Republican Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears continues to face challenges in her race for Governor against Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger.
After a series of political missteps, Earle-Sears’s is again facing blowback after she turned down an invitation to participate in the People’s Debate hosted by AARP at Virginia State University, citing scheduling conflicts, and opting instead to take part in a debate hosted by CNN.
Spanberger’s campaign manager, Samson Signori, said in a statement that Spanberger had accepted the invitation more than a month ago, according to Virginia Scope.
“Unfortunately, her opponent declined to participate in this statewide debate,” Signori said.
A spokesperson for Earle-Sears’s campaign, Peyton Vogel, said Wednesday the CNN debate is an opportunity for voters to see the difference between the two candidates.
Vogel called Spanberger a “career politician,” an interesting counterpoint considering Earle-Sears herself has spent more than 20 years in and out of politics. Spanberger’s political career, meanwhile, began in 2017 when she was elected to the U.S. House to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Before that she was an operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Vogel dismissed criticism, noting “the Lieutenant Governor is ready to deliver answers rooted in commitment and integrity that they can count on.”
However, CNN has yet to confirm a date for the face-off between Earle-Sears and Spanberger, and this is the second year in a row AARP’s People’s Debate has been scrubbed.
Earle-Sears has also failed to earn some important endorsements, particularly from law enforcement, after both the Virginia National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the Virginia Police Benevolent Association (PBA) backed Spanberger’s bid for Governor. Law enforcement nods often are given to Republican candidates.
Adding to the pile, while the FOP and PBA didn’t support Earle-Sears after previously endorsing her 2021 bid for Lieutenant Governor, the organizations did endorse fellow Republicans John Reid and Jason Miyares, who are vying for Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.
Earle-Sears’ campaign is trying to turn attention to some red meat topics prevalent among GOP officials and candidates.
On Tuesday, she called out Spanberger over what Earle-Sears described as silence on the Loudoun County School Board voting to reject the U.S. Department of Education’s directives on changing bathroom policies for transgender students.
“Abigail Spanberger supports the radical Loudoun School Board’s push to allow boys in girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms,” Earle-Sears wrote on X. “If she cared about Virginia’s parents or daughters, she’d reject this insanity and the extremists endangering our kids.”
It’s a common talking point among GOP candidates, and an issue Democrats have had a hard time answering to. Supporting transgender rights is a key part of the party’s support for LGBTQ+ issues and equality, but it’s also an issue on which face a dilemma.
A Pew Research poll earlier this year found 49% support among American voters for laws that require individuals to use public bathrooms that correspond to the gender assigned at birth, while only 26% opposed such restrictions.
Earle-Sears likely needs any boost she can get from attacks on identity politics. Even though there was no GOP Primary, Earle-Sears only received tepid support from President Donald Trump, who said he would endorse the former marine, but stopped short of actually doing it.
“Yeah, I would. I would,” Trump told reporters. “I think she probably has a tough race. She shouldn’t have. The candidate she’s running against is not very good, but I think she’s got a tough race, but I would, yeah.”
Sears has tried, and given Trump’s only luke warm support, has failed, to shake critical comments she made of Trump in 2022, when she told Fox Business host Neil Cavuto in an interview that she “could not support” Trump.
Recent polls show Earle-Sears lagging behind Spanberger, with some polls showing Spanberger leading Earle-Sears by 12 percentage points. Another poll from Roanoke College in May, showed a 43% to 26% lead for Spanberger.
Spanberger is further outpacing Sears on fundraising, reporting more than $15 million on hand at the end of the most recent fundraising period, while Sears ended it with just $4.5 million.
The General Election for Virginia Governor will be held November 4, 2025.
