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Winsome Sears — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Political career

In November 2001, Earle-Sears upset 20-year Democratic incumbent Billy Robinson in the general election for the 90th district seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, becoming the first female Black Republican, the first female veteran, and the first naturalized citizen to serve in the body. She is the first Republican to represent a majority-Black House district in Virginia since 1865. Sears received a presidential appointment to the United States Census Bureau's African American Committee and a separate appointment from the secretary of veterans affairs to the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans.

In 2004, Earle-Sears was the Republican nominee for Virginia's 3rd congressional district, challenging Democratic incumbent Bobby Scott. She lost in this heavily Democratic district, receiving 31% of the vote.

In 2011, Governor Bob McDonnell appointed Earle-Sears to the Virginia Board of Education, succeeding Ella Ward. She served as the board's vice president in 2014, succeeding Betsy Beamer. Earle-Sears was succeeded as vice president by Billy K. Cannaday Jr. In 2015, Earle-Sears retired from the board and was succeeded by Wes Bellamy.

In September 2018, Earle-Sears ran as a write-in candidate for the US Senate after Corey Stewart won the Republican nomination, citing his past alliances with white nationalists and other racial controversies. She received less than 1% of the vote.

During the 2020 United States presidential election campaign, Earle-Sears supported Donald Trump and served as the national chairwoman of the political action committee Black Americans to re-elect the President.

Following the 2022 United States elections, during which Trump-endorsed Republicans lost in critical battleground states, Earle-Sears criticized Trump, calling him a liability for the party and saying she would not support him running again in the 2024 United States presidential election. Earle-Sears later changed her position, announcing her support after Trump was named the presumptive nominee in 2024.

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (2022–2026)

On January 21, 2021, Earle-Sears announced her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.

On May 11, 2021, Earle-Sears won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Virginia on the fifth ballot, defeating former state delegate Tim Hugo 54% to 46%. On November 2, she won the general election, defeating Hala Ayala. Her victory coincided with victories from gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin and attorney general nominee Jason Miyares. She was inaugurated as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Virginia on January 15, 2022. She is Virginia's first female lieutenant governor, as well as the first Black female to hold the office.

During her 2021 campaign, Earle-Sears declined to say whether she had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, but encouraged others to get vaccinated.

On February 10, 2022, Earle-Sears cast her first tiebreaking Senate vote as lieutenant governor. The Senate voted 20-20 on a bill that would have let defendants in many felony cases appeal discretionary sentences in situations when a judge has not provided a satisfactory written explanation of the sentence. After conferring with the bill's sponsor and with one of the bill's opponents, Earle-Sears voted against the bill.

In June 2022, Earle-Sears "broke a tie vote in the Senate to allow Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to extend lab-school status and funding eligibility to community colleges and TAG-eligible private schools in Virginia to move forward".

In 2024, the Virginia Legislature passed HB 174. The bill stated that no one who is empowered to issue a marriage license may decline to issue a license based only on the gender, sex, or race of the parties. Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the legislation. In her role as presiding officer of the Virginia Senate, Earle-Sears was constitutionally required to affix her signature to the bill. While she did sign it, she added the following note: "'As the Lt. Governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligations to the procedures laid out in the Constitution of Virginia. However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly'".

On January 28, 2025, Earle-Sears cast a tie-breaking vote against a bill to establish a right to contraceptives. The bill was later voted on by the Senate again and passed.

In 2025, the Virginia Legislature gave first passage to a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee abortion rights. Sears affixed her signature to the amendment but added the following note: "'I am morally opposed to this bill; no protection for the child'".

2025 Virginia gubernatorial election

On September 5, 2024, Earle-Sears declared her candidacy for Governor of Virginia in the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election. After Attorney General Jason Miyares announced on November 18, 2024 that he would not run for governor, Earle-Sears was viewed as the presumptive candidate for the Republican nomination.

On February 28, 2025, due to Earle-Sears' previous criticisms of President Trump, former state senator Amanda Chase and former state delegate Dave LaRock each announced that they would run against her in the Republican primary. Despite this newfound opposition, Earle-Sears was still viewed as the favorite to win the primary. In March 2025, Earle-Sears' campaign stated, "'Challengers can enter the race, but the outcome will be the same' — victory".

Ultimately, neither Chase nor LaRock reached the required number of signatures to qualify for the ballot. On April 5, 2025, Earle-Sears became the Republican nominee for governor.

While speaking at an Arlington County School Board meeting to oppose the system's "transgender locker room and bathroom policies", Earle-Sears was targeted by a racist sign in a crowd of protesters outside the venue. It read, "Hey Winsome, if trans [sic] can't share your bathroom, then Blacks can't share my water fountain." All six nominees for statewide office denounced the sign, with Earle-Sears's opponent, Abigail Spanberger, stating, "No matter how much one might find someone else's beliefs objectionable, to threaten a return of Jim Crow and segregation to a Black woman is unacceptable."

In August 2025, VPM News, a National Public Radio affiliate for the Greater Richmond Region, submitted a FOIA request for Lieutenant Governor Earle-Sears's schedule and records, which are required to be kept and preserved permanently. Her office provided a mostly blank, 297-page PDF file, excluding about 297 records and citing exemptions for "confidential correspondence and working papers of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor". A follow-up FOIA submission clarifying and broadening the request went unanswered within the legally required timeframe.

On November 4, Earle-Sears lost the general election to Spanberger, receiving 42.22% of the vote.

Education

When Earle-Sears was appointed to the Virginia State Board of Education as vice president in 2011, she defended their efforts to enact race-based testing standards where Latino and Black students were given lower standards than white students.

Earle-Sears said critical race theory (CRT) was taught in the state's schools. She stated, "So I keep hearing that critical race theory is not taught in schools...They may not use the term critical race theory but it’s there. It's semantics and these word games help no one." She pointed to Loudoun County Public Schools' 2019 agreement with The Equity Collaborative, where she said consultants were trained to teach CRT to students. Loudoun County Public Schools denied her allegations: they stated their cooperation with The Equity Collaborative was for their schools' staff members — not the students. Earle-Sears supported Governor Youngkin's 'Executive Order One' which banned critical race theory in schools' curriculum and other executive orders which rolled back mask mandates and expanded 'parental rights'. Earle-Sears called critical race theory "racist" – believing "the good and bad of American history should be taught."

After the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted schooling in the state, Earle-Sears suggested the possibility of year-round school or longer school days to make up lost educational time. In an August 2021 interview with Virginia Mercury, Earle-Sears proposed increasing teachers' pay and allowing parents to send their children to charter, parochial, and charter schools if they desired to. Earle-Sears has also called for the opening of more lab schools and virtual schools in Virginia. Earle-Sears said critical race theory would "create moral problems for everybody" and she wanted to focus on transitioning schools from "labor-oriented" to "technology-driven."

As lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears supported "Education Excellence for All" which allows parents to take one-third of their child's education fund into the parents' education saving account (ESA) to spend for their child's education. During her 2025 gubernatorial campaign, Earle-Sears wrote an opinion piece on Virginia Scope which advocated for education reform by changing state education standards to national standards and making assessment results "accessible and understandable" for parents.