This week, Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R) reportedly submitted the necessary paperwork to pursue the position of governor in the upcoming year.
According to WRIC, the Richmond affiliate of Nexstar, Sears’s documentation was accepted by the Virginia Department of Elections on Wednesday.
After Sears’s team announced on Wednesday that she would be making a “special announcement” in Virginia Beach on Thursday, this development has occurred.
The off-year race that is expected to dominate campaign news next year is being entered by Sears for the first time by a Republican. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) initiated her campaign for the governor’s mansion in the latter part of last year.
The lieutenant governor, a former state delegate, is the first woman of color and the second woman to assume statewide office in Virginia.
A prospective match-up between Sears and Spanberger would be historic, as the commonwealth has never had a female governor.
Additionally, Sears would be the first Black female governor in the history of the United States.
In 2021, Sears and Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) made a significant impact on the political landscape by flipping the blue-leaning state one year after President Biden’s general election victory over former President Trump.
Youngkin and Sears concentrated their campaign on the curriculums in public schools, which they referred to as parents’ rights in education.
Nevertheless, Democrats have achieved numerous victories in both off-year and on-year elections. In 2022, the majority of swing district Democrats, with the exception of former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), maintained their seats.
And in 2023, the House of Delegates was reversed and the state Senate’s majority was maintained by Democrats.
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