The Virginia Police Benevolent Association gave its endorsement to Democrat Abigail Spanberger over her Republican rival, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
The PBA’s endorsement wasn’t partisan, as it also said it would support Republican John Reid for lieutenant governor and Republican Jason Miyares for attorney general. The PBA previously endorsed Earle-Sears for lieutenant governor in 2021, when she won.
In its endorsement for Spanberger, the PBA said that while in Congress, she had voted “to increase funding for local police departments and sheriff’s offices — and she was relentless in pushing her bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act across the finish line to secure the earned benefits of thousands of Virginia’s retired police officers.”
The endorsement is the latest of many blows to the Earle-Sears campaign, undercutting her argument that Spanberger is anti-police.
“When we call 911, we say there’s a burglar, who’s going to get us? Exactly, they’re not going to come, there’s nobody. And we’re not even going to be able to have our guns. Because Abigail is going to get rid of our [Second Amendment] rights. Can we afford her? No. No. I mean, all across the board, this woman is crazy. She’s absolutely crazy,” Earle-Sears said at a campaign rally earlier this month, referring to Spanberger.
SPANBERGER STILL AHEAD OF EARLE-SEARS AFTER TRUMP WEIGHS IN ON VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE
The failure to secure the nomination of the PBA, which represents 11,000 officers, is particularly notable for Earle-Sears, as it backed Spanberger’s Republican opponent in her 2020 congressional election. The PBA has a history of supporting both parties but has tended to endorse more Republicans in recent years.
Earle-Sears’s campaign has been plagued by doubts from fellow Republicans for months. She has struggled in polling, increasingly so as time goes along. RealClearPolitics has Spanberger up by an average of 7.5% in its Virginia gubernatorial election poll, while the latest accredited poll from Virginia Commonwealth University had Spanberger leading by 12%.