Sen. Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) is running for the Republican nomination for Governor in 2021.
Chase made the announcement on the steps of the Capitol on Monday — after railing against the “liberal socialistic agenda” of Virginia Democrats. She said she could no longer stand on the sidelines as they legislate.
“I can no longer just continue to hold accountable the leadership and legislators that embrace the stripping of law-abiding citizens of their First Amendment rights, Second Amendment rights and Constitutional freedoms,” she said.
Chase is the first Virginia Republican to announce a gubernatorial bid. She was recently re-elected to represent the 11th District, pitching herself as a grassroots Republican outsider in the mold of the Tea Party movement.
Since she was first elected to office in 2015, Chase has generated controversy in the media.
She made headlines last year for calling rape survivors “naive” and “unprepared.” That was just a few months after Chase got into a verbal altercation with a Capitol Police officer over a parking space.
Her controversy, however, has also endeared her to many of her supporters. She is known for displaying her holstered handgun in committee meetings and on the Senate floor and has vehemently defended gun rights and her anti-abortion stances.
“The challenge that Republicans who run for Governor have made is that they moderate to the middle,” Chase said. “I’m not doing that. I’m doubling down.”
When asked Monday if her past controversies would hurt her in a state-wide election, Chase responded: “bring it.”
Republicans have not won a gubernatorial election since 2009.
