Lt. governor files paperwork for Va. gubernatorial run

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears filed paperwork Wednesday with the Virginia Department of Elections to run for governor in 2025, in which she will seek the Republican nomination.

Although she has not yet announced her decision to run, Earle-Sears posted on X that she is holding a “special event” Thursday evening at Chick’s Oyster Bar in Virginia Beach at which she’ll presumably declare her candidacy. In August, she said in Albemarle County at a Republican event that she was “exploring” a gubernatorial run and that she would not be running a second time for lieutenant governor.

Earle-Sears is the first Republican candidate to enter the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial race, joining U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who declared her candidacy for the Democratic nomination last November. If either woman is elected, she will make history as the commonwealth’s first female governor. Born in Jamaica, Earle-Sears would also be the first immigrant to hold the top statewide office. She is currently Virginia’s first female lieutenant governor, as well as the first Black woman and immigrant to hold statewide office in Virginia.

The lieutenant governor, whose most public duty is serving as president of the Virginia State Senate when it is in session and casting tiebreaker votes, emerged from a crowded field of GOP candidates for lieutenant governor in 2021 — drawing notice and criticism for a group of ads that showed her holding a military-style rifle. She also has distinguished herself from other Republicans by criticizing former President Donald Trump, after previously campaigning for him. In a memoir she released in 2023, Earle-Sears wrote that she didn’t believe he should seek a second term.

A Marine Corps veteran, Earle-Sears served a single term in the House of Delegates two decades ago, representing part of Norfolk, and ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott for Congress in 2004. She moved to Winchester and opened a plumbing and electrical business, and was named to the state Board of Education by then-Gov. Bob McDonnell in 2011. Earle-Sears ran as a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 after the GOP nominated Corey Stewart, whom she called “not a true Republican,” and cited his past alliances with white supremacists, including the organizer of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Jason Kessler.

According to Earle-Sears’ statement of organization for her “Winsome for Governor” candidate committee, John Selph of Henrico County-based Forest Consulting Services, an attorney and former controller for the Republican Party of Virginia, is treasurer.

Attorney General Jason Miyares has also been frequently mentioned as a possible contender for the Republican nomination for governor; in July, he told the National Review, “I will be happy to comment about and discuss my political future at the appropriate time.” Gov. Glenn Youngkin is prohibited by state law to run for a second consecutive term as governor.