Election Day is Nov. 4, and Democrats and Republicans are making their last call to voters prior to Election Day in Virginia.
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee for governor, is holding a rally in Loudoun County on Saturday with Gov. Glenn Youngkin in an effort to court a more liberal-leaning voting bloc. Loudoun County (located in Northern Virginia) and its surrounding areas have been heavily impacted by federal job cuts, as well as the ongoing government shutdown that has seen hundreds of thousands out of work, many of whom are located in the area.
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Earle-Sears has closely aligned her campaign with Youngkin, who won multiple swing cities and counties in 2021. Her campaign has been much more aggressive, however, in her support for President Donald Trump and her positions against LGBTQ+ rights. Youngkin’s 2021 campaign largely kept President Trump at arm’s length, hoping to pull in more moderate voters, while Earle-Sears has worked to align herself more closely with the president.
Earle-Sears has also sought to make transgender policy a primary issue in her campaign, spending over $2 million in ads focusing on the topic in September alone. The ads attempt to paint Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger as extreme in her tolerance of transgender students.
Meanwhile, Democrats held a rally on Saturday in Norfolk, featuring various high-ranking members of the General Assembly, every member of this year’s statewide Democratic ticket, and even former President Barack Obama. The Democrats are largely hoping to make up lost ground in the attorney general race after controversial texts sent by Democratic nominee Jay Jones in 2022 were leaked.
More similarities are found in this year’s attorney general race, where incumbent Republican Jason Miyares has run a Youngkin-like campaign, and comparisons can be drawn between Jay Jones and the campaign of Terry McAuliffe, who sought a second term as governor in 2021 and lost to Youngkin.
McAuliffe worked to align Youngkin with Trump, but Youngkin’s campaign was mainly focused on affordability and education. Now, Jay Jones has attempted to align Miyares with Trump, while the incumbent attorney general has largely been apolitical. In a 10 News interview, Miyares stated, “This isn’t a political office. This is an office of prosecutors.”
Spanberger’s Norfolk rally seeks to capture the same voters that swung for Youngkin in 2021, as many cities and counties in the Hampton Roads area can swing for either party. There is also a large military population and a large number of federal workers.
The national environment is favorable to Democrats, as Virginia often votes against the current party in the White House. Spanberger has consistently led in polls against Earle-Sears, as has State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor (albeit with a much slimmer lead). Following the revelation of Jones’ text messages that broke in October, the attorney general race has seemed increasingly more favorable for the incumbent Miyares.
If Miyares succeeds in his reelection campaign and Democrats win the governor’s mansion, it would be the first time since 2005 that Virginians elected a Republican for attorney general and a Democrat for the governorship in the same year.
Prior to the election, 10 News spoke with every candidate running for statewide office. You can find all interviews here:
- Jay Jones (D), running for attorney general
- Jason Miyares (R), running for attorney general
- Ghazala Hashmi (D), running for lieutenant governor
- John Reid (R), running for lieutenant governor
- Abigail Spanberger (D), running for governor
- Winsome Earle-Sears (R), running for governor