RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Abigail Spanberger has officially announced that she will be the 2025 Democratic nominee in this year's race for Virginia governor. The deadline for candidates to submit a total of 10,000 signatures to get their name on the ballot was 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 3. The top th ree Republican nominees in the running for this year's race for governor are Winsome Earl-Sears, Dave LaRock and Former Chesterfield County Senator Amanda Chase. LaRock recently announced in a post on X that he will not be continuing his run for the Republican nomination in the race for governor due falling short in signatures. "our campaign collected over 9,000 signatures of the required 10,000 petition signers needed to be on the Republican primary ballot for Governor." Earl-Sears remains the Republican party's leading nominee. In previous 8News coverage, Rich Meagher, a political science professor at Randolph-Macon Political Science Professor said, "Sears remains the favorite to face likely Democratic nominee former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger." Karen Hult, Virginia Tech Professor of Political Science, shares this on Earl-Sears: "She has been a lieutenant governor working with a quite popular governor who is limited to one term and so clearly that's going to help her."  In a recent statement released by Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for this year's governor race, she said she is honored to be nominated. "I’m honored to share that I’m officially the Democratic nominee in the November 2025 election for the Governor’s office in Virginia! I’m grateful for the grassroots support from volunteers and contributors like you who have made this possible," she said. The statement came minutes after the deadline for candidate submissions closed. Spanberger continued on by declaring her intentions as the Democratic candidate moving forward. "We need to reach voters across the Commonwealth to show them that I’m running to stand up for the people of Virginia, not stand by as chaos and division are spread." Early in-person voting will begin on Friday, May 2. ...read more read less