With the general election tickets set, today feels like a good time to take a look back at the deep dive I did on the gubernatorial race between Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger in April.
All four installments are below:
Earle-Sears and Spanberger Part 1: Their path to a historic matchup – 4/6/25
Since Patrick Henry took office in 1776, Virginia has had 74 governors — all of them men. Now, the Republican nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, and the Democratic nominee, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, are both aiming to become the 75th, and the first woman elected to the role.
Only once before has a woman even made it to the general election: Democrat Mary Sue Terry, who lost to George Allen in 1993 after securing her party’s nomination.
While the historic nature of their bids is not lost on them, Spanberger and Sears are focused on talking about issues that impact voters.
“I’m running for Governor because I want to serve my fellow Virginians and focus on the issues that are top of mind for so many — the strength of our public schools, the cost of housing and healthcare, the safety of our communities, and the impacts of federal firings and trade wars on Virginians and our economy,” Spanberger said in a statement to Virginia Scope.
“I do know that electing our first woman Governor will be a source of pride and happiness for many people — and my goal is to serve the Commonwealth well and ensure I’m one of many qualified, hardworking women who eventually hold this or other offices serving Virginians,” Spanberger continued.
Sears, who would be the first Black female governor in the United States, recognizes the importance of potentially making history but says the job is about much more than that.
“Of course, becoming the first woman elected as governor of Virginia would be a profound honor and a significant milestone in our Commonwealth’s history, but leadership is about actions and results, not just making history,” Sears said in a statement to Virginia Scope.
Earle-Sears and Spanberger Part 2: Education takes center stage in Virginia governor’s race – 4/14/25
With trust in Virginia’s public schools at a crossroads, education is once again taking center stage in the race for governor — and the two nominees are offering Virginians starkly different paths forward.
Democrat Abigail Spanberger is campaigning on boosting investment in traditional public education, while Republican Winsome Sears is championing school choice and a greater role for parents. Though their philosophies diverge, both agree the system is struggling — and voters do, too. A January poll from Christopher Newport University found that 74% of Virginians see improving K-12 education as a top priority.
Accountability
The Virginia Board of Education — composed entirely of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees, except for one — is set to roll out a new school accountability system in the upcoming academic year.
Under the new framework, every public school in the state will be publicly categorized into one of four tiers: Distinguished, On Track, Off Track, or Needs Intensive Support. The Virginia Department of Education said if the system were put into place this school year, about 36% of schools would be labeled “off track” or “needs intensive support,” and the remaining 64% would be labeled “on track” or “distinguished.”
It’s a major change from the current system, in which 85% of schools were designated as fully accredited last year. Youngkin has often criticized the current system for being hard to understand and not painting an accurate picture of how schools are performing.
Democrats in the General Assembly introduced legislation this year aiming to postpone the system’s implementation, but the effort stalled in committee, clearing the way for the changes to move forward as planned.
Former Secretary of Education Anne Holton, who is the lone Virginia Board of Education member not appointed by Youngkin, has concerns about the new system.
“In my opinion, they’ve been sloppily designed without thinking through some of the repercussions,” Holton said during an interview with Virginia Scope.
Earle-Sears and Spanberger Part 3: Abortion access divides Sears and Spanberger in Virginia’s race for governor 4/17/25
In the first Virginia governor’s race since the fall of Roe v. Wade, abortion access has emerged as one of the starkest dividing lines between Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears and former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger. Sears, a vocal opponent of abortion, has aligned herself with proposals to restrict access, signaling support for a 15-week ban and increased parental consent laws. Spanberger has positioned herself as a bulwark against further rollbacks, promising to oppose new restrictions and protect access to contraception.
Their clash reflects not only the ideological divide between the two candidates but also the high stakes for Virginians navigating a shifting legal landscape. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe, Virginia has become a key Southern battleground, maintaining fewer restrictions than neighboring states. As national groups pour money into the race and voters weigh the candidates’ positions, reproductive rights could once again prove to be a decisive issue in determining the state’s political direction.
Virginia currently allows abortion through the second trimester of a pregnancy, which is nearly 27 weeks. North Carolina limits abortion at 12 weeks, South Carolina and Georgia at six weeks, and Tennessee has a total ban on abortion with the exception of the mother’s life being at risk.
“Virginia is the only state in the South that hasn’t passed further restrictions on women’s reproductive healthcare since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade,” Spanberger said in a statement to Virginia Scope. “But elsewhere in the South, we have seen extreme politicians and judges restrict access to contraception, jeopardize the health and safety of women, and undermine families’ right to privacy.”
Sears declined to provide a comment for this story.
Spanberger has made reproductive rights a central theme of her campaign, frequently emphasizing her commitment to preserving access to abortion and contraception in Virginia. She’s framed the race as a critical choice for voters who want to keep the state from following neighboring Southern states in enacting stricter bans.
In September, on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Spanberger released a statement calling for its codification.
Earle-Sears and Spanberger Part 4: From Mailboxes to TikTok – 4/21/25
With millions already pouring into Virginia’s 2025 governor’s race — and expectations of a record-breaking spend — strategists on both sides agree: money alone won’t win it. But how campaigns spend it just might.
In 2021, more than $60 million was spent on political advertising in the governor’s race. This cycle, Democratic nominee and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger has raised $16.3 million, far outpacing Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, who has brought in $5.7 million.
Campaign cash remains one of the most revealing metrics in politics. But seasoned operatives say the real question isn’t how much is raised — it’s how, when and where they spend the money..
“Campaigns are resource games,” said Matt Moran, a Republican strategist and top adviser to Gov. Glenn Youngkin. “There’s a lot of money in politics, but it’s still finite. The key is knowing when to go and how hard to hit.”
Moran and Democratic strategist Danny Kedem have spent years working on high-stakes races across Virginia. While they sit on opposite sides of the aisle, both agree early messaging — especially in today’s fractured media environment of voters getting their information from so many different sources — can set the tone for the entire race.
Kedem, a Democratic consultant with experience in statewide contests, said Sears’ challenge is using messaging to introduce herself to voters beyond the GOP base. In 2021, she spent just over $618,000 on political ads — a fraction of the $2.7 million spent by her Democratic opponent in the lieutenant governor’s race, Hala Ayala.
“The problem for Sears is that the only people who know her right now is the hardcore Republican base,” Kedem said. “They basically just kind of voted for Youngkin and then voted for her.”
Youngkin slightly outperformed the rest of the ticket in 2021, receiving 4,829 more votes than Sears.
“This election is really going to be about how she defines herself, and how she tries to define Spanberger,” Kedem said. “Will people more easily believe that she’s an extremist, or will they more easily believe that Spanberger is an extremist.”