The highly-anticipated Virginia gubernatorial race is drawing national attention as the only state besides New Jersey holding a gubernatorial election in 2025.
The Republican Party of Virginia announced Saturday in a post on X that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears will be the sole GOP nominee after no other candidate qualified to run, and will be facing off against former Democratic Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger. The outcome of Virginia’s 2025 gubernatorial election has been widely seen as an early bellwether for the 2026 midterm election, as well as a means of gauging voters’ attitudes toward the current presidential administration.
The Virginia GOP stated that Sears would be “a governor for all Virginians” if she is elected, adding that she has been an “unwavering partner” of incumbent Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who won his 2021 race after embracing parental rights policies in the final months before the election. Sears, who previously served in the United States Marine Corps, is the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor in the state, according to her biography. She also previously served as the vice president of the Virginia State Board of Education.
“Over the past four years, Lt. Gov. Sears has been a fierce advocate for Virginians’ individual liberties and worked hard to put money back into the pockets of Virginia families,” the Virginia GOP wrote in the social media post. “She has fought tirelessly for those affected by the fentanyl crisis and has championed education initiatives to help our students and their families. Her steadfast fight for parents’ rights has led to major reforms in our Commonwealth.”
Youngkin is ineligible to run for reelection, as the Constitution of Virginia prohibits the state’s governors from serving consecutive terms.
“I’m proud to officially be the Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia,” Earle-Sears wrote Saturday in a post on X. “We’ve made great progress over the past four years, but the fight for our Commonwealth is far from over.”
Notably, whichever candidate wins Virginia’s 2025 gubernatorial election will make state history as the first woman elected to be governor.
The Democratic Party of Virginia confirmed Spanberger’s nomination for governor on Thursday in a statement posted on X, stating that the Democratic candidate is “the fighter Virginians need.” Spanberger has previously promoted several left-wing initiatives, including gun control and abortion rights.
“I’m officially the Democratic nominee to be Virginia’s next Governor,” Spanberger wrote Friday in a post on X. “Virginia is my home — it’s where I grew up and where we chose to raise our three daughters. I’m just as invested in our Commonwealth’s future as you are, which is why I’ll work tirelessly to strengthen our public schools, make Virginia a more affordable place to live, protect Virginia jobs, and defend our fundamental rights.”
Youngkin endorsed Sears early on, in November 2024, stating that she has been “an outspoken advocate for commonsense conservative principles and policies.” Sears and Youngkin made headlines in 2021 when they flipped their state’s governor and lieutenant governor’s seats just one year after former President Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump in the state, as well as in the 2020 presidential election.
“The [Virginia] state party is clearly more in favor of [Winsome] Earle-Sears because she’s the incumbent Lt. Governor and she’s the choice of Governor [Glenn] Youngkin,” Larry Sabato, director of University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, told WVIR-TV on Friday.
Youngkin won Virginia’s 2021 gubernatorial election with 50.6% of the vote, compared to former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s 48.7%. Meanwhile, Sears won the 2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election with 50.8% of the vote while former Democratic Virginia state delegate Hala Ayala secured only 49.2%.
While President Donald Trump swept all seven battleground states in the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris won Virginia, securing 52.1% of the vote to Trump’s 46.3%.
Sears’ campaign did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. Spanberger’s campaign could not be reached for comment.
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