Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears (Republican) filed paperwork this week to run for governor of the state next year.
Sears' filing was received by the Virginia Department of Elections on Wednesday, according to Nexstar's Richmond affiliate WRIC. The Hill is owned by Nexstar Media Group.
The development came after Sears' team announced Wednesday that she would be making a “special announcement” in Virginia Beach on Thursday.
Sears is the first Republican to enter an off-year race that is likely to dominate next year's race. Late last year, Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) launched her own campaign for the governor's mansion.
The lieutenant governor, a former state legislator, is the first woman of color and only the second woman to hold statewide office in Virginia. The state has never had a female governor, making the Sears-Spanberger matchup a potentially historic one.
Sears and Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, sent shockwaves through the political world by flipping the heavily Democratic state in 2021, a year after President Biden defeated former President Trump to win the general election. Youngkin and Sears focused their campaigns on public school curriculum and so-called “parental rights in education.”
But Democrats have since won multiple nonregular elections. In 2022, most of the swing Democrats kept their seats, except for former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA). And in 2023, Democrats maintained their majority in the state Senate and took control of the House.
