CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – A Republican primary election is not out of the question for the 2025 race to be Virginia’s next governor.
Former Virginia State Senator Amanda Chase filed paperwork to run right before the deadline on Thursday, April 3.
Still, even she is unsure if she will make it into the race, saying over the phone on Friday, she can not confirm how many signatures she got.
It’s a tough place for any candidate, according to Larry Sabato, director of UVA’s Center for Politics.
“She didn’t get very more than the minimum required and the usual rule of thumb is you get more than 50% of what you need,” Sabato said.
In addition to the 10,000 total signatures each candidate needs, they also have to get 400 valid registered voters in each of Virginia’s congressional districts.
“Incumbents always know they can get those signatures,” Sabato said. “It’s the challengers who have those problem.”
Still, a GOP primary race for governor could be coming. It is a costly battle between candidates that Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger gets to avoid, having secured her party’s nomination.
“It causes a candidate to spend money they’d prefer to save for the general election. It takes time and energy. There are negative charges that can be put into general election TV ads,” Sabato said.
The Virginia Republican party has a few days to tally up all the signatures, but even if Chase skates by with enough, Sabato believes, she’s far from a favorite.
“The state party is clearly more in favor of [Winsome] Earle-Sears because she’s the incumbent Lt. Governor and she’s the choice of Governor [Glenn] Youngkin,” Sabato said.
Earle-Sears said she raised around $3.1 million in this year’s first quarter reporting period.
No other candidate has released this information yet.
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