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EXCLUSIVE: Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears of Virginia she could make history next year as the country’s first black woman to win election as governor.
It would also make history as Virginia’s first female governor
But Sears, in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital, emphasized that “I’m not really running to make history. I’m just trying, like I said before, to leave it better than I found it, and I want everyone to have the same opportunities I had.”
Sears, who was born in the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica and immigrated to the U.S. when he was 6, served in the Marines and is a former state lawmaker. She made history three years ago when she won election as Virginia’s first lieutenant governor.
WHAT IS THIS POPULAR REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR ASSURED WHEN HE LEAVES THE CHARACTER THIS YEAR?
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears speaks during a rally to announce that he will seek his party’s nomination for governor of Virginia in 2025 at Chick’s Oyster Bar in Virginia Beach, Virginia on September 5. (Kristen Zeis/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“You have to remember that my father came to America in ’63 just 17 days before Dr. King gave his ‘I have a dream’ speech,” he said.
Sears noted that his father “saw an opportunity here, even though … you couldn’t really, as a black person, live where you wanted to.”
“And yet here I am, here I sit right now as second in command in the old capital of the Confederate States,” he said. “With me, we can see once again, there are still opportunities, there are still opportunities to grow, still opportunities to do even better. We are going to be better, not bitter. We will not be victims. We are victors. .”
THE YOUNG VIRGINIA ENDORSES HIS LT. GOVERNOR TO SUCCEED HIM
Sears has a big supporter in the popular Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, who three years ago became the first Republican in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in Virginia, a key state that had been blue in recent cycles.
From left: Terrence Sears; Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears; Suzanne Youngkin; Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin; Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares; and Page Miyares hold hands as the governor leads the group in prayer at the state Capitol in Richmond, Virginia on January 15, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
But Virginia is unique because of its state law that prevents governors from serving two consecutive four-year terms, so Youngkin cannot run for re-election next year.
Youngkin told Fox News Digital last month that Sears “will be a fabulous governor of Virginia.”
“I have to make sure we have Winsome Sears as the next governor,” he stressed. “I’m going to campaign hard.”
Arguing that Youngkin as a “successful businessman” has “brought that success to the government,” Sears emphasized that “we want to continue what he has started.”
“There is still a lot of work to be done, there are still regulations that we need to undo, there are still educational opportunities that need to be taken advantage of, and I’m the one who carries it, because I’ve been a part of it,” he added.
Sears was interviewed Thursday in Virginia Beach with a month to go President-elect Trump return to the White House.
In late 2022, he described Trump as a liability after Republican candidates the former president had supported underperformed in the midterm elections. And he said he would stay neutral in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
“I supported him at 16 and at 20 why? Because I saw that he was good for our country,” Sears noted.
SEE FOX’S LATEST TRUMP TRANSITION NEWS HERE
But he added that Trump “said some things, and it bothered me. And like I said, I’m going into this as a Christian. And so I thought, well, let’s see if there’s anybody else.”
Sears pointed to Trump’s July assassination attempt as the moment that changed his mind.
“I was waiting to hear a change, and after he was shot and accepted the nomination, I heard him say, ‘Miracles are happening every day.’ I am one of those. God has spared my life. And so, humbly. ask for your vote.’ I was on board at the time,” he emphasized.
Former President Trump joins his wife Melania after his speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
But one of Trump’s leading supporters in Virginia, conservative radio host John Fredericks, has continued to criticize Sears.
“She will ruin Republicans’ chances in Virginia in 2025 and we need a different GOP candidate who REALLY has President Trump’s back,” he argued on his radio show and in a social media post last month.
Asked if she would like Trump to campaign with her in the next 10 months leading up to the 2025 election, Sears said, “I I think he’s going to have a lot to do in, well, DC And if he wants to come here, fine. If you want to help, that’s fine. I mean, you know, we could use all the help we can get.”
THIS DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATION IS RUNNING FOR THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA
Sears, who launched his bid for governor in early September, avoided a competitive primary when Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares announced last month that he would seek re-election instead of running for governor.
Three-term Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, is her party’s candidate for governor.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia speaks at a campaign rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on November 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, file)
Spanberger announced 13 months ago that she is running for governor in 2025 instead of seeking re-election to Congress this year. While a Sears-Spanberger general election showdown is expected, recent reports indicate that Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott is considering a run for governor.
“We’ll see what shakes out on the Democratic side, but I’ll take on whoever comes in, because I think we have the best policies,” Sears said.
Political pundits consider her more socially conservative than Youngkin, who comes from the business wing of the GOP.
When asked if Sears was too far to the right for Virginia voters, Youngkin pushed back in his Fox News Digital interview, saying, “Not at all. And Winsome is a common-sense conservative leader. We’ve literally been partners from day 1. We campaigned together.
But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), noting criticism from Fredericks, who chaired Trump’s Virginia campaign in 2016 and 2020, argued that “Virginia Republicans are entering the 2025 election divided and already shouting publicly at Winsome Sears.”
“This confirms once again that Sears will have to run even further to the right and take deeply damaging and out-of-touch positions to win the GOP nomination,” said DGA National Press Secretary Devon Cruz.
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Asked about the DGA’s criticism, which also includes highlighting its positions on issues such as abortion and IVF, Sears argued that “Democrats are trying to find a way to beat me up… I’m not worried. I’m leaving whatever they say, I’ve been proven to do the right thing.”
“I have always said that I am a Christian first and then a Republican. I am always who I am,” he added. “So it must mean I don’t care about politics. I care about serving.”
