{"id":2476217,"date":"2025-08-19T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-governors-race-tightens-gop-comes-home-to-earle-sears\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T11:03:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:03:51","slug":"virginia-governors-race-tightens-gop-comes-home-to-earle-sears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-governors-race-tightens-gop-comes-home-to-earle-sears\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia governor&#8217;s race tightens, GOP \u2018comes home\u2019 to Earle-Sears"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvirginia-governors-race-tightens-gop-comes-home-to-earle-sears%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2476217&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Virginia governor&#8217;s race has become more competitive over the summer, with former Democratic Rep.Abigail Spanberger leading Republican Lt. Gov. winsome earle-Sears by seven points (46% to 39%) according to the latest Roanoke college Poll. this marks a tightening from the May poll, where Spanberger had a larger lead. Both candidates have gained voter support since then, with Republicans rallying behind Earle-Sears after her initial slow start. Voter enthusiasm appears slightly stronger among Spanberger&#8217;s supporters.<\/p>\n<p>The poll also highlights a shift in public opinion about President Donald Trump in Virginia.His approval rating has risen eight points since May to 41%,perhaps benefiting Earle-Sears and other Republicans. Moreover, more Virginians now believe the state is heading in the right direction (52%).<\/p>\n<p>Other <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >key statewide races remain close<\/a>: Democrat Ghazala Hashmi leads Republican John Reid for lieutenant governor (38% to 35%), and Democrat Jay Jones leads Republican incumbent Jason Miyares for attorney general (41% to 38%). These contests fall within the poll&#8217;s margin of error, indicating a highly competitive election ahead of the November 4 off-year vote. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<div id=\"ld-4686-3758\"><\/div>\n<p><script>(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:14832835450050406,size:[0, 0],id:\"ld-4686-3758\"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.decide.dev\/_js\/ajs.js\";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,\"script\",\"ld-ajs\");<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Virginia governor&rsquo;s race tightens, GOP &lsquo;comes home&rsquo; to Earle-Sears<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2152731\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The race for governor in Virginia and other top positions in Richmond has tightened significantly over the summer, but Democrats continue to lead in the off-year election set for November 4.<\/p>\n<p>The new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roanoke.edu\/news\/rc_poll_politics_august_2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Roanoke College Poll<\/a> out Tuesday morning showed former Democratic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/abigail-spanberger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rep. Abigail Spanberger<\/a> leading Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/politics\/3499321\/winsome-earle-sears-pressures-abigail-spanberger-over-loudoun-transgender-policy-standoff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears<\/a> by seven points, 46% to 39%.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/3758723\/cnn-barack-obama-hillary-clinton-george-bush-smarter-than-trump-peace-talks-liberal-media-scream\/\">CNN says Obama, Clinton, and Bush smarter than Trump: Liberal Media Scream<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/3758546\/trump-reverses-biden-regulations-executive-order\/\">Trump revokes Biden&rsquo;s swamp-first regulations order<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/3757843\/trump-enters-zelensky-summit-approval-surging-upward\/\">Trump enters Zelensky summit with approval &lsquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-enters-zelensky-summit-with-approval-surging-upward\/\" title=\"Trump enters Zelensky summit with approval \u2018surging upward\u2019\">surging upward&#038;rsquo<\/a>;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>That is a tighter race than the school&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roanoke.edu\/news\/rc_poll_politics_may_2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">May survey<\/a>, with the liberal Spanberger leading 43% to 26%. Both candidates have increased their share of the vote, three points for the Democrat and 13 for Earle-Sears.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The race for governor appears to be tightening, but Spanberger still leads,&rdquo; said Harry Wilson, interim director for the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College.<\/p>\n<p>He said the survey showed that Republicans have jumped on board the Earle-Sears campaign after her lackluster start.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Many Republicans seem to have &lsquo;come home&rsquo; to Earle-Sears since the May poll, but Spanberger&rsquo;s voters are slightly more enthusiastic about voting and more certain of their vote,&rdquo; said Wilson.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia and New Jersey hold off-year gubernatorial elections that follow presidential elections, and they are often viewed as indicators of a new president&rsquo;s popularity.<\/p>\n<p>In the latest survey, Virginians have bounced off their overwhelmingly negative view of President Donald Trump recorded in the school&rsquo;s May survey. In May, Trump&rsquo;s disapproval was the &ldquo;worst it has been, including during his first term,&rdquo; said the analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Trump has a 41% approval, up eight points since May, and a 57% disapproval rating. While poor, that is seen as a big improvement and could help Earle-Sears and others on the Republican ticket.<\/p>\n<p>Wilson said that partisan politics plays a big role in how voters look at Trump, with both sides dug in. &ldquo;Republicans and Democrats appear to be living on different planets in terms of how they view politics, elected officials, and candidates,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>What&rsquo;s more, the view of voters on the commonwealth&rsquo;s &ldquo;direction&rdquo; has flipped to positive. The poll said that 52% now see Virginia on the right track.<\/p>\n<p>While Earle-Sears has struggled to close with Spanberger, other top races appear to be nail-biters.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the race for lieutenant governor, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi leads Republican John Reid 38% to 35%, and in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/george-p-bush-talks-to-trump-about-political-options-for-texas\/\" title=\"George P. Bush Talks to Trump About Political Options for Texas\">attorney general race<\/a>, Democrat Jay Jones leads Republican incumbent Jason Miyares 41% to 38%.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The races for lieutenant governor and attorney general are both within the poll&rsquo;s margin of error, suggesting the election is far from over. It should be noted that this poll was statistically weighted to match the 2021 Virginia exit poll, which was a good year for Republicans. In polls close to elections, IPOR weights to match the most recent relevant exit poll because it is a more objective standard than estimating which groups we think are more or less likely to vote,&rdquo; said Wilson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia governor&#8217;s race tightens; GOP rallies behind Earle-Sears<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2647,"featured_media":2476218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poll-Va-Gov.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[40299,6203,39547,38033],"class_list":["post-2476217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-earle-sears","tag-gop","tag-governors-race","tag-virginia-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Poll-Va-Gov.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2647"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2476217"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2476221,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476217\/revisions\/2476221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2476218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2476217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2476217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2476217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}