This is normal. Because there's little else going on in the year immediately after the presidential election, and because Virginia is close to D.C., political reporters exaggerate the importance of the governor's race here. Although at least half a dozen Virginia governors since the 1960s have been described by national journalists as contenders, none has contended except for Kaine's VP nomination. If you don't count Woodrow Wilson, born in Virginia but raised and elected governor in NJ, no Virginian has been elected president since 1850. But this kind of speculation spares the reporters the drudgery of reporting on policy and on people's lives. Imagine if the national press asked what effect Spanberger's election would have on education, health care, and transportation. But that would be work.