By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the first Black woman to hold statewide office in the Commonwealth of Virginia, has officially entered the race for governor. On Wednesday, Sept. 4, the Virginia Department of Elections accepted the necessary documents for Earle-Sears to run for governor in the 2025 election season.
Photo: AP Photo/Steve Helber
Earle-Sears is the first Republican to officially enter the race for the party’s nomination in 2025 and hopes to take Youngkin’s seat. Youngkin cannot seek reelection because Virginia is the only state that does not allow governors to run for consecutive terms.
Earle-Sears, a Marine veteran who immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica as a child, defeated Democrat Hala Ayala to become the second woman in Virginia to serve in a statewide office. Attorney Gen. Mary Sue Terry, elected in 1985, was the first.
The first Black Republican woman elected to the House of Delegates, Earle-Sears has also served on the State Board of Education and considers herself a staunch conservative. She recently served as the national chair of an organization dedicated to reelecting former President Donald Trump. She has also led a men’s prison ministry, served as director of a women’s homeless shelter and run a plumbing and electrical supply company.
U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger stands as the only Democrat currently seeking her party’s nomination to run for governor.
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