VIRGINIA  – New reporting from Dogwood exposed Winsome Earle-Sears’ long record backing Donald Trump’s jobs and healthcare cuts, and attacking reproductive rights. Dogwood highlighted the contrast between Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger and Sears on the issues, writing: 
 
“The Democratic nominee for governor, Abigail Spanberger, has a number of economic policy proposals aimed at lowering costs for Virginians, and the Republican nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, is more vague about her plans. 
 
While Spanberger wants to fortify Virginia’s status as a southern state where reproductive rights are protected, Earle-Sears’ record suggests she wants to do just the opposite.” 
 
 What Virginians Are Reading About Sears’ Record: 
 
Dogwood: Where Virginia’s gubernatorial nominees stand on the economy

• The Democratic nominee for governor, Abigail Spanberger, has a number of economic policy proposals aimed at lowering costs for Virginians, and the Republican nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, is more vague about her plans. 
• Spanberger has criticized Earle-Sears for backing the Trump administration as its policies hurt Virginia’s economy and workers. Just last week, a medical group blamed its closing of three clinics on President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” 
• Earle-Sears has privately acknowledged Trump policies hurt her in the polls, but publicly she’s downplayed the impacts of Trump’s cuts to the federal government. 
• When a CNN anchor in August pushed Earle-Sears to comment on the federal job cuts, she said she wanted to “talk about real issues.”
• In the op-ed, Earle-Sears boasts of Virginia’s ranking as a top place for business, but in her time as lieutenant governor, Virginia has fallen in those rankings.
• Rather than propose specific economic policies, Earle-Sears has primarily focused on culture war issues [...].

Dogwood: Spanberger supports reproductive rights; Earle-Sears has history of opposing them

• Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger criticized the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Republican nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, applauded it.  In a campaign where the two candidates for Virginia governor disagree on many issues, their contrast on abortion is among the starkest.
• Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger promises to defend Virginians’ rights to access contraception, get an abortion, and access in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Republican nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, has a long history of wanting to restrict access to abortions.
• While Spanberger wants to fortify Virginia’s status as a southern state where reproductive rights are protected, Earle-Sears’ record suggests she wants to do just the opposite.
• Earle-Sears earlier this year took the unusual step of leaving a handwritten note on legislation advancing a state constitutional amendment to protect reproductive rights that read: “I am morally opposed to this bill [...]”
• Earle-Sears also celebrated the US Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe.
• “I applaud the Court for recognizing this wrong and having the courage to correct it,” she said in a statement at the time. The consequences of that decision have been dire. Abortion is completely banned in 12 states. Four other states have bans on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, and two have banned abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
• While running for lieutenant governor in 2021, Earle-Sears said she would support a six-week abortion ban similar to what Texas adopted, and told The Winchester Star that she considers abortion “genocide.” In 2022, when Gov. Glenn Youngkin tried – and ultimately failed – to establish a 15-week abortion ban in Virginia, Earle-Sears said she supported it.
• A recent poll by the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University found that women’s reproductive rights is a top issue for voters.
• Another VCU poll released in February that 62% of Virginians support adding the right to an abortion to the state constitution.

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