Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has become the first Republican to file paperwork to run for governor in 2025.
The Virginia Department of Elections accepted the paperwork on September 4.
Earle-Sears will hold a rally this evening.
Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger launched her campaign in November. She is the only one for the party.
In 2021, Republicans won the top statewide offices. Earle-Sears won by 50,000 votes, Glen Youngkin won the gubernatorial race by 60,000, and Jason Miyares won the attorney general race by 26,000.
Virginia only allows the governor and lieutenant governor must step aside after one term “or run for a different position.”
Earle-Sears made history with her position as the “first woman of color, and only the second woman, to hold statewide office in the commonwealth.”
Earle-Sears is also the first woman to hold the lieutenant governor position.
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