Early voting for Virginia’s gubernatorial race opened Friday, kicking off a busy weekend for GOP candidate and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who held a rally in Chesterfield.
“Last night, more than 1,200 of you joined us to kick off the first day of early voting!” Earle-Sears said. “Turnout is up, energy is high, and Republicans are ready to win in November.”
Earle-Sears was joined by GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has backed her campaign and is actively rallying voters to close the gap between Earle-Sears and her Democratic opponent, Abigail Spanberger.
The Lieutenant Governor’s campaign has largely focused on Spanberger’s support of transgender rights. Earle-Sears recently slammed Spanberger for her response to questions over transgender women in women’s bathrooms and women’s sports.
According to Earle-Sears, Spanberger’s response was “word salad.” Earle-Sears also said the former Congresswoman and CIA officer’s avoidance of questions on transgender rights by walking away from reporters was “embarrassing.”
“Abigail Spanberger can’t say men don’t belong in girls’ bathrooms,” Earle-Sears posted on X. “And she wants to be Governor? Virginia, vote like your children depend on it — because they do.”
Earle-Sears has also attacked Spanberger’s stance on immigration and her position on state law enforcement assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Spanberger said her first point of business if elected Governor would be to rescind an Executive Order signed by Youngkin directing Virginia law enforcement to assist the Trump administration and GOP lawmakers’ immigration enforcement agenda.
“Abigail Spanberger can’t hide in her basement forever,” Earle-Sears wrote on X. “She sold our kids out to extreme gender ideology, and I’ll make sure she answers for it.”
While Earle-Sears has made identity politics a central focus in her campaign, a report from Virginia Commonwealth University shows the number one issue for Virginia voters is cost of living — something Spanberger’s campaign has been laser focused on.
Approximately 28% of registered voters identified the rising cost of living as their biggest issue, followed by women’s reproductive rights at 13%, and immigration and education at 12%.
Spanberger also blasted her opponent Friday, calling out Earle-Sears again over her support for President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts that resulted in thousands of layoffs in Virginia, and Earle-Sears standing alongside Vivek Ramaswamy — an original DOGE leader.
“I’ve yet to meet a Republican who says that they’re opposed to my priorities related to removing red tape when it comes to being able to increase housing supply, when it comes to ensuring that Virginia is actually generating more energy here at home, that’s not an area of disagreement,” Spanberger said in a press release. “When we talk about the fact that when you go to the pharmacy and prescription drugs are just too high. That is an area that at least we agree on the problem. So now let’s set about finding a solution.”
The latest prediction from Sabato’s Crystal Ball showed Democrats winning the Virginia General Election this November.
In May, a Roanoke College poll put Spanberger with a 17-percentage point lead over Earle-Sears, at 43%-26%. That has since narrowed to a 7-point advantage in mid-August of 46%-39% in an updated poll from Roanoke College.
An early September poll from VCU had Spanberger’s lead narrowly widened to a still significant 12-point advantage of 52%-40%.
