Winsome Earle-Sears

Earle-Sears was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 11, 1964. She immigrated to the United States at the age of six, brought by her father who had already immigrated to the U.S. Earle-Sears earned an Associate of Arts degree from Tidewater Community College, a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in economics from Old Dominion University, and a Master of Arts in organizational leadership from Regent University. Earle-Sears served as an electrician in the United States Marines from 1983 to 1986. She received training at Camp Lejeune, and was then stationed at Camp Pendleton; during her military service, she was promoted to corporal, and also became a U.S. citizen. Before running for public office, she directed a Salvation Army homeless shelter. , ==Political career==

In November 2001, Earle-Sears upset 20-year Democratic incumbent Billy Robinson in the general election for the 90th district seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, becoming the first female Black Republican, She is the first Republican to represent a majority-Black House district in Virginia since 1865. Sears received a presidential appointment to the United States Census Bureau's African American Committee and a separate appointment from the secretary of veterans affairs to the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans. In 2004, Earle-Sears was the Republican nominee for Virginia's 3rd congressional district, challenging incumbent Bobby Scott. In 2011, Governor Bob McDonnell appointed Earle-Sears to the Virginia Board of Education, succeeding Ella Ward. She served as the board's vice president in 2014, succeeding Betsy Beamer. Earle-Sears was succeeded as vice president by Billy K. Cannaday Jr. In 2015, Earle-Sears retired from the board and was succeeded by Wes Bellamy. In September 2018, Earle-Sears ran as a write-in candidate for the US Senate after Corey Stewart won the Republican nomination, citing his past alliances with white nationalists and other racial controversies. She received less than 1% of the vote. During the 2020 United States presidential election campaign, Earle-Sears supported Donald Trump and served as the national chairwoman of the political action committee Black Americans to re-elect the President. Following the 2022 United States elections, during which Trump-endorsed Republicans lost in critical battleground states, Earle-Sears criticized Trump, calling him a liability for the party and saying she would not support him running again in the 2024 United States presidential election. Earle-Sears later changed her position, announcing her support after Trump was named the presumptive nominee in 2024. Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (2022-2026) 2021 election On January 21, 2021, Earle-Sears announced her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. On May 11, 2021, Earle-Sears won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Virginia on the fifth ballot, defeating former state delegate Tim Hugo 54% to 46%. She was inaugurated as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Virginia on January 15, 2022. She is Virginia's first female lieutenant governor, as well as the first Black female to hold the office. During her 2021 campaign, Earle-Sears declined to say whether she had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, but encouraged others to get vaccinated. Tenure On February 10, 2022, Earle-Sears cast her first tiebreaking Senate vote as lieutenant governor. The Senate voted 20-20 on a bill that would have let defendants in many felony cases appeal discretionary sentences in situations when a judge has not provided a satisfactory written explanation of the sentence. After conferring with the bill's sponsor and with one of the bill's opponents, Earle-Sears voted against the bill. In June 2022, Earle-Sears "broke a tie vote in the Senate to allow Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to extend lab-school status and funding eligibility to community colleges and TAG-eligible private schools in Virginia to move forward". In 2024, the Virginia Legislature passed HB 174. The bill stated that no one who is empowered to issue a marriage license may decline to issue a license based only on the gender, sex, or race of the parties. Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the legislation. In her role as presiding officer of the Virginia Senate, Earle-Sears was constitutionally required to affix her signature to the bill. While she did sign it, she added the following note: "'As the Lt. Governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligations to the procedures laid out in the Constitution of Virginia. However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly'". On January 28, 2025, Earle-Sears cast a tie-breaking vote against a bill to establish a right to contraceptives. The bill was later voted on by the Senate again and passed. In 2025, the Virginia Legislature gave first passage to a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee abortion rights. Sears affixed her signature to the amendment but added the following note: "'I am morally opposed to this bill; no protection for the child'". After Attorney General Jason Miyares announced on November 18, 2024 that he would not run for governor, Earle-Sears was viewed as the presumptive candidate for the Republican nomination. On February 28, 2025, due to Earle-Sears' previous criticisms of President Trump, former state senator Amanda Chase and former state delegate Dave LaRock each announced that they would run against her in the Republican primary. Despite this newfound opposition, Earle-Sears was still viewed as the favorite to win the primary. In March 2025, Earle-Sears' campaign stated, "'Challengers can enter the race, but the outcome will be the same' — victory". Ultimately, neither Chase nor LaRock reached the required number of signatures to qualify for the ballot. On April 5, 2025, Earle-Sears became the Republican nominee for governor. While speaking at an Arlington County School Board meeting to oppose the system's "transgender locker room and bathroom policies", Earle-Sears was targeted by a racist sign in a crowd of protesters outside the venue. It read, "Hey Winsome, if trans [sic] can't share your bathroom, then Blacks can't share my water fountain." All six nominees for statewide office denounced the sign, with Earle-Sears's opponent, Abigail Spanberger, stating, "No matter how much one might find someone else's beliefs objectionable, to threaten a return of Jim Crow and segregation to a Black woman is unacceptable." A follow-up FOIA submission clarifying and broadening the request went unanswered within the legally required timeframe. ==Political positions==

and attorney general Jason Miyares at the Executive Mansion in 2023 Earle-Sears has been described as conservative. Abortion Earle-Sears opposes abortion. During her 2021 campaign for lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears stated she would support legislation similar to the Texas Heartbeat Act, which would ban abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected (i.e., as early as six weeks). On the campaign trail, she called abortion "genocide" and stated she supported making abortion illegal in all cases unless the mother's life was at risk. Later in her 2021 campaign, WRIC-TV wrote that Earle-Sears "appeared to backtrack" on her initial comments about the Texas Heartbeat Act. She told WRIC-TV she had not reviewed the Texas law and declined to specify when abortion should be banned. When Roe v. Wade was overturned in ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022, she announced her support for a 15-week abortion ban. Audio obtained by The Guardian'' captured Earle-Sears implying that consenting to sex is equivalent to consenting to pregnancy, saying that women "need to make our choices before we’re pregnant, not, you know, after.” In 2025, Earle-Sears signed Virginia’s pending constitutional amendment on reproductive rights while adding a handwritten note expressing her personal opposition to it. Cannabis In 2021, Earle-Sears expressed support for medical marijuana legalization but opposed the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Earle-Sears has said that adult-use cannabis "will destroy us" and has described marijuana as a gateway drug. During her campaign in 2021, Earles-Sears has stated that she fired one of her employees for using marijuana, “I had to let somebody go who worked for me, found out he was on marijuana, 'you can’t work for me, you’re gonna destroy somebody’s home, you’re gonna crash, it’s gonna decimate us, because marijuana is a gateway drug … There is no hope in that, there is no future.'" Diversity, equity, and inclusion Earle-Sears has argued, "Slaves did not die in the fields so that we could call ourselves victims now in 2025; Democrats think minorities can't succeed without DEI". Economy In the Virginia House of Delegates, Earle-Sears was one of the two Republican state delegates who voted against a Republican-led attempt at raising taxes. During her gubernatorial run, she pledged to eliminate the car tax, and promised to eliminate taxes on tips at the state level. Earle-Sears has supported Trump's tariffs, saying they will strengthen the American economy. Education When Earle-Sears was appointed to the Virginia State Board of Education as vice president in 2011, she defended their efforts to enact race-based testing standards where Latino and Black students were given lower standards than white students. Earle-Sears called critical race theory "racist" believing "the good and bad of American history should be taught." In an August 2021 interview with Virginia Mercury, Earle-Sears proposed increasing teachers' pay and allowing parents to send their children to charter, parochial, and charter schools if they desired to. Earle-Sears has also called for the opening of more lab schools and virtual schools in Virginia. Earle-Sears said critical race theory would "create moral problems for everybody" and she wanted to focus on transitioning schools from "labor-oriented" to "technology-driven." As lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears supported "Education Excellence for All" which allows parents to take one-third of their child's education fund into the parents' education saving account (ESA) to spend for their child's education. During her 2025 gubernatorial campaign, Earle-Sears wrote an opinion piece on Virginia Scope which advocated for education reform by changing state education standards to national standards and making assessment results "accessible and understandable" for parents. LGBT rights Earle-Sears opposes same-sex marriage but stated that she would follow U.S. Supreme Court precedent on that subject. She supports civil unions. During her 2004 congressional campaign, Earle-Sears expressed opposition to employment protections for LGBTQ people and to adoptions by same-sex couples. In a 2004 survey conducted by Public Advocate of the United States, a conservative organization, Earle-Sears described homosexuality as an "immoral lifestyle choice". During the 2025 gubernatorial debate, Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger said that Earle-Sears had previously stated that same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry and that firing employees for being gay was acceptable. After both statements, Earle-Sears interrupted Spanberger and replied, "That's not discrimination". When asked about these comments in an interview on October 28, she said that she had misspoken and that she meant to say that she had not personally discriminated against gay people in that manner. Gun policy Earle-Sears supports gun rights and opposes the addition of new gun control legislation. As a state delegate and lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears opposed gun safety legislation. In 2022 — after the Uvalde school shooting — Earle-Sears spoke at an NRA meeting. She attributed gun violence to "the breakdown of the family", personal responsibility, and violent political rhetoric. == Personal life and business career ==

Earle-Sears has been married to Marine officer Terence Sears since 1986. Earle-Sears is the mother of two living children: Katia and Janel. Her third daughter, Dejon, along with her two granddaughters, Victoria and Faith, died in a motor vehicle collision in 2012. As of 2016, Earle-Sears resided in Winchester, Virginia with her family. As of 2022, she had been attending Victory Church in Winchester, Virginiaan Assemblies of God churchsince 2013. Sears is the author of the Christian self-help book Stop Being a Christian Wimp! (2009). She also wrote How Sweet It Is: Defending the American Dream, published in 2023 by Center Street. From 2010 to 2020, Earle-Sears owned Shenandoah Alliance, Plumbing, and Electric. While the business was profitable during the 2008 recession, Earle-Sears closed it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earle-Sears blamed the government’s response to the pandemic, along with staffing challenges, for its closure. The business received over $102,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans; the loans were forgiven. ==Electoral history==