On Election Day this week, Virginians will vote for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, all 100 seats of the House of Delegates, and a variety of local government offices. The Commonwealth’s reputation as a political “barometer of the nation” will be put to the test once again as Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears is pitted against Democratic former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger to become the first female governor in Virginia’s 418-year history.
But between the fallout of a texting scandal, a contentious gubernatorial debate, and an ongoing federal government shutdown, this year’s election cycle has proven to be nothing short of eventful. Here’s a look at the candidates vying to become our 75th governor.
Winsome Earle-Sears (R)
A Jamaican-born immigrant and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Winsome Earle-Sears became Lieutenant Governor in 2021, in the same election that saw Glenn Youngkin win the governorship and secure a Republican trifecta in state government. She currently resides in Norfolk.
If elected, Earle-Sears has promised to “Defend and Deliver” Youngkin’s conservative policy wins on taxes, education, and social issues. She backed Youngkin’s directive that directed the Virginia State Police to cooperate with federal authorities to remove illegal immigrants and has advocated for the strict enforcement of immigration laws. To combat increasing demand for intrastate energy production, Earle-Sears has stated her support for an “all of the above” energy profile that includes both renewable and nonrenewable sources. When it comes to healthcare policy, however, Sears has largely stayed mum. She signaled interest earlier this year in tapping into Virginia’s “rainy day fund,” a reserve designated for short-term use, to shore up evaporating Medicaid funding.
When signing legislation earlier this year in her role as Lieutenant Governor (who presides over the state senate), Earle-Sears wrote that she was “morally opposed” to a proposal that would enshrine access to abortion in the state constitution and opposed a different bill providing anti-discrimination protections for interracial and same-sex married couples. She affirmed these stances in the gubernatorial debate, where she vowed to sign legislation banning abortion after 15 weeks and rejected the idea of sexual orientation-based discrimination in employment and marriage.
Earle-Sears has invested a significant portion of her political capital in criticizing policies regarding transgender students and athletes as well as advocating for parental involvement in school curricula. This playbook contributed to Youngkin’s decisive win in 2021. She has come in strong support of policies that would require students to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their assigned birth sex, and prevent the participation of transgender athletes in female sports teams. In August, Sears attended an Arlington School Board meeting to speak against the district’s current policy of permitting transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. She was met by a throng of local activists advocating for transgender rights, one of whom toted a sign widely decried as racist.
Early in the campaign season, Earle-Sears faced questions about her ability to unite the Republican statewide ticket. Her relationship with John Reid, the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor (who recently debated an AI-generated version of his opponent on live television) was put under particular scrutiny. She also confronted fundraising challenges – donors were reportedly reluctant to support a campaign that had drawn skepticism from numerous Republican operatives. In recent months, however, Sears’ campaign seems to have steadied as she steps up public appearances with other Republican nominees and sees a surge in fundraising momentum. That being said, she still faces a major financial disadvantage – Spanberger has raised over $30 million more in cash than Earle-Sears since the start of her campaign.
Abigail Spanberger (D)
A former federal law enforcement officer and CIA case officer, Abigail Spanberger represented Virginia’s competitive 7th congressional district from 2019 to 2025. She currently resides in the Richmond suburbs of Henrico County.
Throughout her campaign, Spanberger has emphasized the importance of bipartisanship in problem-solving and vowed to tackle affordability issues. She has repeatedly centered her campaign around the economic impact of federal job cuts, as the Commonwealth’s unemployment rate continues to rise (mainly concentrated in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads), and the effects of the Trump administration’s policies on healthcare access. Alongside the Republican nominees for Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, she was endorsed earlier this year by Virginia’s largest police union, in a decision that sparked criticism from some in the law enforcement community.
When it comes to energy policy, Spanberger supports the Virginia Clean Economy Act (a 2020 law that mandates a state-wide transition to clean energy by 2050) and efforts to increase the efficiency of energy generation, including by revising the Commonwealth’s regulatory framework. She has repeatedly asserted that she would veto any attempts to restrict access to abortion and contraception further and stated during the gubernatorial debate that she would “support [an amendment to the state constitution] codifying the Roe. v. Wade standard.”
In contrast to her opponent, Spanberger has pledged to repeal Youngkin’s executive order on immigration enforcement. She has maintained her view that transgender students should be granted access to school bathrooms and sports on a case-by-case basis.
Spanberger has fundraising and historical trends on her side. The winner of the Virginia gubernatorial election has been, in every election since 1971 (except 2013), a member of the party not in control of the White House. As stated previously, she has raised roughly $30 million dollars more than her opponent. And as of the week before election day, she also leads in the polls – although the degree to which Republican voters are accurately represented in these sorts of surveys has been debated.
Recently, Spanberger has confronted attacks from Earle-Sears over her response to the texting scandal that has engulfed Democratic nominee for Attorney General Jay Jones, who admitted to sending text messages that called for the murder of former Republican House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert and his family. She refused to retract her endorsement of Jones when pressed during the gubernatorial debate earlier this month. All of this, as the General Assembly has been called to special session to consider a constitutional amendment that would allow Democrats to gerrymander congressional districts in their favor. Spanberger told reporters this past Monday that she would not oppose these efforts, marking a shift from this summer when she stated she “had no plans to redistrict Virginia”. Whether or not either of these last-minute developments will impact the end result of the election remains uncertain.
Regardless of who is elected this coming Tuesday, Virginia is sure to make history once again.
