Exclusive: Republican Lt. Gov. Winson Sears From Virginia She could make history next year as the nation's first Black woman to win a gubernatorial election.
It would also make history as Virginia's first Female ruler.
But Sears, in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital, emphasized: “I'm not really running to make history. I'm just trying, as I said before, to leave it better than I found it, and I want everyone to have the same opportunities that I had.” “
Sears, who was born on the Caribbean island of Jamaica and immigrated to the United States when he was 6, served in the Marines and is a former state lawmaker. She made history three years ago when she won election as Virginia's first female lieutenant governor.
What's next for this popular Republican governor when he leaves office in a year?
Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears speaks during a rally to announce that she will seek her party's nomination for governor of Virginia in 2025 at Chick's Oyster Bar in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on September 5. (Christine Zeiss/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“You have to remember that my father came to America in 1963 just 17 days before Dr. King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech,” she said.
Sears noted that her father “saw an opportunity here, even though… you can't really, as a black person, live where you want.”
“And yet, here I am, now sitting as second-in-command in the former capital of the Confederate States,” she added. “With me, we can see again, there are still opportunities, there are still opportunities to grow, there are still opportunities to do better. We will be better, not bitter. We will not be victims. We are victors.”
Youngkin of Virginia supports his first lieutenant. The governor to succeed him
Sears has a major supporter in the People's Republican Party Governor Glenn Youngkin, Who three years ago became the first Republican in more than a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in Virginia, a once key swing state but one that has been shaded blue in recent cycles.
From left: Terrence Sears; Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winson Sears; Susan Youngkin; Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin; Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares; and Paige Miyares hold hands as the governor leads the group in prayer at the state Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, on January 15, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
But Virginia is unique because a state law prohibits its governors from serving two consecutive four-year terms, so Youngkin cannot run for re-election next year.
Youngkin told Fox News Digital last month that Sears “will be a great governor for Virginia.”
“I must make sure that Winsome Sears will be our next governor,” he stressed. “I will campaign hard.”
Sears emphasized that Youngkin as a “successful businessman” had “brought such success to the government,” and stressed that “we want to continue what he started.”
“There's still a lot of work to do, there are still regulations to get rid of, there are still educational opportunities to take advantage of, and I'm the one who will carry that, because I've been a part of that,” she added.
Sears was interviewed in Virginia Beach on Thursday, with a month to go President-elect Trump He returns to the White House.
In late 2022, she called Trump a liability after Republican candidates backed by the then-former president performed poorly in the midterm elections. She said she will remain neutral in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
“I supported him in '16, and in '20 why? Because I saw that he was good for our country,” Sears noted.
Head here for the latest FOX NEWS reporting on the Trump transition
But, she added, Trump “said some things, and that bothered me. And like I said, I'm dealing with this as a Christian. So I thought, well, let's see if there's someone else.”
Sears pointed to the July assassination attempt on Trump as the moment she changed her mind.
“I was waiting to hear about the change, and after he was shot and accepted the nomination, I heard him say: ‘Miracles happen every day. I am one of those. God saved my life. And so, in all humility, ask for your voice. I emphasized that I was on the plane at the time.
Former President Trump was joined by his wife, Melania, after his speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
But one of Trump's top supporters in Virginia, conservative radio host John Fredericks, continued to criticize Sears.
“It will destroy Republicans' chances in Virginia in 2025, and we need a different Republican candidate who truly has President Trump's support,” he said last month on his radio show and in a social media post.
Asked if she would like Trump to campaign with her over the next 10 months before the 2025 election, Sears said: “I… I think he will have a lot to do in the capital, and if he wants to come here, that's fine. If he wants to help, that's fine. “I mean, you know, we can use all the help we can get.”
This Democratic lawmaker is running for governor of Virginia
Sears, who launched her gubernatorial bid in early September, avoided a competitive primary when Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares announced last month that he would seek re-election rather than run for governor.
Three-term Democrat representative. abigail Spanberger, A former CIA officer, she is her party's nominee for governor.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, speaks at a campaign rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on November 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File)
Spanberger announced 13 months ago that she would run for governor in 2025 rather than seek re-election to Congress this year. While a general election showdown between Sears and Spanberger is expected, recent reports indicate that longtime Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott is considering a run for governor.
“We'll see what shakes up the Democratic side, but I'll take on whoever comes, because I think we have the better policies,” Sears said.
Political pundits view her as more socially conservative than Youngkin, who hails from the business wing of the Republican Party.
When asked if Sears was too far to the right of Virginia voters, Youngkin responded in his Fox News Digital interview, saying, “Not at all. And Winsome is a common-sense conservative leader. We've been partners literally from day one. We've campaigned together. We've voted together.” “We ruled together.”
But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), citing criticism from Fredericks, who chaired Trump's campaign in Virginia in 2016 and 2020, argued that “Virginia Republicans are starting the 2025 election divided, already critical, and publicly forgetting about Sears.”
“This confirms once again that Sears will have to go even further to the right and take extremely damaging and out of touch positions to win the Republican nomination,” claimed Devon Cruz, national press secretary for the DGA.
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When Sears was asked about the DGA's criticism, which also includes highlighting her positions on issues like abortion and IVF, she said that “the Democrats are trying to find a way to beat me up… I don't worry about that. I let them say it.” Whatever they want to say, I've proven I'm doing the right thing.”
She added: “I have always said that I am a Christian first and a Republican second. And that is what I have always been.” “So that must mean I don't care about politics. I care about service.”
