Latest news with #Earle-Sears'
Yahoo
11-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is on the defensive in Virginia's race for governor
HOPEWELL, Va. (AP) — Against an olive drab backdrop in a barbecue joint filled with the aroma of pulled pork and the sweat of a Virginia summer, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears told voters she was running her campaign for governor like a military-style operation. The lieutenant governor, a former Marine, said she would protect Virginia just as she did America. The way Earle-Sears tells it, not all attacks come from soldiers. Earlier that day, she was asked on national television why Republican President Donald Trump had not endorsed her and whether she stood by her description of him as a liability back in 2022, before his return to the Oval Office about two years later. She challenged the question as backward-looking and called the interview by CNN's Manu Raju a trap. The interview quickly unraveled into a squabble. 'They ambushed me to talk about things that are so in the past, when we've got to move forward,' she told a crowd gathered at Saucy's Sit-Down Bar.B.Q, a mainstay in Hopewell. Her words in both settings, while cast in military terms, reflected a campaign on the defensive. Underfunded and lacking unity Earle-Sears, who faces Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman, in November, is taking her 'Operation Defend & Deliver' campaign across the state. The off-year election all but guarantees that Virginia will have its first female governor in a race that offers an early sense of voter sentiment before the 2026 midterms. An Earle-Sears victory also would make her the first Black woman to serve as a governor, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. But that feels like a distant prospect at the moment. The nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project says Spanberger has raised more than $27 million so far, with more than $15 million on hand. Nearly every Democrat in Virginia politics has pledged to support her. When Democrats Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones won their respective primary races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, the three nominees went on a bus tour across Virginia. Earle-Sears' ticket lacks that kind of unity, though that is not entirely of her doing. Once the Republican statewide nominees had solidified before the June primaries, GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked John Reid, the candidate for lieutenant governor, to leave the ticket after opposition research linked him to a social media account with sexually explicit photos. Reid denied the allegations and refused to step down, but a rally for the statewide ticket was canceled. After that, the three top Republican candidates did not campaign together for months. Earle-Sears' campaign, meanwhile, has had its own challenges. This summer, a pastor with little political experience stepped down from managing her campaign, and her team has failed to gain traction with big money donors. Attorney General Jason Miyares, seeking a second term, has raised nearly as much money, with roughly $2 million short of the lieutenant governor. He has more in the bank — nearly $7 million compared with almost $5 million for Earle-Sears. One of her biggest donors, a political action committee tied to the Republican Governors Association, gave $500,000 to her campaign in June. But by this time in August 2021, the association had donated more than $2 million to Youngkin's campaign. Responding to written questions about the donations, a spokesperson for the association said: 'Winsome Earle-Sears is the only candidate in this race who will keep Virginia on the right track forged by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Under their leadership, parents' rights have been protected, Virginia's economy is growing, and communities are safe.' Youngkin, who is term-limited, has offered more than $21,000 in support to Earle-Sears through his political action committee between March and June. When asked in June whether he would give more, his PAC said the governor was "working to elect the entire GOP ticket and is urging all Virginians to support the commonsense team this November to keep Virginia winning.' Tepid support from Trump Republicans went into this election facing tough sledding in swing-state Virginia. Ever since Democrat Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, Virginia has backed a governor from the opposite party of a first-term president in the following year. Whatever the outcome in Virginia, 2025 is a special case, given the gap between Trump's terms. Trump stopped short of an outright endorsement when asked last weekend about supporting Earle-Sears. 'I mean, I would,' he said. 'I think probably she's got a tough race. ... She shouldn't have, because the candidate she's running against is not very good, but I think she's got a tough race. But I would.' Many state Republicans are more forceful about standing behind their nominee. At the Hopewell gathering, Republican Dels. Mike Cherry and Scott Wyatt, who are seeking reelection, urged voters to back the lieutenant governor. In a prayer, Cherry asked God to 'imbue her with strength and stamina for the days that are to come in the final, waning days of this election.' Wyatt encouraged voters to help Earle-Sears continue the successes of Youngkin's administration. Then Earle-Sears walked onto the stage, smiling and cracking jokes. She described a political climate where Democrats and the media were hitting her with everything they've got. She predicted that she would show them come November. 'How many of you have seen or read about the polls, which say I am 10 points down?' she said. 'Don't believe it.' Not that she doesn't need more money to make that happen. 'Are we going to pass the offering bucket?' Earle-Sears said to a chuckling crowd. 'OK, see, you're laughing again, and I'm not laughing because that's what it's going to take for us to win.'
10-08-2025
- Politics
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is on the defensive in Virginia's race for governor
HOPEWELL, Va. -- Against an olive drab backdrop in a barbecue joint filled with the aroma of pulled pork and the sweat of a Virginia summer, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears told voters she was running her campaign for governor like a military-style operation. The lieutenant governor, a former Marine, said she would protect Virginia just as she did America. The way the Earle-Sears tells it, not all attacks come from soldiers. Earlier that day, she was asked on national television why Republican President Donald Trump had not endorsed her and whether she stood by her description of him as liability back in 2022, before his return to the Oval Office about two years later. She challenged the question as backward-looking and called the interview by CNN's Manu Raju a trap. The interview quickly unraveled into a squabble. 'They ambushed me to talk about things that are so in the past, when we've got to move forward,' she told a crowd gathered at Saucy's Sit-Down Bar.B.Q, a mainstay in Hopewell. Her words in both settings, while cast in military terms, reflected a campaign on the defensive. Earle-Sears, who faces Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman, in November, is taking her 'Operation Defend & Deliver' campaign across the state. The off-year election all but guarantees that Virginia will have its first female governor in a race that offers an early sense of voter sentiment before the 2026 midterms. An Earle-Sears victory also would make her the first Black woman to serve as a governor, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. But that feels like a distant prospect at the moment. The nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project says Spanberger has raised more than $27 million so far, with more than $15 million on hand. Nearly every Democrat in Virginia politics has pledged to support her. When Democrats Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones won their respective primary races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, the three nominees went on a bus tour across Virginia. Earle-Sears' ticket lacks that kind of unity, though that is not entirely of her doing. Once the Republican statewide nominees had solidified before the June primaries, GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked John Reid, the candidate for lieutenant governor, to leave the ticket after opposition research linked him to a social media account with sexually explicit photos. Reid denied the allegations and refused to step down, but a rally for the statewide ticket was canceled. After that, the three top Republican candidates did not campaign together for months. Earle-Sears' campaign, meanwhile, has had its own challenges. This summer, a pastor with little political experience stepped down from managing her campaign, and her team has failed to gain traction with big money donors. Attorney General Jason Miyares, seeking a second term, has raised nearly as much money, with roughly $2 million short of the lieutenant governor. He has more in the bank — nearly $7 million compared with almost $5 million for Earle-Sears. One of her biggest donors, a political action committee tied to the Republican Governors Association, gave $500,000 to her campaign in June. But by this time in August 2021, the association had donated more than $2 million to Youngkin's campaign. Responding to written questions about the donations, a spokesperson for the association said: 'Winsome Earle-Sears is the only candidate in this race who will keep Virginia on the right track forged by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Under their leadership, parents' rights have been protected, Virginia's economy is growing, and communities are safe.' Youngkin, who is term-limited, has offered more than $21,000 in support to Earle-Sears through his political action committee between March and June. When asked in June whether he would give more, his PAC said the governor was "working to elect the entire GOP ticket and is urging all Virginians to support the commonsense team this November to keep Virginia winning.' Republicans went into this election facing tough sledding in swing-state Virginia. Ever since Democrat Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, Virginia has backed a governor from the opposite party of a first-term president in the following year. Whatever the outcome in Virginia, 2025 is a special case, given the gap between Trump's terms. Trump stopped short of an outright endorsement when asked last weekend about supporting Earle-Sears. 'I mean, I would,' he said. 'I think probably she's got a tough race. ... She shouldn't have, because the candidate she's running against is not very good, but I think she's got a tough race. But I would.' Many state Republicans are more forceful about standing behind their nominee. At the Hopewell gathering, Republican Dels. Mike Cherry and Scott Wyatt, who are seeking reelection, urged voters to back the lieutenant governor. In a prayer, Cherry asked God to 'imbue her with strength and stamina for the days that are to come in the final, waning days of this election.' Wyatt encouraged voters to help Earle-Sears continue the successes of Youngkin's administration. Then Earle-Sears walked onto the stage, smiling and cracking jokes. She described a political climate where Democrats and the media were hitting her with everything they've got. She predicted that she would show them come November. 'How many of you have seen or read about the polls, which say I am 10 points down?' she said. 'Don't believe it.' Not that she doesn't need more money to make that happen. 'Are we going to pass the offering bucket?' Earle-Sears said to a chuckling crowd. 'OK, see, you're laughing again, and I'm not laughing because that's what it's going to take for us to win.'
San Francisco Chronicle
10-08-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is on the defensive in Virginia's race for governor
HOPEWELL, Va. (AP) — Against an olive drab backdrop in a barbecue joint filled with the aroma of pulled pork and the sweat of a Virginia summer, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears told voters she was running her campaign for governor like a military-style operation. The lieutenant governor, a former Marine, said she would protect Virginia just as she did America. The way the Earle-Sears tells it, not all attacks come from soldiers. Earlier that day, she was asked on national television why Republican President Donald Trump had not endorsed her and whether she stood by her description of him as liability back in 2022, before his return to the Oval Office about two years later. She challenged the question as backward-looking and called the interview by CNN's Manu Raju a trap. The interview quickly unraveled into a squabble. 'They ambushed me to talk about things that are so in the past, when we've got to move forward,' she told a crowd gathered at Saucy's Sit-Down Bar.B.Q, a mainstay in Hopewell. Her words in both settings, while cast in military terms, reflected a campaign on the defensive. Underfunded and lacking unity Earle-Sears, who faces Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman, in November, is taking her 'Operation Defend & Deliver' campaign across the state. The off-year election all but guarantees that Virginia will have its first female governor in a race that offers an early sense of voter sentiment before the 2026 midterms. An Earle-Sears victory also would make her the first Black woman to serve as a governor, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. But that feels like a distant prospect at the moment. The nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project says Spanberger has raised more than $27 million so far, with more than $15 million on hand. Nearly every Democrat in Virginia politics has pledged to support her. When Democrats Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones won their respective primary races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, the three nominees went on a bus tour across Virginia. Earle-Sears' ticket lacks that kind of unity, though that is not entirely of her doing. Once the Republican statewide nominees had solidified before the June primaries, GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked John Reid, the candidate for lieutenant governor, to leave the ticket after opposition research linked him to a social media account with sexually explicit photos. Reid denied the allegations and refused to step down, but a rally for the statewide ticket was canceled. After that, the three top Republican candidates did not campaign together for months. Earle-Sears' campaign, meanwhile, has had its own challenges. This summer, a pastor with little political experience stepped down from managing her campaign, and her team has failed to gain traction with big money donors. Attorney General Jason Miyares, seeking a second term, has raised nearly as much money, with roughly $2 million short of the lieutenant governor. He has more in the bank — nearly $7 million compared with almost $5 million for Earle-Sears. One of her biggest donors, a political action committee tied to the Republican Governors Association, gave $500,000 to her campaign in June. But by this time in August 2021, the association had donated more than $2 million to Youngkin's campaign. Responding to written questions about the donations, a spokesperson for the association said: 'Winsome Earle-Sears is the only candidate in this race who will keep Virginia on the right track forged by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Under their leadership, parents' rights have been protected, Virginia's economy is growing, and communities are safe.' Youngkin, who is term-limited, has offered more than $21,000 in support to Earle-Sears through his political action committee between March and June. When asked in June whether he would give more, his PAC said the governor was "working to elect the entire GOP ticket and is urging all Virginians to support the commonsense team this November to keep Virginia winning.' Tepid support from Trump Republicans went into this election facing tough sledding in swing-state Virginia. Ever since Democrat Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, Virginia has backed a governor from the opposite party of a first-term president in the following year. Whatever the outcome in Virginia, 2025 is a special case, given the gap between Trump's terms. Trump stopped short of an outright endorsement when asked last weekend about supporting Earle-Sears. 'I mean, I would,' he said. 'I think probably she's got a tough race. ... She shouldn't have, because the candidate she's running against is not very good, but I think she's got a tough race. But I would.' Many state Republicans are more forceful about standing behind their nominee. At the Hopewell gathering, Republican Dels. Mike Cherry and Scott Wyatt, who are seeking reelection, urged voters to back the lieutenant governor. In a prayer, Cherry asked God to 'imbue her with strength and stamina for the days that are to come in the final, waning days of this election.' Wyatt encouraged voters to help Earle-Sears continue the successes of Youngkin's administration. Then Earle-Sears walked onto the stage, smiling and cracking jokes. She described a political climate where Democrats and the media were hitting her with everything they've got. She predicted that she would show them come November. 'How many of you have seen or read about the polls, which say I am 10 points down?' she said. 'Don't believe it.' Not that she doesn't need more money to make that happen. 'Are we going to pass the offering bucket?' Earle-Sears said to a chuckling crowd. 'OK, see, you're laughing again, and I'm not laughing because that's what it's going to take for us to win.'
Winnipeg Free Press
10-08-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is on the defensive in Virginia's race for governor
HOPEWELL, Va. (AP) — Against an olive drab backdrop in a barbecue joint filled with the aroma of pulled pork and the sweat of a Virginia summer, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears told voters she was running her campaign for governor like a military-style operation. The lieutenant governor, a former Marine, said she would protect Virginia just as she did America. The way the Earle-Sears tells it, not all attacks come from soldiers. Earlier that day, she was asked on national television why Republican President Donald Trump had not endorsed her and whether she stood by her description of him as liability back in 2022, before his return to the Oval Office about two years later. She challenged the question as backward-looking and called the interview by CNN's Manu Raju a trap. The interview quickly unraveled into a squabble. 'They ambushed me to talk about things that are so in the past, when we've got to move forward,' she told a crowd gathered at Saucy's Sit-Down Bar.B.Q, a mainstay in Hopewell. Her words in both settings, while cast in military terms, reflected a campaign on the defensive. Underfunded and lacking unity Earle-Sears, who faces Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman, in November, is taking her 'Operation Defend & Deliver' campaign across the state. The off-year election all but guarantees that Virginia will have its first female governor in a race that offers an early sense of voter sentiment before the 2026 midterms. An Earle-Sears victory also would make her the first Black woman to serve as a governor, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. But that feels like a distant prospect at the moment. The nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project says Spanberger has raised more than $27 million so far, with more than $15 million on hand. Nearly every Democrat in Virginia politics has pledged to support her. When Democrats Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones won their respective primary races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, the three nominees went on a bus tour across Virginia. Earle-Sears' ticket lacks that kind of unity, though that is not entirely of her doing. Once the Republican statewide nominees had solidified before the June primaries, GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked John Reid, the candidate for lieutenant governor, to leave the ticket after opposition research linked him to a social media account with sexually explicit photos. Reid denied the allegations and refused to step down, but a rally for the statewide ticket was canceled. After that, the three top Republican candidates did not campaign together for months. Earle-Sears' campaign, meanwhile, has had its own challenges. This summer, a pastor with little political experience stepped down from managing her campaign, and her team has failed to gain traction with big money donors. Attorney General Jason Miyares, seeking a second term, has raised nearly as much money, with roughly $2 million short of the lieutenant governor. He has more in the bank — nearly $7 million compared with almost $5 million for Earle-Sears. One of her biggest donors, a political action committee tied to the Republican Governors Association, gave $500,000 to her campaign in June. But by this time in August 2021, the association had donated more than $2 million to Youngkin's campaign. Responding to written questions about the donations, a spokesperson for the association said: 'Winsome Earle-Sears is the only candidate in this race who will keep Virginia on the right track forged by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Under their leadership, parents' rights have been protected, Virginia's economy is growing, and communities are safe.' Youngkin, who is term-limited, has offered more than $21,000 in support to Earle-Sears through his political action committee between March and June. When asked in June whether he would give more, his PAC said the governor was 'working to elect the entire GOP ticket and is urging all Virginians to support the commonsense team this November to keep Virginia winning.' Tepid support from Trump Republicans went into this election facing tough sledding in swing-state Virginia. Ever since Democrat Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, Virginia has backed a governor from the opposite party of a first-term president in the following year. Whatever the outcome in Virginia, 2025 is a special case, given the gap between Trump's terms. Trump stopped short of an outright endorsement when asked last weekend about supporting Earle-Sears. 'I mean, I would,' he said. 'I think probably she's got a tough race. … She shouldn't have, because the candidate she's running against is not very good, but I think she's got a tough race. But I would.' Many state Republicans are more forceful about standing behind their nominee. At the Hopewell gathering, Republican Dels. Mike Cherry and Scott Wyatt, who are seeking reelection, urged voters to back the lieutenant governor. In a prayer, Cherry asked God to 'imbue her with strength and stamina for the days that are to come in the final, waning days of this election.' Wyatt encouraged voters to help Earle-Sears continue the successes of Youngkin's administration. Then Earle-Sears walked onto the stage, smiling and cracking jokes. She described a political climate where Democrats and the media were hitting her with everything they've got. She predicted that she would show them come November. 'How many of you have seen or read about the polls, which say I am 10 points down?' she said. 'Don't believe it.' Not that she doesn't need more money to make that happen. 'Are we going to pass the offering bucket?' Earle-Sears said to a chuckling crowd. 'OK, see, you're laughing again, and I'm not laughing because that's what it's going to take for us to win.'
CNN
02-07-2025
- Business
- CNN
Youngkin wrote a GOP playbook for winning Virginia. Republicans hope Earle-Sears can follow it
On a Tuesday evening in northern Virginia, Republicans on edge across the state finally got their wish: a campaign event featuring gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, backed by incumbent Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who beat a Democrat four years ago. A racially diverse crowd was packed into a firehouse waving signs that read 'Axe the Tax,' a nod to an Earle-Sears campaign pledge to eliminate the state's car tax. Youngkin lauded Earle-Sears' biography and work as the state's lieutenant governor. At the end, he appeared on stage with the entire GOP ticket, clapping along to the tune of the classic disco song 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now.' 'We haven't come this far to only go this far,' Earle-Sears told the crowd. But things are much different from four years ago, when Youngkin beat Democrat Terry McAuliffe as a businessman and first-time candidate tapping into voter frustration with the Covid-19 pandemic and the handling of race and diversity in schools. Earle-Sears faces headwinds caused by some of President Donald Trump's policies – and concerns among some in her own party about whether she's running an effective campaign. 'The environment is just different and the things that are outside of a candidate's control are worse for Republicans in 2025 than they were in 2021,' said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia. Earle-Sears is facing Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman who has outraised her so far. Kondik also cited Earle-Sears' lack of personal wealth to self-fund her campaign as Youngkin did and her past comments minimizing the impact of these federal cuts as potential drawbacks. Lining the sidewalk outside of the firehouse Tuesday night were demonstrators calling attention to the proposed federal cuts to Medicaid. The US Senate just hours earlier had passed Trump's far-reaching domestic policy bill that could cause millions of people to lose coverage. 'I cared for a lot of people and now I'm in a situation where I may not have a roof over my head,' said Laura Lynn Clark, a 62-year-old former home care provider of Richmond. Earle-Sears' response to these critics sounded a more sympathetic note than what she previously said about federal workers and suggested a shift in her approach. 'What I love about America, as an immigrant, that people can protest and let their government know how they feel about everything,' she told CNN. 'Whatever comes down, we're ready. We have the ability. We're going to make sure that people are made whole,' she added. Earle-Sears, 61, was born in Jamaica and immigrated to the United States when she was six. She later served in the U.S. Marine Corps and directed a Salvation Army homeless shelter. Core to Earle-Sears' election argument is that she is part of a winning team that has delivered the past four years in Virginia on everything from pro-business deregulation to reopening schools after the pandemic. In her allies' telling, she would be an extension of the state's prosperity. That's despite Virginia being one of 17 states with separately elected lieutenant governors. 'We have a winner. We have a Marine who knows how to fight, who understands what America is about, because she understands that everything that she values today, everything she thanks an almighty God for, came from this country. Winsome Sears loves America,' Youngkin told the crowd Tuesday night. But Earle-Sears has been intentional about drawing contrasts with Youngkin during her time as his deputy, tacking to the right of him on everything from same-sex marriage to access to abortion. She has also held few public events, particularly compared to Spanberger. Instead, she's mostly gone to private events that have been closed to the media. Some chairs of county parties have publicly questioned whether she's doing enough, particularly in a state that leans Democratic in national elections. Trump lost Virginia by nearly 6 points last November, an improvement from his 10-point defeat in the state four years earlier. 'Every single soul can look and see all the places I have been,' Earle-Sears told CNN in a recent phone interview as she was driving between campaign stops. 'I used to have to drive myself to every place, racking up miles here and there, because I do not get a driver. The governor does. I don't get security. The governor does. And so I've been doing a lot of it myself.' 'I don't know what other people are seeing, but it's going to be all right,' she said. Ken Nunnenkamp, executive director of the Virginia Republican Party, defended Earle-Sears and said it would take time for her to reach all parts of the state. He also argues Earle-Sears' candor would be appreciated by voters. 'Whether or not you agree with Winsome, you sure as heck know where she stands,' he said.
