RICHMOND, Virginia — Four years after winning statewide office in Virginia, Winsome Earle-Sears is back in the political arena. But this time around, the lieutenant governor hopes to succeed her boss, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), as the Old Dominion’s chief executive.
It won’t be easy.
Youngkin and Earle-Sears flipped Virginia red in 2021 by running a campaign built on backlash toward former President Joe Biden‘s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, President Donald Trump sits in the Oval Office, and Democrats are hoping to retake the governor’s mansion by running on backlash toward his policies. Democrats also have historical precedent on their side, with Virginia electing governors who represent the opposing party of the president in power.
Yet Earle-Sears is unperturbed.
“They’ve been attacking me since 2001 when I first ran. They haven’t stopped attacking me,” Earle-Sears told the Washington Examiner in a sit-down interview Wednesday, about her Democratic critics.
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The Lieutenant Governor stresses that her campaign and potential administration will focus on accountability and transparency in government, among other issues. Earle-Sears has a four-part strategy that she hopes will propel her to victory in the November election. She’s focused on safety and security, the economy, education, and energy—all of which she claims make her a better candidate than her Democratic opponent, Abigail Spanberger.
“She wants to raise taxes. I want to continue to lower taxes to the point where I want to make sure we get rid of the dreaded, hated car tax,” Earle-Sears said. “Nobody likes that, including, I’m sure, she doesn’t like it, but she won’t do anything about it. I will.”
Both gubernatorial candidates have endorsed ending the annual personal property tax on vehicles in Virginia, which is unpopular with residents.
Virginians are largely satisfied with the policies that the Youngkin administration has enacted, including the crime rate dropping 38% in 10 of the state’s worst cities, according to Earle-Sears.
“The polls are telling us, and the people are telling us, that they want what we’re doing to continue. And this is where I believe my opponent, Abigail Spanberger, is going to get tripped up,” she said. “Because the people like what we’ve done. They want what we have to continue. But you see, she was never a part of any of the good that we’ve done.”
Polling data released last week from Founders Insight showed 46% of likely general election voters surveyed would cast a ballot for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, compared to 43% who would vote for the Republican nominee and 9% who said they were undecided.
The undecided vote could still be persuaded to vote for Earle-Sears between now and the election.
After the Virginia primary on Tuesday, the Democratic ticket will include Spanberger, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi as the lieutenant governor nominee, and former Del. Jay Jones as the attorney general nominee. The Republican ticket includes Earle-Sears, Attorney General Jason Miyares (R-VA) running for reelection, and John Reid, the only GOP candidate for lieutenant governor.
The Virginia governor race, and to a lesser extent the New Jersey governor race, this fall is widely seen as a political bellwether ahead of next year’s midterm election.
The Old Dominion has shifted toward the GOP after the 2024 election, although it still voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump persuaded more suburban voters in Northern Virginia to back his campaign, which Earle-Sears will likely need to improve on in order to succeed Youngkin.
That effort is complicated after the Department of Government Efficiency slashed thousands of federal jobs. The impact will be hard felt in Virginia, home to nearly 236,000 government workers and industries that rely on the federal workforce.
“We’ve been creating efficiencies in government since we’ve come back into office. For example, we’ve found so many inefficiencies everywhere. For example, at the DMV, we’ve been able to shore that up, and people are so happy,” Earle-Sears countered when asked about the federal layoffs.
Earle-Sears said she and Youngkin created private sector jobs in Virginia that are now hiring laid-off federal workers.
“We’ve created over 250,000 new jobs in Virginia, and we have created 15,000 business startups, never existed, small businesses, because we know how to do this,” she continued. “And we are hosting job fairs for those on the federal level who are no longer working there. And in fact, when you look at what’s happening in our employment space, we’ve seen that some of those former federal workers have taken jobs in the private sector, or they’re taking jobs at the various levels of state-local government.”
Spanberger has also carefully crafted a narrative as a centrist Democrat who was willing to buck Democratic leaders when she served in the House of Representatives, making it harder for Earle-Sears to paint her as an out-of-touch liberal.
“Abigail has a record of bringing people together to get things done for Virginians — it’s why she was ranked the most bipartisan Member of Congress from Virginia,” said TaNisha Cameron, a Spanberger campaign spokesperson.
“And everywhere she travels across the Commonwealth, she hears from Virginians who are worried about high costs, the quality of their children’s schools, and how the chaos coming from Washington will affect their families,” Cameron continued. “As Governor, she will remain focused on putting Virginia first by making Virginia more affordable, strengthening Virginia’s schools, and growing the Commonwealth’s economy for everyone.”
The Lieutenant Governor has instead opted to criticize her opponent for other issues, including voting against the Laken Riley Act, legislation that requires federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged or convicted of theft-related offenses, while in office. Trump later signed the legislation into law earlier this year.
The president, who never carried Virginia in his three presidential elections, has not yet weighed in on the governor race, and it is unclear whether he will do so.
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But Earle-Sears remains confident that his support is forthcoming.
“Now, do you think our president wants me to win? Of course, he does,” Earle-Sears said. “He likes to win, and so do we. And he will come when it is time, and until then, we will continue to do the work. We’re not flinching. We’re not afraid of hard work.”