Virginia’s conservative Black female lieutenant governor wants the top job

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the first Black woman to hold statewide office in Virginia’s long history, has officially set her sights on the state’s top political office.

The Virginia Department of Elections on Wednesday accepted the necessary documents for Earle-Sears to run for governor next year, WRIC was first to report.

Earle-Sears is the first Republican to officially enter the race for the party’s nomination in 2025. She recently said she was exploring a run.

The current governor, Republican Glenn Youngkin, cannot run for reelection because Virginia is the only state that doesn’t allow governors to run for consecutive terms.

U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is the only Democrat currently seeking her party’s nomination to run for governor.

Earle-Sears was part of a Republican sweep of top offices in 2021 that also saw Youngkin and Attorney Gen. Jason Miyares get elected.

A Marine veteran who immigrated to the United States from Jamaica as a child, Earle-Sears defeated Democrat Hala Ayala to become only the second woman in Virginia’s long history to serve in a statewide office. Attorney Gen. Mary Sue Terry, who was elected in 1985, was the first.

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