The top three Republicans on Virginia’s ballot rallied together for the first time Tuesday, presenting a united front ahead of the closely watched Nov. 4 election.
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee for governor, joined Attorney General Jason Miyares, and John Reid, the lieutenant governor nominee, at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department in Northern Virginia. Pastor Rufus Bhimanapalli of Telugu Christian Fellowship Church kicked off the event with a prayer.
“Tonight’s event made it clear: The Republican Party of Virginia is fired up and united behind a winning team,” a spokesperson for the Republican Party of Virginia told The Daily Signal. “Winsome Sears, John Reid, and Jason Miyares are running on a common-sense platform of low taxes, less regulation, and more opportunity for every Virginian.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Stewart Whitson, the Republican nominee for the open seat in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, also came to the event and delivered remarks about the importance of the upcoming election.
“Elections have consequences, and let me tell you, losing is not an option,” said Youngkin, who is limited to serving one term as governor. “Everything that we’ve accomplished, everything that we see Virginia leading and winning on all fronts today is at risk.”
Other guests included the state Sen. Mark Peake, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, and Republican Delegates Michael Weber, Scott Wyatt, Mark Earley, Delores Oates, Phillip Scott, and Geary Higgins.
Miyares, who is seeking re-election as Virginia’s attorney general, emphasized the stark contrast between the prior Democrat administration and the Republicans who took office in 2022.
“The Virginia of 2021 was very, very different,” Miyares said. “I like to say it’s like you watch those mafia movies and the guy wakes up in the trunk of a Buick. He doesn’t know where he’s headed, but he knows it’s not a good final destination. That was Virginia.”
Earle-Sears, who is running to succeed Youngkin, said the commonwealth has made much progress over the last four years, and that momentum should not be allowed to stall.
“We want liberty in our great United States,” Earle-Sears said in her speech. “We don’t want control. We want to be free.”
The Jamaican-born candidate said if elected governor, she would continue advancing policies that made Virginia a destination rather than a place people wanted to leave. Earle-Sears urged voters to support her if they wanted a leader who would not divide them based on race.
“How could it be then, when things are so bad that here I am, an immigrant, a black woman, and yet I am second in command in the former capital of the Confederate States,” Earle-Sears remarked.
Maggie Amjad, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Virginia, told The Daily Signal that Earle-Sears will put President Donald Trump’s agenda ahead of the state.
“Sears has cheered on his [Trump’s] attacks on Virginia jobs and economy and refused to oppose the Medicaid cuts that put health care at risk for more than 300,000 Virginians,” Amjad said. “While Virginians deserve a governor who fights for the commonwealth, Sears is dismissing workers worried about their jobs and telling Virginians to ‘wait and see’ as their health care is at risk.”
A spokesperson for the Republican Party of Virginia told The Daily Signal that the results of the past few years indicate otherwise.
“Virginia Republicans are ready to build on the successes from the last four years under the Youngkin-Sears administration and chart the course for more victories in the years to come,” the GOP spokesperson said. “This Republican ticket stands in sharp contrast to the Democrat slate, which has been hand-picked by far-left progressives pushing extreme, out-of-touch policies. Virginians deserve leadership that puts families, jobs, and freedom first.”
