Latest news with #WinsomeEarleSears
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Republican nominee for Virginia governor names new campaign manager
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is bringing on a new campaign manager as the GOP nominee for Virginia governor seeks to quell concerns about the direction of her campaign ahead of the high-profile off-year election this November. Pennsylvania-based political strategist Corey Barsky will take on the role, CNN has learned. A campaign spokesperson says Barsky will take over for Will Archer, who the campaign announced last week was moving into a different role. Barsky has already been serving as a senior adviser for the campaign. According to his LinkedIn page, he is currently a strategist at the political consulting firm ColdSpark and a 2021 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. The staffing shift comes as Earle-Sears, the state's lieutenant governor, trails her Democratic rival, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, in fundraising and public polling. Spanberger announced last week that her campaign raised $10.7 million in the second quarter, eclipsing the $5.9 million brought in by Earle-Sears. A recent poll by Virginia Commonwealth University found Earle-Sears trailing Spanberger by 12 points, 49% to 37%. Republicans have publicly criticized her fundraising and outreach to donors, including in a Politico magazine story published Wednesday. Core to Earle-Sears election argument is an emphasis on creating jobs and pursuing policies to benefit the working class. She's also leaning on the record of incumbent Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin though her campaign has also noted she cannot self-finance much of her campaign like Youngkin, who had a long business career before entering politics.
CNN
6 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Republican nominee for Virginia governor names new campaign manager
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is bringing on a new campaign manager as the GOP nominee for Virginia governor seeks to quell concerns about the direction of her campaign ahead of the high-profile off-year election this November. Pennsylvania-based political strategist Corey Barsky will take on the role, CNN has learned. A campaign spokesperson says Barsky will take over for Will Archer, who the campaign announced last week was moving into a different role. Barsky has already been serving as a senior adviser for the campaign. According to his LinkedIn page, he is currently a strategist at the political consulting firm ColdSpark and a 2021 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. The staffing shift comes as Earle-Sears, the state's lieutenant governor, trails her Democratic rival, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, in fundraising and public polling. Spanberger announced last week that her campaign raised $10.7 million in the second quarter, eclipsing the $5.9 million brought in by Earle-Sears. A recent poll by Virginia Commonwealth University found Earle-Sears trailing Spanberger by 12 points, 49% to 37%. Republicans have publicly criticized her fundraising and outreach to donors, including in a Politico magazine story published Wednesday. Core to Earle-Sears election argument is an emphasis on creating jobs and pursuing policies to benefit the working class. She's also leaning on the record of incumbent Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin though her campaign has also noted she cannot self-finance much of her campaign like Youngkin, who had a long business career before entering politics.
Washington Post
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Earle-Sears shakes up campaign for Va. governor as fundraising, polls lag
RICHMOND — GOP gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears has asked her campaign manager — a pastor with no political experience — to step away from that role amid calls from some fellow Republicans to shake up a campaign that is lagging in fundraising and polls, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Virginia politicians look outside the state for political punching bags
RICHMOND — Republicans running for statewide office in Virginia have a couple of surefire ways to rile up crowds at campaign stops: mention New York City's mayoral race or Maryland's budget woes. 'New York … has nominated a socialist!' GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears thundered last week at a rally in Vienna, drawing a cascade of boos directed at New York Democrat Zohran Mamdani. 'A socialist!' she repeated, as the jeers grew louder.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Virginia emerges as key bellwether ahead of midterms
Virginia's off-year elections are being viewed by both parties as a key bellwether heading into next year's midterms, as well as a potential indicator for how voters view President Trump. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) will face off to become the first female governor of the state, while Democrats will seek to maintain and grow their majority in the House of Delegates. The races could prove to be a litmus test for the first year of Trump's second administration as Republicans prepare to defend their majorities in Congress next year, especially as Virginia has a tendency to oscillate between the two parties in the race for governor. 'The Democrats want to look at this as a bellwether largely because they think they have an advantage here,' longtime Virginia political analyst Bob Holsworth said. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball each rate the gubernatorial contest as 'lean Democratic.' A Roanoke College survey released in May showed Spanberger with a wide 43 percent to 26 percent lead over Earle-Sears, with 28 percent of voters saying they were undecided. However, another May poll released by the business group Virginia FREE showed Spanberger leading by 4 percentage points. Spanberger also holds a fundraising lead over Earle-Sears. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Spanberger raised $6.5 million, while Earle-Sears brought in $3.5 million; Spanberger currently has more than $14 million in the bank, while Earle-Sears has just less than $3 million. Spanberger, a former intelligence officer, has a history as a formidable candidate, having unseated former Rep. Dave Brat (R) in the state's highly competitive 7th Congressional District and gone on to win reelection twice. Additionally, she has touted herself as a moderate Democrat, pointing to her work across the aisle while serving in the House. While Spanberger has touted a number of kitchen table issues including affordability, investing in schools and community safety, she also often points to federal government job cuts made under Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The cuts have had a unique impact on Virginia, given the federal government's close proximity to the state. 'Virginia is home to more than 320,000 federal employees,' Spanberger said in an interview with The Hill. 'I will never miss an opportunity to make sure the president understands that the haphazard DOGE effort has been deeply, deeply detrimental to Virginians, to their families, to our economy, and that the havoc it has wreaked across our commonwealth is so significant.' 'As a former national security professional, I have dire concerns about what the future looks like,' she said, referring to laid-off government employees with 'institutional understanding and historical references.' Earle-Sears, who is originally from Jamaica, has a background as a Marine Corps veteran and business owner. She served in the House of Delegates from 2002-04, ending her tenure when she challenged Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) in the state's 3rd Congressional District in 2004. In 2021, she became Virginia's first female lieutenant governor, winning alongside Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and Attorney General Jason Miyares (R). Earle-Sears has leaned into her work in the Youngkin administration in making her case to the commonwealth's voters, particularly on job creation. '[Voters] all pretty much say they want what we are doing in Virginia to continue, and my opponent's problem is she was never a part of creating this great economy that we have, bringing all these jobs to Virginia,' Earle-Sears told The Hill in an interview. In the wake of the DOGE cuts, Youngkin and Earle-Sears have touted the administration's 'Virginia Has Jobs' initiative, which includes 250,000 open jobs in the state. A 'support resource bundle' would also be available to federal workers looking for work. Democrats have attacked Earle-Sears over her response to the impact of DOGE cuts on the state, however, pointing to remarks she made earlier this year in which she touted the state's jobs initiative and said losing a job is 'not unusual.' 'I have lost a job, and in any room that this has been brought up, I ask the people: 'How many of you have ever lost a job?'' Earle-Sears told The Hill last month, referring to remarks from earlier this year. 'I raised my hand, along with them. And I got to tell you, we don't want people to, of course, not have jobs, and that's why we have been so successful in creating over 270,000 of them.' However, Republicans are still voicing concerns about Earle-Sears's chances in November. Veteran GOP strategist and senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign Chris LaCivita called her staff 'amateurs' in a post on the social platform X in May, while one Virginia Republican strategist called this year's cycle 'a hard hill to climb' for Republicans. 'The money disadvantage is massive, and that's a problem,' the Virginia GOP strategist said. 'That's the challenge beyond structure: the resource piece, and running really good campaigns.' The strategist noted that in addition to touting her work in Youngkin's administration, Earle-Sears could draw on issues that have played well for Republicans nationally. 'There are encouraging signs,' the strategist said. 'Obviously the president's approval rating, stability around the world, stability on trade policy. There are the conditions for the national environment to be solid, and yet still it is a challenging state to compete in simply because of the makeup of the state and, historically, just with the party in power, it makes it difficult to [hold onto the governorship].' During Trump's first administration in 2017, Democrats saw victories in the gubernatorial, lieutenant gubernatorial and state attorney general races. Democrats did not win a majority in the House of Delegates that year, but they narrowed the GOP majority to one seat. Two years later, in 2019, Virginia Democrats gained control of the House of Delegates and the state Senate, giving the party control of both legislative chambers and the governor's mansion for the first time since 1994. In 2021, when former President Biden was in the White House, Republicans hit back in the state's off-year elections, when they won back control of the House of Delegates and Youngkin won the gubernatorial contest. When asked about whether Trump's presence in the White House will impact the gubernatorial race, Earle-Sears said the campaign is about her and Spanberger. 'This race is about Abigail Spanberger and me and the commonsense ideas that I stand for,' Earle-Sears said. 'People can differentiate and make that distinction.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
