Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears said Thursday she will seek the Republican nomination for governor next year, setting the stage for one of the most historic contests in Virginia history. 

Earle-Sears, who rode the GOP wave in 2021 into the second of the three highest political offices in the state, announced her candidacy at a rally in Virginia Beach. If no one else steps forward for the nomination, she would face presumed Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger, with the winner becoming the first woman to be a Virginia governor. 

Should she win, the 60-year-old Earle-Sears would become the second Black person – and the first Black woman – to be the state’s chief executive. 

In her announcement, accompanied by the release of a YouTube campaign video, Earle-Sears acknowledged the historical significance of her run. However, she said, more than history was at stake in the campaign. 

“Yes, this is an opportunity to make history, but our campaign is about making life better for every Virginian right here, right now,” she said.  

Earle-Sears has already put her name in Virginia’s history books by becoming the first Black woman to serve as lieutenant governor. She is the third Black person to hold that post, following L. Douglas Wilder in 1986 and Justin Fairfax in 2018, her immediate predecessor.

Wilder went on to become the nation’s first Black governor. Fairfax lost a crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2021.

Running on Youngkin platform

The Jamaican native and former Marine said she wants to build on the run of her predecessor, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who under Virginia law cannot seek a second term. Youngkin, a Republican who flirted with the possibility of being former President Donald Trump’s running mate this year, has pushed traditional conservative agendas on business growth, support for law enforcement and giving parents choices for their children’s education – and Earle-Sears vowed to follow that same course. 

“We cannot go backwards now,” Earle-Sears said in a statement announcing her campaign. “Little girls and boys, from Fairfax to Fincastle, from Haysi to Henry, from Phoebus to Port Republic, and from Wachapreague to Wise … they are all counting on us to win and succeed in Virginia. I will not be outworked. And I will not let them down.”  

Thursday night’s announcement was not a surprise. Earlier in the day, Earle-Sears filed paperwork with the state Department of Elections to run. 

Earle-Sears’ announcement essentially ends speculation about whether state Attorney General Jason Miyares would also seek the top spot on the ticket. Miyares, who made history in 2021 by becoming the first person of Hispanic descent to win the AG office, issued his own statement shortly before Earle-Sears’ announcement saying that his political attention was squarely on the 2024 presidential election. 

“My focus right now is on November 2024 and electing as many Repubicans in Virginia as we can,” Miyares posted on X (formerly Twitter). Miyares said the U.S. “cannot afford four more years of the failed policies” of the Biden administration. 

“It is clear we cannot allow Democrats to seize complete control of power in Washington or Richmond,” he wrote. 

Currently, Democrats hold six of Virginia’s 11 House of Representatives seats, as well as both U.S. Senate seats. The GOP is facing its toughest battles in the Second and Seventh districts. 

In the Second, freshman Rep. Jen Kiggans – who won the seat two years ago with just a 51% majority – is being challenged by Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal. The Second District covers much of coastal Virginia with its political center being Virginia Beach. 

In the Seventh, which stretches from central to northern Virginia, millions of dollars are being spent in the contest between Republican Derrick Anderson and Democrat Eugene Vindman. Republicans are hoping to flip the district which has been represented by Spanberger the past four years.  

Spanberger opted out of re-election to focus on her Democratic bid for governor. 

Democrats call her ‘extremist’

Virginia Democrats wasted no time in going after Earle-Sears. A statement from state party chair Susan Swecker called the lieutenant governor an “extremist” on such issues as reproductive rights and serving the LGBTQ+ community. 

“Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears has dedicated more time to boosting her far-right profile as an extremist on Newsmax and Fox News than actually addressing the needs of hard-working Virginians,” Swecker said in the statement. “If elected governor, she’d unleash her radical agenda: outlawing abortions, rolling back gun safety measures, dismantling LGBTQ+ rights, gutting healthcare for millions, and slashing funding for public schools.” 

Swecker called Earle-Sears’ vision “divisive, toxic leadership that hurts the middle-class and tears us apart instead of bringing us together.” 

Earlier this year, Earle-Sears caused a stir in the Senate when she referred to Democratic Sen. Danica Roem of Prince William County – the first transgender legislator in Virginia – as “sir” during a Senate floor debate. While she eventually apologized for the mistake, Earle-Sears appeared agitated in doing so, accusing Senate Democrats of “showing disrespect towards me.” 

Who is Winsome Earle-Sears? 

Earle-Sears came to the U.S. with her parents from Jamaica at the age of six. Her first foray into political office was 2001 when she ran for and won as a Republican a Black-majority House district seat in Norfolk. But she was out of politics two years later, losing a bid for the Third Congressional District seat to Democratic incumbent Bobby Scott. 

A former member of the state Board of Education, Earle-Sears ran a write-in campaign in the 2018 U.S. Senate election, protesting the candidacy of Republican Corey Stewart and his reported ties to white nationalists. 

She supported Trump’s re-election bid in 2020. The next year, she became the first Black woman to win Virginia’s lieutenant governorship. 

In 2022, following the GOP’s dismal midterm election performance, Earle-Sears appeared to distance herself from Trump, calling him a “liability” to the Republican party and vowing to not support another White House bid by him. 

However, like many other Republicans across the nation, she seemed to soften her stand on Trump as it became clear he would be the GOP nominee in 2024.  

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. 

BLAND CO., Va. (WDBJ) – The Mountain Field Cemetery in Hollybrook has sweeping views of the Bland County countryside where Bobby Wright grew up. And there among the graves of his parents, grandparents and other family members is a marker honoring his life.

“We got it placed, had a little service here for him,” said Wright’s first cousin Elaine Havens. “The VFW was here. The American Legion was here. And he was well-honored that day.”

U.S. Army Private 1st Class Robert J. Wright Jr. was just 20 years old when he died during the Korean War. He was reported missing in action on November 30, 1950 and fellow prisoners of war later said he died in March 1951.

Havens didn’t know Wright. She was born after his death, but her brother talked about him frequently. And she said Wright’s mother never gave up hope that he would come home alive, despite reports that he had died in a prisoner of war camp.

“She didn’t think that that was right, that he would come home, that he was prisoner somewhere and he would eventually come home,” Havens told WDBJ7. “And she went to her grave still thinking that Bobby’s going to come home.”

A news release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Wright’s remains were part of a group of Korean War Unknowns buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. Wright’s remains were disinterred in August 2019 and sent for analysis.

The release said scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph comparison. In addition, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Havens said the news that Wright’s remains have finally been identified will bring closure for family members who have never forgotten his life, service and sacrifice.

“It’s emotional. And I don’t want to cry on camera, but it is emotional to know that they didn’t give up. The military didn’t give up,” Havens said. “And even though to us, I had kind of given up hope that he would ever come back, but now it looks like he will.”

Copyright 2024 WDBJ. All rights reserved.

Earle-Sears filed her statement of organization with the Virginia Department of Elections on Sept. 4, which made her the first Republican to submit paperwork for the contest.

Earle-Sears became the second woman and the first woman of color to hold a statewide office. If she is successful in her 2025 campaign, Earle-Sears will become the first black woman to serve as governor in the United States. 

Earle-Sears, Youngkin, and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares were part of a mini-Republican revolution in Virginia two years ago.

Following a steady stream of Democratic wins in the once safe-red state, Youngkin and Earle-Sears won their 2022 contests with campaigns heavily focused on parental rights in education and fighting against critical race theory in public schools.

Prior to her role as lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears was a state delegate and served in the Marine Corps. She immigrated from Jamaica as a child. 

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So far, only one Democratic candidate is running for Virginia governor. Last year, Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) declared she would be running. If Spanberger and Earle-Sears are the nominees next November, it will be a historic matchup, as Virginia has never had a female governor.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Earle-Sears’s communication officer for a comment.