Spanberger Announces Cabinet Picks

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

Marvin B. Figueroa

Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger recently appointed Del. Candi Mundon King, D-Prince William, to serve as Virginia’s next secretary of the commonwealth – a cabinet position.

Mundon-King, a Portsmouth native who currently lives in Dumfries with her family, is the second Black appointed to Spanberger’s cabinet. Marvin B. Figueroa, Spanberger’s pick for Secretary of Health & Human Resources, who is also Black, was named on Dec. 2. Figueroa previously served as the Deputy HHS secretary under former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.

Figueroa is currently a vice president at BGR’s Health and Life Sciences Practice, where he helps clients navigate the intersection of healthcare policy, politics, and government decision-making. Records show the governor of Virginia has at least 12 cabinet posts.

According to news reports, one of two of Spanbergers’ latest Black cabinet appointees, Mundon-King is active in regional community organizations, including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She has also served on the Virginia Employment Commission and the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation. Since she was elected in 2021 in the 23rd District, she has become one of the House of Delegates’ most active Democratic lawmakers.

She has been a prominent Democratic voice on maternal health, reproductive rights, public safety, utility regulation and local-government issues. She will manage gubernatorial appointments, clemency requests and constituent services.

Mundon-King’s new appointment to a cabinet post means Prince William and Stafford counties will hold a special election in House District 23 ahead of the General Assembly’s mid-January start. House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, has scheduled special elections for Jan. 13 in House Districts 11 and 23, following the resignations of two veteran Democratic delegates nominated to Spanberger’s cabinet. Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax, who has represented House District 11 since 2006, recently stepped down after being named Virginia’s next secretary of natural and historic resources.

Del. Candi Mundon King

Spanberger said in a recent statement, “Throughout her career, Delegate Mundon King has worked to bring people together to get results for the people of Virginia. I look forward to the work she will continue to do on behalf of my administration,” she said.

Mundon-King’s signature legislative wins in Richmond include pay raises for teachers, protections for victims of human trafficking, paid sick leave for home health-care workers and stronger safeguards for renters facing unauthorized entry by landlords. Mundon King currently chairs the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns, serves as vice chair of the body’s Public Safety Committee, and sits on the House Finance and Labor and Commerce committees.

Mundon-King said in a recent statement, “Throughout my career, I have been committed to improving government accessibility and ensuring our institutions work effectively for every community,” she said. “I will bring that same dedication to managing the critical functions of this office while enhancing the delivery of constituent services.”

Mundon-King also sponsored the Contraceptive Equity Act, which requires insurers to cover all FDA-approved contraceptives without out-of-pocket costs, an attempt to strengthen protections once guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act. It passed but later saw a religious exemption added by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

That same session, she carried a bill aimed at shielding abortion providers from Board of Medicine discipline when performing legal abortions in Virginia. It cleared the House and Senate but was vetoed as part of a broader reproductive-health package rejected by the governor.