RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Republican The attractive Earle-Sears and democrat Abigail Spanberger are expected to debate their competing visions for Virginia in the state’s gubernatorial race Thursday. And each woman undoubtedly has the same goal: to blame her opponent for supporting the chaos in Washington.
Virginie is one of two states choose their governors next November, and his election is often seen as a bellwether for the ruling party across the Potomac River ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Washington politics are particularly relevant this year in Virginia, as the president that of Donald Trump Federal Workforce Cuts and Current Congressional Actions government shutdown having an outsized impact in a state filled with federal employees and military personnel.
Thursday will be the first face-to-face debate between Spanberger and Earle-Sears after months of remote criticism.
Virginia has elected leaders from both parties in recent years. In 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe in the governor’s race. State Democrats narrowly regained totality control of legislative power in the 2023 elections.
Here’s what to watch for at the debate at Norfolk State University:
A race in the shadow of Trump
Trump is not on the ballot in Virginia next month. But the Republican president should play a central role in the debate.
Spanberger often mentions Trump and Earle-Sears in the same breath. Just last week, Spanberger’s campaign issued a press release claiming that Earle-Sears does not “take seriously the economic consequences of Trump’s Virginia layoffs.”
Earle-Sears and other Republicans, however, tend to do something about Trump’s name. They want to reap the rewards of his popularity among Republicans without angering Virginians who don’t like him.
Earle-Sears spoke favorably of the president and invited him to the state to campaign on his behalf. She also refused to condemn her federal workforce reductions earlier this year. Given the chance, she refused in a television interview to tell Trump not to make any more layoffs amid the shutdown.
Trump did not directly support Earle-Sears in the race. Although he visited Virginia twice last week, he ignored the Republican candidate for governor.
The stop
The standoff over the closure is expected to continue through Thursday evening and beyond.
It’s been nine days since the Congress failed to secure an extension of fundingand both Democrats and Republicans are blaming their rivals — even in a state-level race.
On Thursday, Spanberger will have the opportunity to present Earle-Sears as a candidate incapable of standing up to Trump. Already, the Democrat has stressed that the threats of impose massive layoffs would have a distinct impact on Virginia, where at least approximately 315,000 federal workers reside.
Earle-Sears will likely seek to tie his Democratic opponent to shutting down the federal government after Congress failed to fund the government. Democrats, who have historically voted against a short-term spending measure, have said they would only vote for it if Congress extends the measure. healthcare subsidies which will expire at the end of the year.
Earle-Sears publicly repeatedly called on his opponent to tell Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, to vote in favor of the spending bill.
Culture wars versus wallets
One of the keys to the debate will be what the candidates hope to talk about.
Earle-Sears wants to keep transgender youth outside of high school sports and bathrooms. Spanberger would rather talk about keeping Virginia affordable.
Earle-Sears campaigned for stricter laws regarding transgender girls in Virginia’s public education systems, flooding the airwaves with ads focused on the cultural divide that helped Trump win the presidency last fall.
Spanberger has mostly led on kitchen table issues — jobs, cost of living, health care prices.
Each candidate approached her opponent’s cause with some hesitation. Earle-Sears said maintaining the Youngkin administration’s business successes was vital to her, although she doesn’t criticize Trump’s role in eliminating jobs statewide.
Spanberger said she supports all children, but she did not emphasize her support specifically for trans children.
Questions each candidate could answer
Both candidates could be called upon to defend themselves against criticism that emerged during the race.
The Earle-Sears campaign faced questions after Youngkin unsuccessfully asked Republican John Reid to dropping out of race for lieutenant governor in connection with a social media account with explicit photos.
But Reid isn’t the only candidate the Republican governor has called to leave the race. Last week, The National Review published a report revealing that Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, sent text messages in 2022 suggesting the former Republican House speaker was being shot “two times in the head.”
Republicans across the United States, including Trump and Earle-Sears, have demanded that Jones step down for his use of such violent rhetoric. Spanberger condemned the text messages but stopped short of calling for his departure despite growing pressure to do so. Jones apologized.
The debate comes in the form of threats of political violence intensified across the country after the shooting death of a conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
