Karen Tumulty had just finished interviewing Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at last fall’s Cap Times Idea Fest when she pitched an idea backstage to me.
Tumulty, the Washington Post’s chief political correspondent, suggested inviting two rising political stars she had covered extensively to appear together this year.
The two were Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill, who in the months since Idea Fest were elected as governors of Virginia and New Jersey, respectively. The two politicians became close friends and lived together after they were elected to Congress in 2018. Each had flipped a Republican-held seat based in part on their national security backgrounds…