VIRGINIA  – Last night, Winsome Earle-Sears campaigned with Vivek Ramaswamy, despite being called out for inviting the chief architect of DOGE responsible for firing thousands of Virginians. Sears has also bragged about the endorsement and repeatedly downplayed the devastating impacts of Donald Trump’s job cuts. 
 
What Virginians Are Reading: 
 
Associated Press: Ramaswamy stumps with GOP nominee for Virginia governor

• With President Donald Trump noticeably absent from Virginia’s race for governor, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears turned to a prominent Trump ally to help energize supporters Friday night.
• As Ramaswamy spoke, a mobile billboard truck highlighting the issue — it read, “Winsome Earle-Sears puts DOGE and Trump before Virginia” — circled the venue.
• Earle-Sears’ Democratic opponent, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, called on Earle-Sears to cancel the event before it even started. She pointed to Ramaswamy’s role as “one of the chief architects of the DOGE effort,” which, the Democrat noted, “has led to thousands upon thousands of Virginians losing their jobs.”
• Perhaps no election in 2025 or 2026 will test the political impact of Trump’s sweeping campaign to slash the federal workforce more than the Virginia governor’s race. The DOGE fight sparked nationwide protests and dozens of lawsuits and left roughly a quarter of a million Americans without jobs.
• Many were in Virginia, where federal jobs account for roughly 5% of the state’s workforce. Specifically, Virginia will lose an estimated 32,000 jobs this year because of federal government cuts, according to the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.
• Earle-Sears is widely considered a fervent supporter of Trump, and yet Trump has not crossed the Potomac River to campaign with her, or publicly committed to doing so. Republican operatives believe the president’s absence is tied to his fear of backing a candidate who may be on track to lose in November.
• At the time, Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the commission, said Ramaswamy “ played a critical role in helping us create DOGE.”
• Ramaswamy’s appearance, Spanberger said, is evidence that Earle-Sears “won’t defend Virginians who are losing their jobs.”
• “If she can’t even do that now, Virginians certainly shouldn’t expect her to stand up for them as governor,” Spanberger said.

WJLA: Earle-Sears rallies with DOGE's Ramaswamy in Virginia as early voting kicks off

• Republican gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears joined Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares, and Lt. Gov. nominee John Reid at an evening rally in Chesterfield. The group was also joined by Vivek Ramaswamy, the Ohio gubernatorial candidate and former Trump administration official who co-led the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
• Ramaswamy endorsed Earle-Sears during the rally, part of the GOP’s official kickoff for early voting. His appearance [...] drew fire from Democrats, who tied him to job cuts in Virginia’s large federal workforce.
• “Virginia has had rising unemployment rates every single month over the past eight months,” Spanberger said. “Estimates are that in 2026, we will see virtually no growth in employment numbers in Virginia. The impacts of DOGE are real, and Vivek Ramaswamy was the original architect until he was ‘DOGE’d’ by Elon Musk.”
• Spanberger has called on Earle-Sears to cancel the rally, arguing that Virginians deserve to know why her opponent “continues to prioritize loyalty to President Trump over their well-being.”
• With unemployment rising and federal job losses a top campaign issue, both parties are seeking to define the stakes as early ballots are cast.

CBS: Voting kicks off in Virginia governor's race — as Trump policies take center-stage

• National-level issues and the Trump administration's policies have taken center-stage.
• The Trump administration's sweeping cuts to the federal workforce — helmed by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — could play an especially important role in Virginia. The state had almost 150,000 civilian federal workers as of last year, more than any other state aside from California, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
• Virginia lost 7,800 federal jobs in the first half of this year, and is forecasted to lose 9,300 government jobs — federal, state and local — by the end of 2025, the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center estimated last month.
• Earle-Sears has spoken favorably about Mr. Trump, though the president has remained noncommittal on whether he will campaign for the Republican gubernatorial hopeful. Asked about Earle-Sears and downballot Virginia GOP candidates on Friday, Mr. Trump said: "I'm going to have to look at some of them. As you know, it's sort of a semi-local election."
• Spanberger has sought to tie her opponent to Mr. Trump and DOGE. She attacked Earle-Sears for campaigning alongside Ramaswamy, whom she described to CBS News on Friday as "the architect of the DOGE effort, which has led to thousands of Virginians losing their jobs."

Virginia Scope: Early voting starts today, Democrats are using a billboard truck

• Marking the day, the Democratic Party of Virginia is advertising with a billboard truck around Central Virginia.
• “Winsome Earle-Sears puts DOGE and Trump before Virginia” and “Winsome Earle-Sears  DOGE” are the messages being displayed.
• The truck will also play audio of Winsome Earle-Sears’ comments about DOGE. 
• The truck will be at the state capitol in the afternoon and then near an event taking place Friday night in Chesterfield with the entire statewide ticket and Vivek Ramaswamy, the Ohio gubernatorial candidate who worked for the Trump administration alongside Elon Musk at DOGE.

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Ramaswamy boosts GOP ticket; Earle-Sears, Spanberger court early voters

• Vivek Ramaswamy headlined a Chesterfield rally to boost the GOP ticket Friday night as Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears [...].
• Spanberger has criticized Earle-Sears for campaigning with Ramaswamy, who initially was a co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a White House office that has led cuts to the federal workforce and spending under President Donald Trump.
• Several protesters posted up across the street from the Chesterfield rally, with one of their signs reading “NO WINSOME, NO DOGE.”

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