The primary for governor is six months away, although Democrats and Republicans have already essentially selected their candidates.
Earlier this year, Democrat Abigail Spanberger cleared the field of opposition among Democrats. Now, she stands alone as the Democrat who will be running for governor. This week, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears was able to clear the field of Republican opposition, and now she stands alone as the Republican who will be running for governor.
"Even though she is a Black woman, she’s going to face a lot of the same issues that Kamala Harris faced in this more recent presidential election," says Jatia Wrighten at Virginia Commonwealth University. "Issues of sexism and racism because of the fact that she is a Black woman."
After Attorney General Jason Miyares announced he would be running for reelection as AG and not running for governor, Glenn Youngkin endorsed Eearle-Sears. But J. Miles Coleman at the University of Virginia says Democrats have an important edge.
"I guess the Sears campaign might be breathing a little easier in that it's much less likely that they’re going to have a nasty primary," Coleman explains. "But I think what's going against them is as we've seen in several of the last elections here, Virginia tends to react against whichever party is in the White House."
Virginia is one of only five states that has never elected a female governor or senator. Now, that seems likely to change.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
