EXCLUSIVE: GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Comes Out Swinging Against ‘Washington Chatter’

Republican Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee in Virginia’s 2025 gubernatorial race, blasted recent reports painting a bleak picture of her campaign.

Earle-Sears told the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation in an exclusive statement on Wednesday that “Washington chatter” will not “distract” her from improving Virginians’ lives if she is elected as governor. Earle-Sears’ comments come after Politico reported on Tuesday that several Virginia GOP strategists and officials have privately raised concerns about whether Earle-Sears’ campaign will be successful.

“I am focused on what matters: making Virginians’ lives better,” Earle-Sears told the DCNF. “Washington chatter won’t distract me from that. We’re going to talk about putting more money in people’s pockets, keeping them safe, and protecting Virginia from Spanberger’s disastrous record and even more daunting vision for the Commonwealth.”

Some Virginia Republicans have expressed uneasiness over Earle-Sears’ gubernatorial candidacy, citing things such as Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger raking in a higher fundraising haul than her, as well as Earle-Sears giving a controversial speech in 2023 where she compared diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts to slavery, according to Politico.

“A lot of us are looking at it and saying, ‘I’d do it differently,’” one anonymous senior GOP staffer told Politico. “She’s a good person, she’d make a good governor, and she’s just not as strong of a candidate as we’d like to have.”

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