RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has filed paperwork to run for Virginia governor in 2025.
Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears’ statement of organization – paperwork needed to launch a campaign – was accepted by the Virginia Department of Elections on Sept. 4.
Earle-Sears was expected to jump into the governor’s race, recently acknowledging she was exploring a run. She is holding a rally in Virginia Beach at 6 p.m. Thursday “to make a special announcement.”
Earle-Sears is the first Republican to submit paperwork to run for the party’s nomination in the 2025 election, although speculation has swirled that Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is expected to launch a campaign. Miyares has not announced any such run.
Virginia does not allow governors to run for consecutive terms so Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who along with Earle-Sears and Miyares helped the GOP sweep the 2021 statewide elections, can not run in 2025 once his term ends.
Last November, U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) officially launched her campaign for the Democratic nomination in next year’s gubernatorial race and is the only Democrat currently vying for the nomination.
Earle-Sears is the first woman of color, and only the second woman, to hold statewide office in the commonwealth. She is the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor.
If both Earle-Sears and Spanberger win their party’s nominations and go head-to-head in the governor’s race, the winner would be the first woman to be elected and serve as Virginia governor. If Earle-Sears prevails, she will be the first Black woman to serve as a governor in the country.
A former state delegate who represented Norfolk, Earle-Sears presides over the Virginia Senate in her role as lieutenant governor.
Earle-Sears, the first Black Republican woman to be elected to the Virginia General Assembly, emigrated from Jamaica when she was a child and served in the Marines before running for office.
Earle-Sears’ press team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story is developing. It will be updated.
