The race for Virginia governor is set — and it’s only April.
On Saturday, the Republican Party of Virginia announced Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears was the only candidate to qualify for the June 17 primary elections. Former state Sen. Amanda Chase, former Del. Dave LaRock and Merle Rutledge each indicated interest in running for the post, but did not submit the required signatures to appear on ballots by the April 3 deadline.
“We’ve made great progress over the past four years, but the fight for our Commonwealth is far from over,” Earle-Sears wrote in a Saturday social media post. “I’m ready to lead that fight and build a safer, stronger, more prosperous Virginia for every family.
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin quickly voiced support for her candidacy.
On Thursday, Virginia Democrats named former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger the party’s nominee. While several well-known figures, including U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, were floated as potential candidates, none made it across the finish line.
Former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced his run for the office, but in April 2023 scrapped his campaign and dedicated his time to running for lieutenant governor.
“Virginia is my home — it's where I grew up and where we chose to raise our three daughters,” Spanberger wrote in a Thursday social media post. “I’m just as invested in our Commonwealth’s future as you are, which is why I'll work tirelessly to strengthen our public schools, make Virginia a more affordable place to live, protect Virginia jobs, and defend our fundamental rights.
The House of Delegates also will be up for grabs in November, and there will be races for attorney general and lieutenant governor. But the governor’s mansion likely will get the most attention, both locally and nationally.
Virginia is the only state to constitutionally bar its governors from seeking consecutive terms. The office comes with the power to propose budgets, propose amendments to legislation and make appointments to state boards and commissions.
Conventional wisdom says in gubernatorial races the year after a presidential election, the nominee of the sitting president’s party faces an uphill battle. Since Republican Mills Godwin was elected in 1973, the party out of the White House has had its candidate move into the executive mansion all but one time.
The lone exception: Democrat Terry McAuliffe defeated Republican Ken Cuccinelli in 2013 by a 2.5% margin in an election when Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis won over 6% of the vote.
Godwin, who was elected in 1965 as a Democrat, was the first governor in American history to be elected as a member of both major parties and remains the only person elected governor twice in Virginia; McAuliffe unsuccessfully attempted to return for the governorship in 2021.
In 2021, Republicans chose their nominee, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, in a convention, and Democrats selected McAuliffe in a primary. Youngkin went on to win with 50.6% of the vote.
Regardless of the outcome this November, the contest likely will result in Virginians electing the first female governor in the state’s history.
Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears
Earle-Sears filed to run for the Republican nomination in September 2024. She is the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Virginia.
Her campaign website does not list any policy priorities, but touts endorsements from 11 state legislators and nearly 60 Virginia sheriffs.
A former U.S. Marine and business owner from Jamaica by way of Virginia Beach, Earle-Sears served one term in the General Assembly after scoring an upset win over 10-term Del. Billy Robinson in 2001 — becoming the first Black Republican woman elected to the House of Delegates.
If elected, Earle-Sears would rack up a number of additional firsts: She would be the first woman and first immigrant to be Virginia governor and the first Black woman governor in American history.
Democrat Abigail Spanberger
Former U.S. Rep. Spanberger declared her candidacy in November 2023 after months of speculation that she would enter the race. Spanberger was the only Democrat in the race since former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney dropped out in April 2024 to run for lieutenant governor.
A former CIA officer and U.S. Postal Inspector, Spanberger represented the 7th Congressional District for three terms. She defeated former Republican Rep. Dave Brat, a key Tea Party figure, in 2018 by running as a moderate. Back then, most of the district was in Central Virginia, but after redistricting in 2021, it shifted more toward Northern Virginia.
The Lugar Center, a nonprofit that works with Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, frequently ranked Spanberger near the top of its list of the most bipartisan members of Congress.
Spanberger's campaign website touts her efforts in Congress to "lower prescription drug costs, strengthen workforce training programs for Virginia students, clean up Washington, and protect Virginians’ fundamental rights."
Won't appear on ballots
Amanda Chase
Chase — a former state senator who was censured by the Virginia Senate after she spoke at the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that ultimately led to the storming of the U.S. Capitol — announced in her email newsletter that she would seek the GOP nomination.
"In the past few days, I've learned that our only declared Republican candidate for Governor has encountered some pretty serious issues with her campaign," Chase wrote. "We now face an almost certain defeat in November, if we don't find a candidate who can manage and organize a successful campaign against Spanberger."
In the email, Chase, a 2020 election denier who has been referred to as "Trump in heels," celebrates "What President [Donald] Trump is doing nationally with the help of Elon Musk, boldly and swiftly cleaning up decades of government waste, fraud and abuse."
"In my opinion these are miracles," she wrote. "God answering our many prayers."
She also accused Earle-Sears of being "a Never Trumper" and implied Spanberger's campaign has been illegally funded by USAID and other federal agencies that "have been exposed as corrupt slush fund for the CIA and Democrat candidates."
Chase served two terms in the Virginia Senate before being narrowly defeated in a 2023 Republican primary by Glen Sturtevant, who went on to win in the general election. She finished third in the 2021 Republican convention for the gubernatorial nomination ultimately won by Youngkin. And she dropped a 2022 bid to oppose Spanberger for the U.S. House of Representatives after redrawn maps moved her out of the 7th Congressional District.
Dave LaRock
LaRock, who served five terms in the House of Delegates from 2014 to 2024, filed to run for the GOP nomination in February, following a grassroots movement to draft him as a primary opponent for Earle-Sears.
On his campaign website, LaRock says "the GOP's presumptive nominee offers platitudes and backtracks on conservative values," while he's "the conservative fighter who can defeat Abigail Spanberger." LaRock proposes eliminating "radical gender and racial ideologies from K–12 classrooms," cracking down on illegal immigration and creating a "Virginia Department of Government Efficiency (VaDOGE)" to "combat fraud, waste, and abuse while streamlining regulations."
LaRock, who lives in Berryville, finished second in the 2023 Republican primary in state Senate District 1, behind Timmy French — who went on to win in the general election.
Merle Rutledge
Rutledge unsuccessfully ran for state Senate in 2023 and withdrew from the 2021 gubernatorial race.
Rutledge — an outsider in Republican circles who has raised $126 compared to over $2.5 million for Earle-Sears, according to VPAP — has called Youngkin an “establishment parrot” on social media. He openly supported North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s run for that state’s governorship after news reports hindered Robinson’s campaign.
Rutledge's campaign website, which cites his experience as a “freelance investigative reporter,” includes sections on "Economic Nationalism" and "Immigration Restriction."
His Instagram account features posts accusing Earle-Sears of "letting Virginia hospitals castrate and sterilize our kids without parent knowledge or consent" and claiming that gas could cost 25 cents per gallon in Virginia if not for "red tape" imposed by former President Joe Biden's administration.
