CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA – Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears‘s campaign is having to carry on without her, with less than one week before Election Day, after Democrats’ surprise redistricting move called her back to Richmond.
The move from Democrats, the latest in a string of redistricting efforts from both parties, set off a wave of Republican outrage and confusion among voters gathered to see her at a campaign stop in the central part of the state. At a coffee shop in Charlottesville, where Earle-Sears had been scheduled to campaign Tuesday afternoon, her husband Terence Sears took the stage in her place, joined by Rep. John McGuire (R-VA) and Republican lieutenant governor candidate John Reid.
The event was the third one Earle-Sears has had to forgo due to the special session. Despite her absence, supporters packed the room, waving signs and snapping photos as the two men denounced a calculated political maneuver to keep the GOP’s top statewide candidate off the trail during her crucial final week.
McGuire told the crowd that Democrats “knew exactly what they were doing” by calling the General Assembly back into session.
“They called that special session this week right now so that she can’t be on the campaign trail,” he said, drawing shouts of agreement from the audience. “It’s election interference, plain and simple.”
He argued that Democrats were undermining the bipartisan redistricting process Virginians approved by referendum in 2020, warning that the move marked “a betrayal of the voters’ will.”
“Virginia had spoken,” he said. “Voters wanted to pick their elected officials, not have elected officials pick their voters. Now Democrats want to rewrite the rules in the middle of the game.”
Reid, who is running alongside Sears as the GOP’s candidate for lieutenant governor, called the timing “crass” and “offensive,” saying it violated Virginia’s long tradition of a part-time citizen legislature.
“It’s wrong for the Democrats in Virginia to prevent her from being able to campaign in the last week,” Reid said. “They’re deliberately using the power the people gave them for their own political best interests.”
He added that the Democratic leadership “doesn’t care about the Virginia traditions,” and that their actions showed “they’re deliberately using the power that the people have given them for their own political best interests.”
The accusations came just hours after lawmakers returned to the Capitol for what quickly devolved into a partisan showdown over the state’s congressional map. In a procedural move caught Republicans off guard, House Democrats advanced a resolution paving the way for a constitutional amendment that would give lawmakers authority to redraw congressional districts mid-decade. The Senate is expected to take up the measure in the coming days.
Earle-Sears, who presides over the Senate, said she had a duty to return to Richmond, even as it forced her off the campaign trail at a pivotal moment.
“Virginians deserve transparency, fairness, and integrity in their elections,” she said at a Monday press conference. “They deserve to know that no matter who holds office, their vote will count the same as anyone else’s. I left the campaign trail because my duty is here, in this building, with the people’s Senate.”
Earle-Sears’ husband, Terence Sears, stepped in for her at the Charlottesville event, delivering a deeply personal message that mixed biography, faith, and determination. Speaking to a packed coffeehouse, he described watching his wife’s rise from Jamaican immigrant to Marine veteran and statewide officeholder, calling her story “a testament to God’s plan.”
“Sometimes when I’m with her and she’s up here speaking, I’m sitting in the back and I’m holding back tears because of the things that God has done in her life, and this journey that we’ve been on together for the last 39 years,” he said.
He praised her record of public service, from women’s ministry work to her years on the state Board of Education, and said attacks on her identity had only deepened her resolve.
“They have called her everything but a child of God,” he said. “My wife loves the Lord first. She’s not a politician. She is a public servant, and that’s the way she sees her job, to serve you, the public, Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, whatever.”
Some voters said they were disappointed by her absence but understood her decision to return to Richmond.
Camila Carter, 64, of Louisa, said she had been looking forward to hearing Sears speak in person.
“I was sad she didn’t come to this event,” Carter said. “But hopefully things will straighten out where this won’t happen in the future. I’m glad she’s at the state Capitol now. This is another trick from Democrats trying to keep what’s good from coming to Virginia.”
Ab Brown, an 82-year-old retiree from Albemarle County, said he respected the lieutenant governor’s sense of duty.
“I’m disappointed she wasn’t here today, but I also understand that duty called,” Brown said. “She’s got to do her job regardless, so she’s still meeting her responsibilities, even if it took a little bit of a cost away from her because she left the campaign trail.”
The event ended with applause and calls for unity as Republican volunteers passed out yard signs near the door. Earle-Sears’ sudden absence has injected new uncertainty into the race, with early voting set to end Saturday. Campaign aides for the Republican nominee told the Washington Examiner that Earle-Sears’s schedule is up in the air for future events as the special session plays out.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE ISSUES DOMINATING THE VIRGINIA ELECTION
According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Spanberger leads Earle-Sears 50.6% to 43.5%, a 7.1-point advantage that has remained largely steady through October. Individual surveys show a similar margin, with Christopher Newport University putting Spanberger ahead by seven points, Suffolk University by nine, and Quantus Insights by five.
