Grace Eliza Goodwin
Report from New York

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger will tonight deliver the Democratic Party’s official rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.

She will speak from Colonial Williamsburg, an outdoor museum covering the history of the United States as a British colony on what is now the East Coast of the United States.

The rebuttal is a tradition dating back to 1966, in which a prominent member of the opposition makes a formal rebuttal on television after the president’s annual message.

Members of Ms. Spanberger’s team say she plans to speak about the “chaos” Mr. Trump caused during his second term. They say the location was a “concrete decision” that speaks to this year’s 250th anniversary of America’s founding, which was also the theme of President Trump’s speech.

Spanberger, 46, a former CIA officer and three-term congressman, ran for governor on a platform focused on improving affordability. In January she Became the first female governor of Virginia This comes after he won by the largest margin for a Democratic candidate in the state in 60 years.

“She knows Americans want lower costs, safer communities, and stronger democracy, not chaos and corruption,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week.

“Governor Spanberger will set a clear path forward to lower everyday costs, protect health care, and protect the freedoms that define us as a nation,” Schumer added.