It’s what helped propel her and Youngkin to victory in 2021 when they flipped Virginia’s governor’s mansion for the first time since 2009. Now she’s ready to come from behind and keep Virginia’s statewide races red.

“Virginia, we’re gonna win in November, and it starts today,” Earle-Sears said at a campaign event Friday night. “This election is not about the next four years. This election is about the vision and the future of Virginia, for our children. It’s about our future, and it starts today with your vote, with your vote, with your vote, with your vote.”

ABIGAIL SPANBERGER SMELLS VICTORY IN VIRGINIA IN EARLY VOTING KICKOFF EVENT

A recent Christopher Newport University poll shows that Spanberger leads Earle-Sears by 12 points, 52% to 40%, among Virginia likely voters. But other polls have shown a somewhat tighter race. A Virginia Commonwealth University poll released this month showed Spanberger leading by nine points, 49% to 40%.

“Both parties have got a lot of work ahead of them. The Republicans cannot give up, and the Democrats can’t rest on their laurels,” David Richards, a political science professor at the University of Lynchburg, told the Washington Examiner.

The lieutenant governor also trails Spanberger in fundraising. The Democratic governor had $15.2 million cash on hand after the June reporting period, in contrast to the $4.6 million cash on hand that Earle-Sears had. 

“I hate to say this, but if you haven’t donated to these campaigns, I need to ask you to donate anything $5, $10, $25,” Youngkin implored the crowd. “The other side has a magic faucet, and the money just comes pouring out, and we’ve got to fight back because our message is the winning message. Common sense, conservative policy, don’t just win, they work.”

Earle-Sears turned to her boss, Youngkin, and Vivek Ramaswamy, the onetime presidential hopeful and briefly, the co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency, to help boost turnout for her campaign on the same day as early voting started in the Old Dominion.

“Early voting started today, and we’re about to get the job done, aren’t we?” Ramaswamy told supporters in Chesterfield, Virginia, on Friday, which featured the entire Virginia GOP ticket.

“Leave this event tonight. Get 10 more people who haven’t voted early today to get out early voting and actually do it,” he later said. “We don’t win through bullets, we win through ballots. That’s how we do it in the Republican Party.”

The comments were an allusion to the killing of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk at an event at Utah Valley University this month, which has horrified the nation.

But whether Kirk’s death will galvanize voters in Virginia is debatable.

“That’s going to be really interesting to see because can you sort of guilt people out into voting, especially because there is some hesitancy among Republicans to support the ticket,” said Richards.

“I’m wondering on the other end of things, with the sort of reaction that we’ve seen from the federal government on the federal level, and sort of the First Amendment right issues that have crept up,” he continued. “It seemed like in that CNU poll that the Democrats were all of a sudden very concerned about the strength of democracy. And I wonder if it might have kind of an opposite effect, where the Democrats are galvanized to go out and vote because they want to make sure that they’re not being somehow suppressed.”

EARLY VOTING BEGINS IN VIRGINIA ELECTIONS: WHAT TO KNOW

ABC’s suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel this week after his comments on Kirk’s death has become the latest lightning rod on free speech, with Democrats accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing the federal government to punish critics.

Hours before Earle-Sears appeared at the rally with Ramaswamy and Youngkin, Spanberger criticized the event during an early voting event in Fairfax County, Virginia.

“We want someone to stand up for the federal workforce, our neighbors, our friends, our fellow Virginians who have lost their jobs in service to our country because of DOGE and all of the other community members, small business owners, restaurant owners who have been impacted,” Spanberger said to supporters as she made the case to become the next governor of Virginia.

But Earle-Sears claimed that jobs were, in fact, being created in Virginia. “You see all those jobs that we’ve been creating. In the past two months, we have created 10,000 new jobs, as I’m told by the statistician,” she said. “If you want a job, we have a job for you. And all my opponent is doing now is divisiveness.”

Spanberger also denounced Kirk’s death as an act of “egregious political violence, in a gaggle with reporters. “I would like to see everyone denounce that, but particularly those with elevated voices at all levels,” Spanberger said.

“But the discussions related to Jimmy Kimmel and the situation there, is can indeed the federal government put pressure on private companies to take action related to someone exercising their own First Amendment?” she continued. “And I believe that it is very clear that that level of aggressive action, coercion by the federal government, trying to get an action out of a private company, is inappropriate.”

The Democratic candidate has largely focused on the economy, with a focus on the federal government cuts and its effect on Virginia, in her campaign, while the Republican candidate has focused on cultural issues, including banning transgender people from using bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, not their biological sex, on the campaign trail.

Yet, despite trailing Spanberger, Earle-Sears remains nonplussed.

“We are going to win because we have the right idea. Our children must be safe. You must be safe,” said Earle-Sears.

Early voting runs from Friday, Sept. 19, through Nov. 1, before Election Day on Nov. 4. Data from early voters will likely give political experts a clue about who has momentum before the two candidates face off on the debate stage on Oct. 9 at Norfolk State University.

“I predict we’re going to get record turnout for the governor’s race. I think we will have a record turnout in early voting, and the final count come November, I think it will be a record. I think people are motivated to go out and vote for both parties,” said Richards.