Free Republic

Virginia Republicans scored a monumental victory in 2021. After 12 years of sustained statewide losses, the party emerged from the wilderness and swept the three statewide races that year, led by outsider Glenn Youngkin, who became the commonwealth’s first Republican governor since Bob McDonnell left office in 2014.Virginia’s gubernatorial elections are unique in American politics in that no other state makes its governor a lame duck the moment he is sworn in, as term limits prohibit consecutive terms. No Virginia governor has ever run for reelection as an incumbent, although two governors have succeeded in winning nonconsecutive terms.The commonwealth’s proximity...

Abigail Spanberger’s campaign for governor of Virginia took a major hit Wednesday night when she refused—repeatedly—to answer a simple question during the Virginia gubernatorial debate: does she still endorse Jay Jones for attorney general after his violent text messages came to light? The exchange, moderated by Deanna Allbrittin of WRIC, was terrible for Spanberger as she twisted herself into rhetorical knots to avoid giving a clear answer. Her opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, wasted no time pointing out what everyone watching could see—Spanberger was dodging. It began when the moderator tried to clarify an earlier non-answer. “Thank you, Ms. Spanberger....

(Excerpts, suggest reading entire article) Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is facing off against former Democrat Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger in Virginia’s closely watched 2025 gubernatorial race. While Spanberger appears to have the edge in the race so far, recent shocking revelations about the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative – “Russiagate” – could create some uncomfortable questions for Spanberger and perhaps give Sears an opportunity to portray her opponent as a dishonest, untrustworthy career bureaucrat. Before she was elected to Congress in 2018, Spanberger was a CIA operative. She has leaned heavily on that experience in her campaign, repeatedly describing...

I [the Twitchy writer] should probably warn you all now, from here on out, I will be beating the drums and sounding the alarm about the upcoming elections here in Virginia this coming November. Virginia is unique in that we run in odd years, and our governors can only serve one term at a time. So, while I'd love to see another four years from Youngkin, he cannot run this time around. Luckily, we have Winsome Earle-Sears as our nominee, who has played an integral part in Youngkin's successes here in the Sic Semper Tyrannis state.And the fact that not...