Va. lieutenant governor wants to be governor, setting up possible historic contest for job

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.