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Talk of the Town: Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears joined FOX 5 to discuss legislation and more.
WASHINGTON - There’s a contentious race underway to determine who will be the next governor of Virginia.
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger are facing off to take the highest office in the state.
Whichever candidate wins, it will be historic as Virginia has never had a female governor.
Virginia is one of just two states electing governors this November, and its race is widely viewed as a bellwether for the party in power in the nation’s capital ahead of next year’s midterms. Early voting is underway and Election Day is on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Who is Winsome Earle-Sears?
According to her campaign website, Winsome Earle-Sears is a native of Kingston, Jamaica, who immigrated to the United States at the age of six.
She went on to serve in the United States Marine Corps and has also served as the vice president of the Virginia State Board of Education, worked as a presidential appointee to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Earle-Sears was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2002. She became the first female Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and the first Black woman elected to statewide office, in 2022.
A point of pride for the gubernatorial candidate that she has talked about many times on the campaign trail has been her community work leading a men’s prison ministry and as director of a women’s homeless shelter.
Earle-Sears has a Bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in economics, and a Master’s in organizational leadership, with a concentration in government.
What has Winsome Earle-Sears done as Lieutenant Governor?
Working under current Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Earle-Sears has advocated for many of his causes, such as education and parents’ rights – a campaign issue that led Youngkin straight to victory.
One point that Earle-Sears has discussed, in particular, has been policies on transgender individuals using women’s locker rooms and bathrooms, and participating in women’s sports.
This has been a major talking point within the Virginia education system as Gov. Glenn Youngkin has continued to push policies directing schools to identify and direct students to spaces that align with their biological sex.
Youngkin issued an executive directive in early October banning biological males from girls' sports. The governor’s order also prevents biological males from using girls' locker rooms. He’s said it’s an embarrassment and tragedy that certain individuals continue to turn a blind eye to these clear violations of the law.
Youngkin’s office told FOX 5 that the directive underscores the administration’s commitment to protecting women’s and girls’ health and safety.
Earle-Sears has echoed the governor’s sentiments, lambasting and challenging Spanberger multiple times during their only debate last week.
At the debate, Earle-Sears asked Spanberger directly about her stance on transgender children in girls' locker rooms and bathrooms.
"This is not hard," she said to Spanberger. "Are you going to change in a gym where men are nude in the locker rooms? Are you going to do that, Abigail? I don’t think you will."
Earle-Sears has also highlighted bringing down the cost of living, getting tough on crime, protecting Virginia’s workers and protecting women as some of her key issues.
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Spanberger, Earle-Sears clash in VA governor debate
Thursday night at Norfolk State University, Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat and former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger squared off in a debate.
Virginia gubernatorial debate
Earle-Sears took an aggressive approach from the start of the candidate’s only debate, held on Oct. 10.
The lieutenant governor interrupted Spanberger several times and had to be asked by the moderators to wait for her time to provide a rebuttal. Spanberger sometimes ignored Earle-Sears entirely.
The two women clashed on a host of issues including taxes, data centers, abortion, immigration enforcement and the economy.
They also tackled hot button issues in the state in more recent weeks, including a text message controversy from Democratic candidate for Attorney General Jay Jones that's dominated headlines and the government shutdown that persists in Washington.
Earle-Sears, a vocal Trump supporter, declined to criticize the president or call for an end to the firings when asked directly by moderators.
Instead, she blamed Democrats and urged Spanberger to pressure Virginia’s Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, to support a spending bill backed by the Republican-controlled Congress.
How old is Winsome Earle-Sears?
Virginia’s lieutenant governor was born on March 11, 1964. She is 61 years old.
Earle-Sears was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and immigrated to the United States in 1970.
Does Winsome Earle-Sears have kids?
Earle-Sears and her husband, Terence, have two daughters, Katia and Janel. Tragically, her other daughter DeJon, and granddaughters Victoria and Faith, were killed in a car accident in Fairfax in 2012. They were just 27, 5 and 7 years old, respectively.
According to a report by WTVR, DeJon suffered from mental illness.
"She got into a car one night and she was experiencing an episode," Earle-Sears reportedly told the Richmond-based outlet. "We didn’t know she had stopped taking her medication. She was driving the car at 100 mph and ended up killing herself and our grandchildren and injuring another person."
Pushing through pain, Earle-Sears says her daughter and grandchildren are "now looking into the face of God."
Latest polling
Kaplan Strategies polled likely Virginia voters heading into the 2025 statewide elections from Oct. 16-18. According to their data, Democrat Abigail Spanberger holds a 10-point lead (51%–41%) over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, with 7% undecided.
They also say Spanberger holds a 23-point advantage among voters registered as independent (54%–31%) highlighting her appeal in the mostly blue Commonwealth.
Polling by the organization co/efficient taken between Oct. 15-17 showed Spanberger ahead with a five-point lead over Earle-Sears, 49% to 44%. There was 1% support for the independent candidate Donna Charles, and 6% of respondents in that poll say they are undecided.
She remains ahead in a Trafalgar Group/InsiderAdvantage poll conducted between Oct. 13-15, but with a much smaller lead. Among likely voters, 47.5% of respondents said they would vote for Spanberger while 45.3% would vote for Earle-Sears, while 6.4% said they remain undecided.
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