This year’s statewide political competition is in gear with a pack of candidates raising and spending millions of dollars during the pandemic to blend proven techniques with new ideas to win every eligible voter by and on Election Day.

The Democratic contests, topped by a spirited roster for governor, lieutenant governor and state attorney general, will be settled in a June 8 Democratic Party primary election.

The state Republican Party, still licking its wounds from last year’s elections, held a state convention May 8 during which participants chose its candidates for Virginia’s top offices going into the November general election.

As Democratic voters weigh their primary options, here’s a snapshot of contenders in the contest for governor. All information used for this story is based on public records and campaign disclosures.

Jennifer Carroll Foy, 39, a native of Petersburg, has been making history since her childhood growing up on the poor side of Petersburg. Ms. Carroll Foy proudly touts she eats “no” for breakfast. She characterizes herself as a champion for the new generation of young progressive leaders giving voice to the “voiceless.”

Ms. Carroll Foy was raised by her grandmother, the late Mary Lee Carroll, a public health aide worker until a stroke left her a quadriplegic. At that juncture in life, Ms. Carroll Foy and her aunt scraped funds together to pay her grandmother’s mortgage and other bills.

Ms. Carroll Foy stayed focused. In high school, she joined the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or JROTC. She saw a news report about the U.S. Supreme Court in 1996 open- ing the doors of the all-male, state-supported Virginia Military Institute to women. The high court’s decision helped Ms. Carroll Foy map out her vision of her desired future.

After graduating from Petersburg High School, Ms. Carroll Foy was among the first women accepted by VMI, where she earned her bachelor’s and met her future husband, classmate Jeffrey Foy, who, like her, ran track. Ms. Carroll Foy went on to earn a master’s at Virginia State University followed by a law degree from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in California.

Her working life since school has been marked by achievement after achievement in the courtroom, public service and in the political world.

She upset a Republican to win election to the state House of Delegates in 2018 representing parts of Prince William and Stafford counties and worked for the successful expansion of Virginia’s Medicaid program, among other measures. Last December, having worked to help the homeless get relief during the pandemic, Ms. Carroll Foy announced she was stepping down from the legislature to focus on a run for governor.

By the end of March, she had raised $3.7 million for her campaign, including $2.3 million in cash on hand.

She has been endorsed by the mayor and vice mayor of Petersburg and several women’s rights and progressive movement organizations, including Emily’s List, the Latino rights group CASA and an emerging women’s voting group, Run Sister Run.

Ms. Carroll Foy is one of two Black women seeking to win a contest that would make either the first female governor of Virginia.

Lee J. Carter, 33, an Elizabeth City, N.C., native who has represented Manassas and parts of Prince William County in the Virginia House of Delegates since January 2018, describes himself as a Democratic Socialist and “pro workers crusader.”

The Marine Corps veteran said he is “ideologically, politically and financially” an “outsider.”

His political roots are traced to a 2015 summer job on which he was hurt and a resulting encounter with the state workers’ compensation system that he described to a publication as “just horrible.” That scramble with the state over getting help prompted Delegate Carter to seek public office in which he could do more for people like him — ordinary workers down on their luck.

The “outsider” with no political connections and less campaign cash defeated GOP incumbent Jackson Miller.

Once in the legislature, Delegate Carter was appointed to several House committees—Finance, Militia, Police and Public Safety. After a rough start, Delegate Carter won approval for bills that bar prison and jail officers from strip searching minors, place a $50 cap on the amount people with diabetes must pay for their insulin as part of the state’s expanded Medicaid program and bar restaurant employers from classifying workers as ‘tipped” employees if they are not allowed to take tips.

Delegate Carter acknowledges that he is a long shot in this year’s Democratic gubernatorial contest. He describes the Democratic field as “four attorneys and me.”

Still, he’s in it to keep his issues on the discussion table, including fighting for universal health care and promptly reducing the prison population.

Delegate Carter has raised $888,843, according to election reports. He has not issued a roster of endorsements.

Justin E. Fairfax, 42, a Pittsburgh native whose family roots are traced to his enslaved ancestors in now-sprawling Fairfax County in Northern Virginia, is hoping his current post of lieutenant governor will catapult him to governor as it has for so many of his predecessors.

He is considered a political progressive, consistently supporting Democratic Gov. Northam. He has backed boosting the minimum wage to $15 an hour and advocated boosts in state spending on education.

Lt. Gov. Fairfax brings strong academic credentials — from a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a law degree from Columbia University —to his work and public service starting as an aide to Tipper Gore during the 2000 presidential campaign of her husband, then U.S. Sen. Al Gore Jr.

Lt. Gov. Fairfax served as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee in 2005 and served for two years as a federal prosecutor in Alexandria, where he was deputy coordinator of the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force.

In his first bid for public office in 2013, Lt. Gov. Fairfax launched an energetic campaign for the Democratic nomination for Virginia attorney general. In a primary contest praised by observers for its style and humility, Lt. Gov. Fairfax lost by a narrow margin to Mark Herring, who is now ending his second term in that office.

Lt. Gov. Fairfax remained in politics, serving as co-chair of the 2014 re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner. Ready for the next challenge, he successfully joined Virginia’s emerging blue wave and won election in November 2017 as lieutenant governor on a ticket with Gov. Northam and Mr. Herring running for a second term as attorney general.

But Lt. Gov. Fairfax’s planned trajectory has not gone smoothly. In early 2018 as Gov. Northam was hit with blackface allegations that threatened to end his political career and the lieutenant governor ascending to governor, two women came forward with separate allegations that Lt. Gov. Fairfax has sexually assaulted them – one in 2000 while she and Lt. Gov. Fairfax were students at Duke University, and the other alleging she was assaulted in 2004 when they attended the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Lt. Gov. Fairfax, who was not married at the time, has insisted both encounters were consensual. Neither woman reported the alleged assaults to police at the time and no investigations have corroborated the women’s claims.

Lt. Gov. Fairfax asserts their claims were part of a “vicious and coordinated smear campaign” by friends of a potential political rival to keep him from becoming governor.

Still, Lt. Gov. Fairfax’s political polish and ascent appear to have been dampened by the allegations. His monetary pipeline and public support have scattered.

The Democratic gubernatorial contest he had hoped to competitively lead now has myriad contestants. He has raised less than $100,000 as of the end of March. He nor his campaign have issued a strong list of election endorsements.

Terry McAuliffe, 64, is seeking to regain his role as Virginia’s governor, having served for four years from January 2014 to January 2018.

Because governors cannot succeed themselves in Virginia, Mr. McAuliffe, a household name in Virginia and in national politics since the days of President Jimmy Carter, surprised many by entering the Democratic gubernatorial race in December – others say “big footing” his way in—long after other candidates had put their hats in the ring.

A native of Syracuse, N.Y., who grew up in the Washington metro area, Mr. McAuliffe started in business at age 14 with his own driveway paving venture. He earned a bachelor’s from The Catholic University of Washington and a law degree from Georgetown University School of Law.

Since a few years after law school, Mr. McAuliffe has steadily worked the front lines for Democrats statewide and for presidential candidates dating back to President Carter. The highlights of this work included former President Bill Clinton’s first bid for president. He also was national chairman of former First Lady and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.

He was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 2001 after a hugely successful and final fundraising push for the 2000 Democratic National Convention. Known for his high energy style and substance, Mr. McAuliffe championed direct mail and internet giving to give Democratic candidates a viability nationally and in Virginia.

As governor, Mr. McAuliffe championed restoration of voting rights for felons and began the campaign to expand Virginia’s Medicaid health program. His election appeal this year about “rebuilding a stronger, more equitable post-COVID Virginia” says he wants to “dramatically” increase teacher pay and help enhance road and highway infrastructure.

A father of five, Mr. McAuliffe has used his experience and favorability across the state to raise large sums in this gubernatorial primary contest — $9.7 million, including $8 million in cash on hand at the end of March. He has already raised more campaign funds for a statewide campaign than all of his opponents combined.

Mr. McAuliffe has a large contingent of backers, including Gov. Ralph S. Northam, who broke with tradition and declared his support for Mr. McAuliffe ahead of the primary. His list of supporters names several members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, including state Sen. Louise Lucas, president pro temp of the state Senate; House Majority Leader Charniele Herring; House Transportation Committee Chair Delegate Delores L. McQuinn of Richmond and House Appropriations Committee Chair Delegate Luke Torian of Prince William County. Other backers include Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney and Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander.

Jennifer L. McClellan, 48, who has represented Richmond in the state Senate since January 2017, points to a long list of progressive legislation she has helped lead through the General Assembly since first winning election to the House of Delegates in 2006.

That list includes bills and actions aimed at “dismantling the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow,” she proclaims, including championing legislation to abolish the state’s death penalty and expanding state support of funds for financial aid to undocumented immigrants.

Sen. McClellan is ready to keep the train moving forward, she said, energized by Democratic control of the General Assembly and the governor’s mansion for the first time in decades.

Sen. McClellan, a Petersburg native, grew up in a family led by education and civil rights advocates. That piqued her interest in history, one that continues today. The fruit didn’t fall far from the tree. She graduated as valedictorian from Matoaca High School at age 17, earned a bachelor’s from the University of Richmond and a law degree from the University of Virginia.

In college, she got involved as a volunteer with an alliance against sexual and domestic violence after a fellow student was killed by an ex-boyfriend.

In law school, Sen. McClellan became active in the Young Democrats Club, stitching valuable life links upon which she continues to build. She went to work as a telecommunications lawyer for Verizon.

In the political arena, Sen. McClellan has been an advocate for tightening the state law regarding marriage of teenage mothers, strengthening and improving laws regarding student suspensions starting with pre-K through third grade and strengthening domestic violence laws. She has held a leadership position in the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.

Sen. McClellan cites among her hallmark the passage during the most recent General Assembly session of 10 “comprehensive” bills impacting the political landscape of the state, including updated voting rights leg- islation and a domestic workers bill of rights.

Sen. McClellan reports raising $1.7 million for her campaign and had $444,000 in cash on hand as of the end of March.

Sen. McClellan has won endorsements from 75 leaders at all levels across the state, including 12 members of the Virginia General Assembly, five former state cabinet officers and 23 local officials. Among them are Viola O. Baskerville, former state secretary of administration; Javaid Siddiqi, former state secretary of education; and Henrico County Sheriff Alisa Gregory.