Winsome Earle-Sears (born March 11, 1964) is a Jamaican–American politician and businesswoman who served as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2022 to 2026. A member of the Republican Party, she represented the 90th district in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 to 2004.
Born in Jamaica, Earle-Sears immigrated to the United States in 1970. She served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1983 to 1986. Running for Virginia's 3rd congressional district in 2004, Earle-Sears lost to Democratic incumbent Bobby Scott. She then owned and operated a small business until it closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earle-Sears was a member of the Virginia State Board of Education from 2011 to 2015, serving as vice president of the board from 2014 to 2015. In 2018, she unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate.
In the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election, Earle-Sears lost to former U.S. representative and Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger.
Early life and education Earle-Sears was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 11, 1964. She immigrated to the United States at the age of six, brought by her father who had already immigrated to the U.S. She grew up in The Bronx, New York City.
Earle-Sears earned an Associate of Arts degree from Tidewater Community College, a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in economics from Old Dominion University, and a Master of Arts in organizational leadership from Regent University.
Earle-Sears served as an electrician in the United States Marines from 1983 to 1986. She received training at Camp Lejeune, and was then stationed at Camp Pendleton; during her military service, she was promoted to corporal, and also became a U.S. citizen. Before running for public office, she directed a Salvation Army homeless shelter.
Business career From 2010 to 2020, Earle-Sears owned Shenandoah Alliance, Plumbing, and Electric. While the business was profitable during the 2008 recession, Earle-Sears closed it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earle-Sears blamed the government’s response to the pandemic, along with staffing challenges, for its closure. The business received over $102,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans; the loans were forgiven.
Political career
In November 2001, Earle-Sears upset 20-year Democratic incumbent Billy Robinson in the general election for the 90th district seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, becoming the first female Black Republican, the first female veteran, and the first naturalized citizen to serve in the body. She is the first Republican to represent a majority-Black House district in Virginia since 1865. Sears received a presidential appointment to the United States Census Bureau's African American Committee and a separate appointment from the secretary of veterans affairs to the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans.
In 2004, Earle-Sears was the Republican nominee for Virginia's 3rd congressional district, challenging Democratic incumbent Bobby Scott. She lost in this heavily Democratic district, receiving 31% of the vote.
In 2011, Governor Bob McDonnell appointed Earle-Sears to the Virginia Board of Education, succeeding Ella Ward. She served as the board's vice president in 2014, succeeding Betsy Beamer. Earle-Sears was succeeded as vice president by Billy K. Cannaday Jr. In 2015, Earle-Sears retired from the board and was succeeded by Wes Bellamy.
In September 2018, Earle-Sears ran as a write-in candidate for the US Senate after Corey Stewart won the Republican nomination, citing his past alliances with white nationalists and other racial controversies. She received less than 1% of the vote.
During the 2020 United States presidential election campaign, Earle-Sears supported Donald Trump and served as the national chairwoman of the political action committee Black Americans to re-elect the President.
Following the 2022 United States elections, during which Trump-endorsed Republicans lost in critical battleground states, Earle-Sears criticized Trump, calling him a liability for the party and saying she would not support him running again in the 2024 United States presidential election. Earle-Sears later changed her position, announcing her support after Trump was named the presumptive nominee in 2024.
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (2022–2026) 2021 election
On January 21, 2021, Earle-Sears announced her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
On May 11, 2021, Earle-Sears won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Virginia on the fifth ballot, defeating former state delegate Tim Hugo 54% to 46%. On November 2, she won the general election, defeating Hala Ayala. Her victory coincided with victories from gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin and attorney general nominee Jason Miyares. She was inaugurated as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Virginia on January 15, 2022. She is Virginia's first female lieutenant governor, as well as the first Black female to hold the office.
During her 2021 campaign, Earle-Sears declined to say whether she had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, but encouraged others to get vaccinated. Citing an October 7, 2021 Twitter post from Sears.
Tenure On February 10, 2022, Earle-Sears cast her first tiebreaking Senate vote as lieutenant governor. The Senate voted 20-20 on a bill that would have let defendants in many felony cases appeal discretionary sentences in situations when a judge has not provided a satisfactory written explanation of the sentence. After conferring with the bill's sponsor and with one of the bill's opponents, Earle-Sears voted against the bill.
In June 2022, Earle-Sears "broke a tie vote in the Senate to allow Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to extend lab-school status and funding eligibility to community colleges and TAG-eligible private schools in Virginia to move forward".
In 2024, the Virginia Legislature passed HB 174. The bill stated that no one who is empowered to issue a marriage license may decline to issue a license based only on the gender, sex, or race of the parties. Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the legislation. In her role as presiding officer of the Virginia Senate, Earle-Sears was constitutionally required to affix her signature to the bill. While she did sign it, she added the following note: "'As the Lt. Governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligations to the procedures laid out in the Constitution of Virginia. However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly'".
On January 28, 2025, Earle-Sears cast a tie-breaking vote against a bill to establish a right to contraceptives. The bill was later voted on by the Senate again and passed.
In 2025, the Virginia Legislature gave first passage to a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee abortion rights. Sears affixed her signature to the amendment but added the following note: "'I am morally opposed to this bill; no protection for the child'".
2025 Virginia gubernatorial election
On September 5, 2024, Earle-Sears declared her candidacy for Governor of Virginia in the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election. After Attorney General Jason Miyares announced on November 18, 2024 that he would not run for governor, Earle-Sears was viewed as the presumptive candidate for the Republican nomination.
On February 28, 2025, due to Earle-Sears' previous criticisms of President Trump, former state senator Amanda Chase and former state delegate Dave LaRock each announced that they would run against her in the Republican primary. Despite this newfound opposition, Earle-Sears was still viewed as the favorite to win the primary. In March 2025, Earle-Sears' campaign stated, "'Challengers can enter the race, but the outcome will be the same' — victory".
Ultimately, neither Chase nor LaRock reached the required number of signatures to qualify for the ballot. On April 5, 2025, Earle-Sears became the Republican nominee for governor.
While speaking at an Arlington County School Board meeting to oppose the system's "transgender locker room and bathroom policies", Earle-Sears was targeted by a racist sign in a crowd of protesters outside the venue. It read, "Hey Winsome, if trans [sic] can't share your bathroom, then Blacks can't share my water fountain." All six nominees for statewide office denounced the sign, with Earle-Sears's opponent, Abigail Spanberger, stating, "No matter how much one might find someone else's beliefs objectionable, to threaten a return of Jim Crow and segregation to a Black woman is unacceptable."
In August 2025, VPM News, a National Public Radio affiliate for the Greater Richmond Region, submitted a FOIA request for Lieutenant Governor Earle-Sears's schedule and records, which are required to be kept and preserved permanently. Her office provided a mostly blank, 297-page PDF file, excluding about 297 records and citing exemptions for "confidential correspondence and working papers of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor". A follow-up FOIA submission clarifying and broadening the request went unanswered within the legally required timeframe.
On November 4, Earle-Sears lost the general election to Spanberger, receiving 42.22% of the vote.
Political positions
Earle-Sears has been described as conservative.
Abortion Earle-Sears opposes abortion. During her 2021 campaign for lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears stated she would support legislation similar to the Texas Heartbeat Act, which would ban abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected (i.e., as early as six weeks). On the campaign trail, she called abortion "genocide" and stated she supported making abortion illegal in all cases unless the mother's life was at risk. Later in her 2021 campaign, WRIC-TV wrote that Earle-Sears "appeared to backtrack" on her initial comments about the Texas Heartbeat Act. She told WRIC-TV she had not reviewed the Texas law and declined to specify when abortion should be banned. After becoming lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears said that abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, incest, and to prevent harm to pregnant women. When Roe v. Wade was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022, she announced her support for a 15-week abortion ban. Audio obtained by The Guardian captured Earle-Sears implying that consenting to sex is equivalent to consenting to pregnancy, saying that women "need to make our choices before we’re pregnant, not, you know, after.”
In 2025, Earle-Sears signed Virginia’s pending constitutional amendment on reproductive rights while adding a handwritten note expressing her personal opposition to it.
Cannabis In 2021, Earle-Sears expressed support for medical marijuana legalization but opposed the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Earle-Sears has said that adult-use cannabis "will destroy us" and has described marijuana as a gateway drug. During her campaign in 2021, Earles-Sears has stated that she fired one of her employees for using marijuana, “I had to let somebody go who worked for me, found out he was on marijuana, 'you can’t work for me, you’re gonna destroy somebody’s home, you’re gonna crash, it’s gonna decimate us, because marijuana is a gateway drug … There is no hope in that, there is no future.'"
Diversity, equity, and inclusion Earle-Sears applauded a decision by the University of Virginia to disband its DEI office in 2025, calling it a victory for both students and faculty. A WinRed fundraising appeal for her campaign quoted her as saying, "Democrats think minorities can't succeed without DEI".
Economy In the Virginia House of Delegates, Earle-Sears was one of the two Republican state delegates who voted against a Republican-led attempt at raising taxes.
In 2022, Earle-Sears supported Youngkin's 90-day gas tax holiday proposal. During her gubernatorial run, she pledged to eliminate the car tax, and promised to eliminate taxes on tips at the state level.