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Exclusive: Virginia’s Republican lieutenant governor, Winsome Sears, could make history next year by becoming the nation’s first black woman to win the gubernatorial election.
She will also make history as Virginia’s first female governor.
But Sears said in an exclusive national interview with FOX News Digital: “I’m not running to make history. Like I said before, I’m going to leave it better than I found it. “And I am,” he said emphatically. I want everyone to have the same opportunities that I had. ”
Mr. Sears was born in the Caribbean island of Jamaica and immigrated to the United States at the age of six, where he served in the Marines and is a former state representative. She made history three years ago when she was elected as Virginia’s first female lieutenant governor.
What happens next if this popular Republican governor leaves office within a year?
Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears speaks at a rally announcing his party’s nomination for the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial nomination at Chick’s Oyster Bar in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on September 5. . (Image by Kristen Theis/The Washington Post via Getty)
“You have to remember that my father came to America in 1963 just 17 days before Dr. King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech,” she said. Ta.
Sears said her father “saw an opportunity here, even though he couldn’t really live where he wanted to as a black man.”
“And yet here I am, sitting here now as second in command in the former Confederate capital,” she said. “Together with me, we will see once again that there is still a chance, there is still a chance to grow, there is still a chance to be even better. We are not going to be worse, we are going to be better. We are not going to be victims. We are overcomers.” ”
Yonkin of Virginia supports Lt. Gov. to succeed him.
Mr. Sears has a major supporter in popular Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who three years ago won more than 10 votes in the gubernatorial race in Virginia, once a key battleground state. He was the first Republican to win in years, but he has been tinged with blue in recent cycles.
From left: Terence Sears. Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears. Suzanne Youngkin. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. Paige Miyares holds hands as the governor leads a group in prayer at the state Capitol on Jan. 15, 2022 in Richmond, Virginia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
However, Virginia is a unique state in that state law prohibits governors from serving two consecutive four-year terms, so Youngkin will not be able to run for re-election next year.
Youngkin told Fox News Digital last month that Sears “will be a great governor for Virginia.”
“We must definitely support Mr. Winsome Sears as the next governor,” he said. “I will work hard on my election campaign.”
Sears asserted that Yonkin, a “successful businessman,” “brought that success to government,” adding, “We want to continue what he started.”
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, regulations that need to be removed, and educational opportunities that need to be taken advantage of, and I’m in charge of that because I’ve been a part of it,” she added. Ta.
Sears was interviewed in Virginia Beach on Thursday, one month before President-elect Trump returns to the White House.
In late 2022, she said President Trump was to blame after Republican candidates supported by the then-former president performed poorly in the midterm elections. He also said he would remain neutral in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
“Why did I support him in 2016 and why did I support him in 2020? Because I knew he was a good person for our country,” Sears said.
Click here for the latest FOX News coverage of the Trump administration’s transition.
But she said President Trump was saying “some things that bothered me. Like I said, I’m approaching this as a Christian. So I’ll see if there’s anyone else out there. I thought, “Let’s take a look,” he added.
Sears cited the July assassination attempt on President Trump as the moment he changed his mind.
“I was waiting to hear about change, and after he was shot and accepted the nomination, I heard him say, ‘Miracles happen every day, and I’m one of them. God. It saved my life. So I humbly ask you to vote. ‘I was just riding at the time,’ she stressed.
Former President Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania Trump, after his speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18 (FOX News – Paul Steinhauser)
But conservative radio host John Fredericks, a prominent Trump supporter in Virginia, continues to criticize Sears.
“She will ruin the Republican Party’s chances in Virginia in 2025. We need another Republican candidate who really supports President Trump,” he argued on his radio show and in social media posts last month. did.
Asked if she would like President Trump to campaign with her over the next 10 months leading up to the 2025 election, Sears said, “I think he has a lot of work to do in Washington, D.C., and if he comes If you want,” he replied. If he wants to help, we can use all the help we can. ”
This Democrat is running for governor of Virginia.
Sears, who ran for governor in early September, avoided a competitive primary last month when Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares announced he would not run for governor and seek reelection.
Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer and three-term Democratic congresswoman, is the party’s gubernatorial candidate.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger speaks at a campaign rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Nov. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Brian Woolston, File)
Spanberger announced 13 months ago that he would run for governor in 2025 rather than seek re-election to Congress this year. Although Sears and Spanberger are expected to face off in the general election, recent reports indicate that longtime Democratic congressman Bobby Scott is considering running for governor.
“We’ll see what happens on the Democratic side, but I’m going to stand up to whoever comes along because I believe we have better policies,” Sears said.
Political commentators consider her more socially conservative than Yonkin, who hails from the business wing of the Republican Party.
Asked if Sears was too far to the right for Virginia voters, Youngkin shot back in an interview on Fox News Digital, saying, “Absolutely not. And Winsome is a common-sense conservative leader.” “We’ve been partners literally since day one. We’ve been campaigning together.” We were chosen together and we have ruled together. ”
However, the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) pointed to criticism from Fredericks, who served as President Trump’s Virginia campaign chairman in 2016 and 2020, saying, “Virginia’s Republican Party is pushing for a divisive 2025 election.” and has already publicly criticized Winsome Sears.”
“This confirms once again that Mr. Sears needs to move even further to the right and take very harmful and unruly positions in order to win the Republican nomination,” DGA national spokesperson Devon Cruz said. insisted.
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Asked about the DGA’s criticisms, including spotlighting his positions on issues such as abortion and IVF, Sears said, “Democrats are trying to find a way to attack me…I don’t want to do that.” I’m not worried about that. I’m letting them say it. What they say proves I’m doing the right thing. ”
“I’ve always said I’m a Christian first and a Republican second. That’s always been who I am,” she added. “I guess that means I’m not interested in politics. I’m interested in serving.”
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.
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