Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears began the week as the clear Republican gubernatorial frontrunner, but in just days, her once-uncontested path to the nomination has turned into a primary fight. With 10 months until Virginia’s gubernatorial election, two GOP challengers have jumped into the race, shaking up the contest and setting the stage for the showdown with former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Former state delegate Dave LaRock and former state senator Amanda Chase declared their candidacies within days of each other, throwing the Republican primary into uncertainty. Their entries come just as Spanberger opened a double-digit lead over Earle-Sears for the first time in a Roanoke College poll released earlier this week.
LaRock, a former state delegate from Loudoun County, is positioning himself as a staunch conservative alternative to Earle-Sears.
His campaign website touts him as a “proven conservative leader who delivers” and promises to “protect taxpayers’ money from fraud and waste, uphold constitutional rights, defend life, and ensure safe communities and schools.”
LaRock has also voiced support for the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk. He has not responded to requests for comment for this story, but his website takes aim at Earle-Sears, claiming she “offers platitudes and backtracks on conservative values.”
Chase, who represented Chesterfield County in the state Senate for eight years before losing a primary challenge to Sen. Glen Sturtevant, is no stranger to statewide campaigns — or controversy.
Chase has been widely characterized as a far-right figure and a promoter of election conspiracy theories. She has been called one of Virginia’s most vocal spreaders of false claims about the 2020 election and drew attention for attending Trump’s rally before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In response, the Virginia Senate voted 24-9 in a bipartisan censure, citing “conduct unbecoming a senator” and accusing her of “fomenting insurrection against the United States.”
Chase previously launched an unsuccessful bid for governor in late 2020, branding herself as “Trump in Heels.” After her Senate defeat, she moved to Appomattox to seek the Republican nomination in Senate District 10, but lost in a party-run mass meeting to Republican Luther Cifers.
In a phone interview Thursday, Chase said she believes Earle-Sears may struggle to qualify for the primary ballot, citing campaign “turnover and upheaval.” Dave Abrams, a spokesman for Earle-Sears, called these allegations “patently false.”
Chase emphasized her ability to mount a viable challenge, pointing to her past electoral experience and campaign infrastructure. “I believe I could beat Abigail Spanberger,” she said. “Winsome Earle-Sears has alienated a lot of Trump supporters when she said she didn’t support Trump’s second run for president. People want a candidate that has not denounced President Trump.”
Chase also stated she would welcome an alliance with Elon Musk to combat wasteful spending in Virginia. “We need a DOGE in Virginia. We need Elon Musk,” she added.
While LaRock has officially filed his paperwork and Chase is in the process of doing so, both candidates still face a significant hurdle — securing 10,000 signatures, including 400 from qualified voters in each of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts by April 3 to qualify for the primary ballot. Chase acknowledged the challenge, calling it a “heavy lift for anybody,” but she expressed confidence in her campaign’s ability to meet the requirement.
Earle-Sears, who has served as lieutenant governor since 2022, faces some pushback from within her party, particularly because she publicly urged Republicans to “move on from Trump” later that year.
Both LaRock and Chase are likely to seek Trump’s endorsement, a potential key factor in the primary battle. The situation mirrors the 2024 Republican primary in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, where Trump-backed challenger McGuire ousted then-Rep. Bob Good, R-Farmville, after the former president withdrew his endorsement of the incumbent.
Despite the primary challenge, Earle-Sears retains strong institutional support. On Wednesday evening, Gov. Glenn Youngkin took to X to reaffirm his backing of Earle-Sears, calling her “Virginia’s next governor.” He praised her record on parental rights, law enforcement, business growth, and tax relief, pledging to “stand with her every step of the way as our party unites and she wins in November.”
And Adams, the Earle-Sears campaign spokesman, dismissed concerns about her primary opponents. “Winsome is a winner, plain and simple,” he said in a text message Thursday.
“She has an extraordinary personal story and a long record of fighting for and delivering common-sense conservative policies that make life in Virginia better. That’s why the groundswell of support for her campaign has grown too big to beat in any prospective primary.”
David Richards, a political science professor at the University of Lynchburg, said Earle-Sears is not in serious trouble yet but warned that Trump’s endorsement could be a game-changer.
“Youngkin’s endorsement helps her enormously. A candidate like LaRock poses some risk for her because he could gain momentum. Chase is less of a threat; she strikes me as an opportunistic candidate, jumping in because she expects to get some political mileage out of it, not because she would be a serious pick for the GOP.”
Richards noted that if Trump endorses LaRock or another candidate, Earle-Sears could face a serious challenge. “Trump may not determine who wins the governor’s election next November, but he will probably determine who the GOP nominee is.”
Maggie Amjad, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Virginia, framed the Republican primary turmoil as a sign of weakness for Earle-Sears.
“The Republican field erupting in chaos and infighting confirms that Winsome Earle-Sears is a highly flawed candidate with a flailing campaign and an inability to unite the Republican party,” Amjad said.
“While Virginians deserve a governor who fights for the commonwealth, these Republican candidates are only focused on causing chaos, attacking Virginia jobs and workers, defunding public schools, and ripping away reproductive rights.”
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Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Shirleen Guerra | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-21 12:21:00
(The Center Square) — President Donald Trump issued orders to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and transfer responsibilities back to the states; Gov. Glenn Youngkin responded, “Virginia is ready.”
Youngkin’s backing of Trump’s executive order aligns with a broader effort to shift Virginia’s education policies to state control. One clear example of the commonwealth exercising that control is its recent move to ban artificial food dyes in all public school meals.
Thisbillis identical to SB 1289, a decision made entirely at the state level without federal influence.
The new law, which will take effect in 2027, prohibits public schools from serving meals with seven types of artificial dyes, including Red 40 and Yellow 5, both of which are linked to hyperactivity and behavioral issues in children.
“If we wouldn’t put it on our faces, we shouldn’t put in the stomachs of our children,” said Sen. Emily Jordan, who patroned the bill.
Virginia will be the second state in the nation to sign this into law.
The food dye ban is more than just a health initiative; it’s a case study of how Virginia can now set its education policies without federal intervention.
“Virginia is ready to take full responsibility for K-12 education. We have implemented a high-expectations agenda that sets rigorous standards, holds schools accountable for results and prioritizes resources to the students and schools that need the most support,” Youngkin said in a statement.
“We welcome the federal government’s shift of responsibility to the states—and we are grateful that President Trump’s executive order does just that. The EO also makes it clear that there will be no discrimination in the classrooms. We will continue to ensure that every student graduates career-, college-, or military-ready.”
The shift of responsibility aligns with a broader movement in Virginia to reshape education policy. Youngkin has long had high expectations for education across the commonwealth, expanding lab schools, increasing school choice options, raising academic standards and investing $7 billion in new education funding since the pandemic.
With Virginia poised to take complete control of its education system, the upcoming governor’s race will determine how that shift unfolds. At a bill signingceremony, Youngkin addressed the law’s importance, saying, “These harmful chemicals that are injected into our food cause problems,” said Youngkin at a bill signing ceremony.
Youngkin noted this is one of the most significant bills signed under his administration and emphasized that it reinforced a core principle, “Yes, parents matter.” The governor sees this as a chance to increase school choice and state-driven reforms.
Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger for governor has warned of a potential funding shortfall. Meanwhile, Republican candidate Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears praised the executive order as a ‘game-changer.’
As Virginians head to the polls, education remains one of the top defining issues in the race—one that will determine whether Youngkin’s vision of state-led education reform continues or is reversed.
Groups of Virginia education leaders want answers about why Indigenous Peoples’ Day was removed from state standards dictating what students should learn about American history since the Board of Education adopted the revised standards two years ago.
While the holiday was omitted during the revision process, it was put back in before the final adoption of the standards in 2023. This week, some education leaders noticed that Indigenous Peoples Day was missing in the online versions of the standards for the state’s youngest schoolchildren.
“What else is in the standards (that) has been changed or removed?” asked Chris Jones, executive director for the Virginia Association for Teaching, Learning and Leading (VATLL), an education advocacy group. He said the holiday’s removal has led leaders to suspect changes could have also been made to the instructional guides meant to help teachers implement the history standards into their lessons, which could be the reason some of the guides have still not been released, after a two-year delay.
“But because we don’t know, and nothing is really being communicated publicly, we’re of course left to make assumptions,” Jones said.
Indigenous Peoples Day’s addition and subtraction
Some educators and advocates noticed the holiday was missing recently by comparing the history and social science standards approved by the Board of Education two years ago to the online versions for Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd-grade history courses.
In each of the three grade levels, the standards state that students would be required to apply history and social science skills to explain how communities honor state and national traditions and recognize designated Virginia holidays, including, “Columbus Day (also known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day).”
However, the online versions excluded the mention of Indigenous Peoples Day, which was made a state holiday in 2019, to recognize the histories and cultures of Indigenous people. It’s also an alternative to Columbus Day, named after the 15th century explorer of the Americas who paved the way for the colonization and decimation of Indigenous communities.
The holiday was also removed from the standards during the process before the board placed it back in.
A VDOE spokesperson confirmed Thursday afternoon, after the agency was contacted about the holiday missing from the online versions of some standards, that the “oversight” has been corrected.
“[The department] has reviewed the footage of the Board of Education work session discussion on April 19, 2023 and Board approval of Item G on April 20, 2023 and it seems to have been an oversight by the Department to not include “Indigenous People’s Day” as a parenthetical notation next to Columbus Day,” the spokesperson wrote to the Mercury. “To align with board action, we have made the correction which is now reflected online throughout the 2023 history SOL documents.”
Still, some education advocates view the change as a “violation” of the public input process to revise the state’s history and social science standards, which set student learning expectations and are assessed through Standards of Learning tests. State law requires the standards be reviewed every seven years.
The initial omission of the Indigenous Peoples Day perplexed some educators.
“It’s interesting because all of us felt like we remembered seeing, ‘also known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day’ in there, and it being a significant part of the discussion, and so when they came out, there was a little bit of confusion,” said Danyael Graham, president of the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium.
Long-delayed instructional guides prompt more concerns
Graham said the organization, made up of history educators, is also concerned about the lack of direction for implementing the standards, especially for smaller districts going through textbook adoptions, and the delay of providing instructional guides for teachers.
Instructional guides, according to the education department, provide educators guidance on implementing the recently adopted 2023 History and Social Science Standards of Learning and transition away from the 2015 history standards, the most recent version before the 2023 update.
Jones wrote a letter on Feb. 13 to the Board of Education on behalf of VATLL’s policy team requesting the release of the instructional guides.
He wrote that if schools do not perform adequately on the SOL test next year, the department’s “dereliction of duty, and not the work of Virginia’s teachers, will be the key source of underperformance.”
In response, Lisa Coons, then-superintendent of public instruction, notified Jones that several guides have already been published: Grade 5 United States History to 1865, Grade 6 United States History: 1865 to the present, Grade 7 Civics and Economics and Grade 12 Virginia and United States Government.
Coons wrote that the remaining history instructional guides have been undergoing “copy edits” and were planned to be released the week of February 24.
However, as of Wednesday afternoon, the agency had not published all of the remaining guidelines.
Coons also resigned on March 19, with questions remaining about her decision. Emily Anne Gullickson, former chief deputy secretary of education, replaced Coons as the acting state superintendent.
Jones said Coons’ resignation “absolutely” elevated the concern that the guidelines will be even further delayed.
“Right now, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that the people should know,” Jones said. “We’ve started pulling at the thread with the instructional guides, but this idea of removing something from the standards, I think that’s ‘wow.’”
On Friday, more than a dozen educational organizations — including the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium, Virginia Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators and VATLL — plan to submit a letter to the Virginia Board of Education requesting an implementation delay of the 2023 revised History and Social Science Standards of Learning for one year.
A VDOE spokesperson said producing high-quality history instructional guides for teachers is a “top priority” and agency staff will be providing an update to the Board of Education at its work session on March 26, which will include a release timeline.
The spokesperson added that the department has been reviewing the instructional guides and all corresponding linked resources to ensure compliance with recent federal executive actions.
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Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
www.youtube.com – NBC4 Washington – 2025-03-20 22:43:57
SUMMARY: A federal judge has blocked the deportation of Badar Khan Siri, a Georgetown University researcher detained by Homeland Security agents for allegedly spreading Hamas propaganda. Siri, an Indian citizen on a student visa, was arrested outside his home in Arlington. Supporters argue that the accusations are false and an infringement on free speech, drawing parallels to oppressive regimes. While a judge ruled against his deportation, Siri remains in detention at an ICE facility in Louisiana. His attorney has indicated that legal action will continue, with the ACLU of Virginia also filing a lawsuit on his behalf.
A federal judge ordered immigration officials not to deport a Georgetown scholar detained by the Trump administration and accused of spreading Hamas propaganda in the latest battle over speech on U.S. college campuses. Northern Virginia Bureau Reporter Drew Wilder is following the story.
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