Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears sparred frequently and bitterly Thursday during their only debate of this fall’s Virginia governor’s race — and much of it wasn’t even about the two candidates onstage.
Rather, the hourlong showdown at Norfolk State University — in which the moderators repeatedly asked Earle-Sears to refrain from talking over her opponent — most prominently centered on Virginia’s Democratic nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones.
Last week, texts from 2022 surfaced in which the Jones suggested that one of the top legislative Republicans in the state be shot in the head, triggering bipartisan condemnation and calls from Republicans for Jones to exit the race.
Spanberger, a former congresswoman who has condemned the texts but stopped short of calling on Jones to drop out, repeatedly declined to say Thursday evening whether she still endorsed him.
The fireworks started almost immediately, when, during a response to a question about the state’s car tax, Earle-Sears, the state lieutenant governor, punted and tried to steer the conversation toward Jones.
“Abigail, when are you going to take Jay Jones and say to him, ‘You must leave the race?’ He has said that he wants to murder his political opponent, and not only that, but his political opponents’ children,” Earle-Sears said.
The first question moderators directed to Spanberger was also about the topic: Was she aware of the texts before they became public and did she continue to endorse Jones?
Spanberger called Jones’ texts “absolutely abhorrent” and said that she “will denounce them at every opportunity” and that it was “important that candidates always denounce violence, no matter which side of the aisle.”
Spanberger then accused Earle-Sears of “routinely” referring to her “as your enemy,” prompting Earle-Sears to interrupt and say, “Don’t lie like that, Abigail.”
Spanberger said, “The voters now have the information, and it is up to voters to make an individual choice based on this information.” Pressed by the moderators, Spanberger again said, “I’m saying as of now it’s up to every voter to make their own individual decision.”
The topic continued to surface throughout the evening. Earle-Sears often interrupted the moderators and Spanberger to confront Spanberger directly, often looking at her and calling her by her first name.
“I’m wondering why my opponent won’t say, beyond it’s abhorrent and disgusting, why she won’t say it is not OK and that he must leave the race because Jay Jones advocated the murder, Abigail, the murder of a man,” Earle-Sears said at one point. “Would it take him pulling the trigger? Is that what would do it? And then you would say he needs to get out of the race, Abigail? You have nothing to say?”
“Have some political courage,” Earle-Sears continued a moment later. “What you have done is you are taking political calculations about your future as governor. Well, as governor, you have to make hard choices, and that means telling Jay Jones to leave the race.”
Spanberger did not directly respond to Earle-Sears on the issue at any point.
Throughout the race, Spanberger has maintained substantial advantages over Earle-Sears in polling and fundraising. But the emergence of the Jones texts, which further inflamed already raw emotions around political violence, injected an unexpected jolt down the homestretch of the race — one of the first major statewide contests to take place since last year’s presidential race. And with early voting already underway in Virginia, Thursday’s debate was most likely one of Earle-Sears’ last opportunities to gain ground.
At other points, Earle-Sears went on offense against Spanberger on her stances on transgender people’s participation in youth sports and use of school locker rooms and public bathrooms, which has been a big part of her campaign’s closing message.
Spanberger was asked about those culture war issues — which emerged as a notable flashpoint in the 2024 presidential campaign — with moderators pressing her about whether “transgender girls who are biological males [should] be allowed to use girls bathrooms and play on girls sports teams in K-12” schools.
Spanberger reiterated the line she has used most of her campaign, saying she felt that “it’s important that we have parents and teachers and administrators making decisions about their individual schools, not politicians.”
But pressed again by moderators, Spanberger said, “There should never be nude men in [girls] locker rooms.”
The candidates also battled over education, immigration and reproductive rights, and their discussion surrounding the federal government shutdown emerged as another area in which fireworks erupted.
Asked whether she would, as governor, tell President Donald Trump to use his power to work with Democrats to reopen the government, Earle-Sears accused Spanberger of using Trump’s firing of federal workers this year, through his Department of Government Efficiency,” as a “political football.” (Spanberger has tried to attach blame to Earle-Sears for the federal government shutdown, linking it to Trump’s federal workforce cuts, which had an outsized impact on Virginia.)
Spanberger “was trying to say that she loves federal workers more than anyone else,” Earle-Sears said, before she demanded that Spanberger persuade Virginia’s two Democratic senators to “go back, do your job and vote” to reopen the government.
Spanberger responded, “I would encourage everyone, our Democratic senators, our Democratic House members and our Republican House members, to work together.”
In yet another explosive moment on same-sex marriage, which Earle-Sears has said she is “morally opposed to,” Spanberger said Earle-Sears “has previously said that she does not think that gay couples should be allowed to marry.”
Earle-Sears interrupted, saying, “That’s not discrimination, that’s not discrimination.”
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