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Virginia Governor Candidate Faces GOP Backlash Over Slavery-DEI Comments, Troubled Campaign Start

May 28, 2025

Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, faces significant backlash from within her own party after sending a controversial fundraising email that compared American slavery to modern diversity initiatives. The email, which stated "Slaves did not die in the fields so that we could call ourselves victims now in 2025" and claimed "Democrats think minorities can't succeed without DEI," has intensified existing Republican concerns about her campaign viability. Republican strategists cite her slow fundraising, lack of grassroots support, hard-line social positions, and poor outreach to swing voters as creating a mounting crisis for her candidacy.

Who is affected

  • Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears
  • Virginia Republican Party and its strategists and officials
  • Republican lieutenant governor nominee John Reid
  • Virginia voters, particularly in suburban battlegrounds
  • Delegate Rozia Henson (D), an openly gay Black lawmaker
  • Federal workforce employees in Virginia
  • Former CIA officer and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger
  • Virginia residents, especially minorities targeted by DEI initiatives

What action is being taken

  • Earle-Sears is running a gubernatorial campaign while maintaining controversial positions on social issues
  • Earle-Sears is adding handwritten notes of moral objection to progressive legislation she processes as lieutenant governor
  • Republican strategists are expressing concern about Earle-Sears' campaign viability and messaging
  • Abigail Spanberger is conducting a disciplined campaign as the unchallenged Democratic nominee
  • Republicans are attempting to manage campaign "glitches" and move forward

Why it matters

  • The gubernatorial race will determine Virginia's leadership and policy direction
  • Earle-Sears could potentially become the first woman and second Black governor of Virginia
  • The controversy highlights tensions within the Republican Party over messaging and candidate viability
  • The race occurs against the backdrop of President Trump's cuts to the federal workforce, a major employer in Virginia
  • The outcome could reflect shifting political dynamics in Virginia's crucial suburban battlegrounds
  • The race demonstrates ongoing political divisions over issues like DEI initiatives, abortion rights, and marriage equality

What's next

  • No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The Washington Informer