Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger have faced off on the debate stage in Virginia’s high-stakes governor’s race.
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger faced off for the first and only time on the debate stage Thursday night in Virginia’s high-stakes gubernatorial race.
It was a fiery affair in which Earle-Sears, who is trailing in the race, went on the offensive from the very beginning, repeatedly interrupting Spanberger and asking her several direct questions.
Spanberger, who largely avoided addressing her Republican opponent directly, sought to cast a bipartisan tone at times. Over the course of the hourlong affair, the candidates sparred over violent rhetoric, the federal shutdown and transgender children. The economy was largely an afterthought.
Virginia is one of just two states choosing governors this November, and its election is often seen as a bellwether for the party in power across the Potomac River ahead of midterm elections next year.
Washington politics are especially relevant this year in Virginia, as President Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce and Congress’ current government shutdown have an outsize impact in a state filled with federal employees and military personnel.
Here are some takeaways from the debate at Norfolk State University:
Perhaps even more than policy differences, the candidates’ personal styles shaped the hourlong debate.
Earle-Sears, with her only chance to confront Spanberger before Election Day, was far more aggressive. She repeatedly turned toward Spanberger and addressed her by her first name, interrupting almost every answer, despite being admonished by the moderators over and over.
The approach put the Democrat on the defensive after months of running the race largely on her own terms as the perceived frontrunner.
Spanberger, while she criticized her opponent at times, faced forward throughout, avoided eye contact, and only rarely addressed Earle-Sears directly. She did not speak during Earle-Sears’ answers, even when her opponent asked direct questions, which happened often.
Earle-Sears also told Spanberger she “should have stayed in Congress” and frequently questioned her truthfulness.
“Don’t lie like that, Abigail!” she shouted at one point.
The interruptions lasted up until the very final moments of the debate when the moderators cut off the microphones.
A scandal shaped the very beginning of the debate, although it was not a scandal directly involving either candidate onstage.
Instead, it was the Democratic candidate for attorney general, Jay Jones. He has been heavily criticized in recent days following last week’s publication of text messages from 2022 in which he suggested that Virginia’s former Republican House speaker get “two bullets in the head.”
While Spanberger had previously shared “disgust” about Jones’s words, heading into Thursday night’s debate she had not called for him to drop out of the race, while Mr.
