way of thinking is un-American."
Hardaway is right, of course. And I doubt this law will pass Constitutional muster when it eventually makes its way to SCOTUS.
But, if that's the game the Left wants to play, we should thank Spanberger, because she just opened wide the door for Republican governors in red states to do the exact same thing to Leftist organizations.
And they should.
Spanberger just said that BLM, Antifa-linked organizations, Code Pink, and the No Kings groups are now fair game for a removal of tax-exempt status. If Republicans have the spine to play hardball the way Democrats do, that is. Strip them of their tax-exempt status.
When they do, point to Spanberger and say, "She did it first." And not that there's also a fundamental difference between the two: those Left-wing groups routinely engage in violent, terroristic, and often illegal activities. They burn businesses, vandalize property, harass reporters, threaten law enforcement, and besiege cities.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy and other Confederate groups do not. They simply hold a viewpoint and celebrate a history the Democrats don't like. So while the courts are likely to smack Spanberger down for this unconstitutional legislation, defunding the domestic terrorists the Democrats love will probably be upheld by the courts. Domestic terrorism is not protected by the First Amendment, no matter how often the Left says their violence is "speech."
Democrats won't see it coming, and they'll lose their minds when their own rules are enforced on them.
Then again, foresight is not Spanberger's strong suit. As I said, she went full-blown Leftist the second she took the oath of office, and is now asking voters to disenfranchise Republicans. Her hubris and Leftism might cause that measure to go down in next week, as it should. Projections show the "no" vote trending ahead in early voting.
Should that happen, Spanberger and the Democrats will take all the wrong lessons from it. Instead of engaging in a minute of introspection, they'll double down on their radical policies and forget that, while they may think they'll hold on to power forever, Republicans do win elections. And, as someone I love says, the other side gets to move and shoot, too.
Spanberger just fired the opening salvo.