Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears filed to run for the Republican nomination for governor in September 2024, leaving her current seat open in 2025.
While the official role of the lieutenant governor is to preside over the state Senate and vote to break ties, it has high political value as a stepping stone to the executive mansion: former governors Ralph Northam, Tim Kaine, Doug Wilder and Chuck Robb all held the office before getting the promotion.
In 2021, Earle-Sears beat out former Del. Hala Ayala for the office. Earle-Sears won her nomination after winning a nominating convention with ranked choice voting. In early polling, Ayala trailed Del. Sam Rasoul, seen as the progressive candidate in the race. She was then endorsed and financially backed by former Gov. Terry McAuliffe — who was running for another term after four years out of the state’s top office.
So far, five Democrats and two Republicans have declared their candidacy, and another Republican has expressed strong interest in a run for the GOP nomination.
Prospective candidates who have announced will be added to this alphabetical list once they either:
- publicly announce their candidacy
- file the necessary paperwork with the state Department of Elections
When available, links to candidate websites and platforms will be included.
The list below will be updated as new information becomes available.
Democrats
Alex Bastani
Bastani, a former union leader and longtime economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, joined the field in January. He told the Richmond Times-Dispatch he sees himself as "the Bernie Sanders candidate for this particular race," running on a platform of raising the state's minimum wage to $20 an hour, providing universal healthcare, making state colleges tuition-free and ending Virginia's status as a right-to-work state.
"Right now, Richmond is full of folks who’ve never missed a meal, never bounced a check, never feared eviction," Bastani says on his campaign website. "I’ll use the Lieutenant Governor’s office as a bully pulpit to make sure the people who built this state finally have a voice in how it’s run."
He adds: "Government should be a neighbor lending a hand—not a system that leaves you behind. We’ve let corporations write the rules and call it democracy. That ends now."
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi
Hashmi has represented Chesterfield County since 2020, when she flipped a Republican district that helped Democrats gain control of the Senate. Hashmi, an immigrant and Virginia’s first Muslim state senator, was previously an English literature professor.
She’s currently the head of the Senate Education and Health committee and previously sponsored legislation to create a right to contraception in Virginia, which Gov. Glenn Youngkin later vetoed.
Hashmi announced her candidacy in May 2024, calling herself a “progressive champion” and emphasizing access to reproductive health in her platform.
Babur Lateef
Lateef was the first candidate from either party to enter the race, announcing his run in December 2023. Lateef, the chair of the Prince William County School Board, lives in Manassas and has an ophthalmology practice in Woodbridge. He has also served as chairman of the University of Virginia Health System Board.
Lateef is the only candidate from the most Democratic part of the state, Northern Virginia, where much of the primary votes are located.
State Sen. Aaron Rouse
Rouse represents Virginia Beach, where he runs a nonprofit for children in underserved communities. A former Virginia Beach city councilor and NFL player, he announced his candidacy in April 2024 — the same day as then-Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
Rouse is the chair of the Privileges and Elections committee, despite being elected in 2023 in a special election. That election solidified Democrats’ control of the Senate and their ability to block legislation restricting abortion. He sponsored a proposal to set up a marijuana retail market in the commonwealth, which Youngkin later vetoed.
Victor Salgado
Salgado, an Arlington County resident, entered the race in December after leaving the federal justice department, where he most recently served as an attorney in the Office of Public Integrity. On his campaign website, he touts a track record of "prosecuting public corruption and related misconduct at all levels," including his role in prosecuting Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, and former U.S. Rep. George Santos.
The New Jersey-born son of Peruvian immigrants, Salgado is making his first run for elected office.
Levar Stoney
Stoney, Richmond's former two-term mayor, initially declared he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor, but announced in April 2024, that he was withdrawing from that race to run for lieutenant governor instead. Richmond has changed significantly since Stoney took office in 2017: Poverty has been reduced, migration to the city has raised incomes and housing prices, and Confederate monuments have been removed.
Stoney was the first Black secretary of the commonwealth under McAuliffe, whose daughter is the candidate's campaign political director. McAuliffe has endorsed both Stoney and Lateef; many political figures in Virginia who had endorsed Stoney for governor had already made endorsements for lieutenant governor.
Republicans
John Reid
Reid, a conservative radio host in Richmond, announced on the air in January that he would be leaving his show and officially entering the race. His morning program, Richmond Morning News, is one of the most listened-to radio programs in the state and regularly hosts politicians; he announced he was exploring a run in March 2024, and set up a company for a listening tour later that month.
The website for that company, Voice of Virginia, lists several of Reid's priorities, including "First-Class Learning in Education, Not Leftist Indoctrination," "Protecting and Learning from Our Heritage, Not Erasing It" and "Bringing Virginians Together, Not Dividing Them with Identity Politics."
Reid worked in communications for former Republican U.S. Sen. George Allen, as well as for international nongovernmental organizations. If elected, Reid — whose father was a Republican delegate from Henrico County — would be the state’s first openly gay statewide official.
Won't appear on ballots
Republican John Curran
Curran, a U.S. Navy veteran and business consultant in James City County, entered the race in September 2024. His campaign website lists top issues that include "repealing anti-family legislation, making it easier to adopt" and opposing "ANY Governmental overreach and infringement" on Second Amendment rights. He has referred to himself as "the MAGA candidate" in the field.
Curran, who moved to Annandale with his family when he was 12 years old, ran unsuccessfully for the James City County Board of Supervisors in 2023. He leads the current field in fundraising, with just over $1 million in receipts during the most recent reporting period — though campaign finance data identifies that only $645 of that money came from outside donors. The rest is a $1 million loan from the candidate to the campaign.
Republican Pat Herrity
Herrity, who joined the race in early January, identifies himself as "a pragmatic conservative who delivers results while defending taxpayers." His campaign website touts his fight against "reckless government spending and harmful policies like bail reform that endangers public safety, public sector collective bargaining, and restrictions on law enforcement."
The Northern Virginia native has won five consecutive terms on the otherwise deep-blue Fairfax County Board of Supervisors since 2007. Herrity's father, John F. "Jack" Herrity, was the chair of the Fairfax board in the 1970s and '80s.
Herrity dropped out of the race in late April, citing health complications after heart surgery.
