弗吉尼亚州共和党人对州长阿比盖尔·斯潘伯格回应唐纳德·特朗普总统国情咨文的民主党反驳提出了自己的看法，其中包括一位著名直言不讳的开国元勋帕特里克·亨利的后裔。
弗吉尼亚州海滩市共和党议员德尔·安妮·费雷尔·塔特（Del. Anne Ferrell Tata）是帕特里克·亨利州长的妹妹伊丽莎白的直系后裔。塔特表示，这一血统可追溯至“老自治领”（Old Dominion）的早期，而她并不常提及这一点。
但正如塔特在最近的议会发言中提到的，亨利以1775年在里士满圣约翰教堂向第二届弗吉尼亚议会发表的“不自由，毋宁死”演讲而闻名，他证明了“对政府压制公民言论的担忧并非新问题”。
在回应斯潘伯格时，塔特谴责州长在选区重划中带有党派利益，试图将弗吉尼亚州所有共和党议员席位压缩至只剩一个，称这是某些政客试图压制公民声音的新手段。
弗吉尼亚州长阿比盖尔·斯潘伯格回应国情咨文（民主党回应）
（Mike Kropf/Getty Images）
“几年前，弗吉尼亚人做了一件罕见的事。我们一致认为旧的选区划分制度行不通。权力过度集中在政客手中，公众的信任严重缺失。”塔特说。
“选民通过宪法修正案将政客排除在选区划分之外，当时还是国会议员的斯潘伯格州长对此表示赞扬，并详细阐述了不公正选区划分（gerrymandering）对民主的侵蚀作用。这并不容易，需要妥协，需要克制，更需要信任。”
塔特指出，共和党主导的印第安纳州和民主党主导的马里兰州的立法领导人，都反对类似试图消除政治少数群体声音的选区重划方案。
“他们都选择了尊重规则，都选择了信守对选民的承诺。”她说。
“而在弗吉尼亚，我们的州长和她的盟友面临同样的考验，却选择了权力。”
“这无关选区划分，无关党派，而关乎当改革代价沉重时，它是否还有意义。”
塔特表示，当斯潘伯格等领导人“背弃选民批准的改革”时，他们恰恰证明了为何选民不再信任政治体系。
“弗吉尼亚人理应得到信守承诺的领导人，尤其是在困难时刻。这是标准，应该适用于我们所有人。”塔特说。
在之前向州议会发表的讲话中，塔特提到亨利曾警告，政府若“变得过于强大，对公民的天赋权利（上帝赋予的权利）过于冷漠”，将带来危险。
“这一警告至今仍振聋发聩。无论邮政编码如何，每个选民都应在这个政府中享有平等的投票权。”
弗吉尼亚共和党指控“权力掠夺”：支持过选区重划的民主党人转战国会
亨利出生于汉诺威县，一生大部分时间居住在布鲁克尼尔的“红山”（Red Hill），他是弗吉尼亚州首位州长。他的名字遍布全州——从西南部原本合并的帕特里克县和亨利县，到华盛顿郊区亚历山大市1号公路被分为帕特里克街和亨利街。
在他著名的演讲中，亨利警告称，与英国的武装冲突已不可避免，议会应在教堂山集结力量，为殖民地自卫而武装。
“我不知道别人会走什么路，但对我而言，不自由，毋宁死。”亨利在演讲结尾铿锵有力地说道。
在演讲早些时候，亨利提到人们“往往对痛苦的真相视而不见，沉溺于那塞壬的歌声，直到我们沦为禽兽”。
“明智之人在为自由进行艰苦卓绝的斗争时，会是这样的态度吗？我们愿意成为那些有眼却看不见、有耳却听不见关乎自身生死存亡之事的人吗？就我而言，无论精神上会承受多大痛苦，我都愿意知晓全部真相——最坏的情况，并做好应对准备。”
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这一演讲已成为美国早期历史上最重要的事件之一，每年里士满都会在其周年纪念日诵读这段演讲。
福克斯新闻数字版已联系斯潘伯格寻求置评。
查尔斯·克里茨（Charles Creitz）是福克斯新闻数字版记者，2013年加入福克斯新闻担任撰稿人和制作助理，报道媒体、政治与文化新闻，宾夕法尼亚州人，毕业于天普大学广播新闻专业。新闻线索可发送至 charles.creitz@fox.com。
帕特里克·亨利其人
亨利出生于汉诺威县，一生大部分时间居住在布鲁克尼尔的“红山”庄园，是弗吉尼亚州首位州长。他的名字遍布全州：从西南部原合并的帕特里克县和亨利县，到华盛顿郊区亚历山大市的帕特里克街与亨利街。在著名的演讲中，他警告英国殖民统治下的弗吉尼亚将面临战争，并呼吁武装殖民地自卫。“我不知道别人会怎么做，但对我而言，不自由，毋宁死！”成为美国独立运动的标志性呐喊。
‘Give me liberty’ Founding Father’s descendant blasts Spanberger’s redistricting push
Del Anne Ferrell Tata accuses Gov Spanberger of abandoning reform
By Charles Creitz
Fox News
Published February 25, 2026 1:40pm EST
FIRST ON FOX: Virginia Republicans offered their own response to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s Democratic Party rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union, featuring a descendant of the famously outspoken Founding Father Patrick Henry.
Del. Anne Ferrell Tata, R-Virginia Beach, is a direct descendant of Gov. Patrick Henry’s sister Elizabeth, a lineage Tata said stems from the first days of the Old Dominion and one she does not often discuss.
But, as Tata mentioned in recent floor remarks, Henry — famous for his “Give me liberty, or give me death” speech to the Second Virginia Convention at St. John’s Church of Richmond in 1775 — proved that “concern about the government silencing its citizens is not new.”
In her response to Spanberger, Tata condemned the governor’s partisan interest in redistricting out all but one Virginia congressional Republican, suggesting it is the new way some politicians are trying to silence citizens.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger offers the Democratic response to the State of the Union.(Mike Kropf/Getty Images)
“A few years ago, Virginians did something rare. We agreed the old redistricting system wasn’t working. Too much power in the hands of politicians, too little trust from the public,” Tata said.
“Voters approved a constitutional reform to remove politicians from the process and Gov. Spanberger, who was in Congress at the time, praised that change and spoke at length about the corrosive effects of gerrymandering on our democracy. It wasn’t easy. It required compromise. It required restraint and it required trust.”
Tata noted that Indiana, a Republican-led state, and legislative leaders in Maryland, a Democratic-led state, both opposed similar efforts to create a map that sweeps away the political minority’s voice.
“Both chose to respect the rules. Both chose to keep the promise they made to voters,” she said.
WHO IS ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, AND WHY DID DEMOCRATS CHOOSE HER FOR TO THEIR STATE OF THE UNION RESPONSE?
Virginia’s Patrick Henry delivers his “Give me liberty” speech in Richmond.(Smith Collection/Getty Images)
“Here in Virginia, our governor and her allies faced the same test. And they chose power instead.”
“This isn’t about maps. It isn’t about party. It’s about whether reform means something when it costs you.”
Tata said that when leaders like Spanberger “abandon voter-approved reform” they prove why voters do not trust their political system.
“Virginians deserve leaders who keep their word, especially when it’s hard. That is the standard, and it should apply to all of us,” Tata said.
In prior remarks to the state House chamber, Tata said Henry warned against a government that “grows too strong and too indifferent to the natural rights of its citizens; rights bestowed by God.”
“That warning remains as poignant as ever. Every voter deserves an equal vote in this government, regardless of zip code.”
VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS CHARGE ‘POWER GRAB’ AS DEMOCRAT WHO BACKED REDISTRICTING RUNS FOR CONGRESS
Henry, who was born in Hanover and lived most of his life at “Red Hill” in Brookneal, was Virginia’s first governor — and his name can be found throughout the commonwealth — from the formerly conjoined Patrick and Henry counties far to the southwest to U.S. Route 1 being divided into Patrick and Henry Streets in the Washington suburb of Alexandria.
In his famous address, Henry warned that armed conflict with England was becoming inevitable, and that lawmakers assembled on Church Hill should agree to arm the colony for its own defense.
“I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death,” Henry boomed as he concluded his remarks.
Earlier in his speech, Henry said that men are naturally “apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts.”
“Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.”
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That address has gone on to live as one of early America’s most important events, and is often recited around its anniversary in Richmond.
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
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