Monday marked the first day that Virginia’s gubernatorial candidates could deliver their collection of petition signatures to the state’s Board of Elections, which officially puts them on the ballot.
With former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger as the Democratic nominee for governor, the Democratic Party of Virginia is reminding voters that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, once the Republican heir apparent, now has to face challengers in a primary.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. a truck with a billboard signaling that message will circle the block where Virginia’s Board of Elections sits. It’s a way DPVA will highlight what it sees as a “messy” primary between Earle-Sears and her challengers, former delegate Dave LaRock and former state senator Amanda Chase, according to a DPVA press release.
In recent media interviews, LaRock and Chase have accused Earle-Sears of being a divider, not a uniter, of Republicans. Conservative radio host John Fredericks, where much of the Chase and LaRock discourse has recently played out, has also previously critiqued Earle-Sears for her “issues with MAGA.”
Short for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan, MAGA has also described a political philosophy and those who subscribe to it. Both on a 2022 Fox News segment and in her 2023 memoir, Earle-Sears had noted loss of support for President Donald Trump.
Fealty to the former and current president has been a key factor in at least one Republican election in Virginia since Trump launched his third campaign for the White House. Former 5th District representative Bob Good’s brief endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president haunted him ahead of primaries last summer where Trump-backed John McGuire ousted him as the party’s nominee.
Fredericks and Earle-Sears reconciled in a conversation on his show last month, prior to LaRock and Chase jumping into the race.
In another appearance on his show in late February she noted how her opponents would levy “Trump, Trump, Trump” at her but that “he needs a partner who will work with him to get the job done.”
She also referenced her support of pressing Virginia to cooperate with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to detain and deport undocumented immigrants, a priority for Trump.
The matchup between Earle-Sears, Chase and LaRock can also be a litmus test on how Trumpian or right-leaning Republican voters might be in Virginia this year.
Earle-Sears and Gov. Glenn Youngkin first won their statewide offices in 2021 without cozying up to Trump, though both have since embraced him as the nation’s leader.
Countering this, Chase has referred to herself as “Trump in heels,” touted conspiracy theories that supported Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election, and attended the Jan. 6, 2021 rally in D.C. that ended with violence as a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol.
LaRock is campaigning on his support for Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk. While DOGE has drawn criticism and praise alike for the widespread slashing of federal jobs, offices and grants, LaRock would like to mirror those efforts at the state level.
While there had been speculation that U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News might jump into a Democratic primary for the governorship and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney switched his gubernatorial campaign to run for lieutenant governor instead, Spanberger will face whoever emerges from the Republican primary later this year.
