Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears delivered sharp criticism Monday against her gubernatorial opponent, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), accusing her of lacking leadership and refusing to directly denounce a campaign supporter who appeared to justify the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
During an appearance on Fox News Channel with host Martha MacCallum, Earle-Sears called out Spanberger for her prior endorsement of Dorothy Heffron, a Chesterfield County School Board member who posted on Instagram: “Call me old-fashioned, but I remember when we used to be okay with shooting Nazis.”
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The post came just hours after Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
Abigail Spanberger has a spine of pasta.
— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) September 16, 2025
Even after Dot Heffron justified Charlie Kirk’s assassination, she still won’t speak up or renounce her endorsement. pic.twitter.com/8wcpoaSEB7
“My opponent, Abigail Spanberger, is proudly endorsed by this woman, Dot Heffron, the school board member,” Earle-Sears said. “We’ve been calling her out to say this woman has justified — justified — the assassination of Charlie Kirk. When are you going to say you do not agree with her? When? I have found my opponent, Abigail Spanberger, to have the spine of pasta.”
Spanberger has not directly addressed Heffron by name, but she issued a general statement on social media condemning any justification or minimization of Kirk’s murder.
In the post, she wrote that as law enforcement continues its investigation, “it’s important to state unequivocally” that she condemns any effort to defend or downplay the killing. She added that while disagreements over policy or worldview are part of democracy, they should never lead to violence.
“We are a nation of laws — and we have a First Amendment right to free speech, and that right is not limited just to those who agree with us,” she wrote.
As the investigation continues and law enforcement continues to build their case, I think it’s important to state unequivocally: I condemn any efforts to justify or minimize the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk or anyone else.
— Abigail Spanberger (@SpanbergerForVA) September 12, 2025
Disagreements over policy, perspectives, or even…
Spanberger warned that making light of violence “damages the core fabric of our society,” and urged all elected officials and community leaders to join her in denouncing both calls to violence and attempts to justify it.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) also weighed in on social media, saying: “Nobody who would cheer murder should be allowed within 100 yards of a student. I call on leaders from both parties to… demand her resignation.”
Heffron’s controversial post quickly sparked backlash. All four of her fellow school board members publicly condemned the statement and called for her resignation.
On Sunday, Heffron submitted her resignation letter, expressing regret: “It was never my intention to make light of violence or to suggest that harm to anyone is ever acceptable,” she wrote, adding that she would have “very limited involvement” in board affairs until her term ends.
The Charlie Kirk controversy is the second time in recent weeks that Earle-Sears has publicly rebuked Spanberger over cultural flashpoints in Virginia politics.
In August, the Lt. Gov. blasted Spanberger for her silence on Loudoun County’s transgender policies, after the county’s school board voted to defy the Department of Education’s federal guidelines about transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity.
Earle-Sears accused Spanberger of aligning with the school board’s “radical” agenda and ignoring the concerns of parents and female students.
“Abigail Spanberger supports the radical Loudoun School Board’s push to allow boys in girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms,” Earle-Sears wrote in a post on X in August. “If she cared about Virginia’s parents or daughters, she’d reject this insanity and the extremists endangering our kids.”
Spanberger did not publicly respond to the accusation at the time.
The controversy adds fuel to what is already a tense Virginia gubernatorial race between Earle-Sears and Spanberger. While Spanberger has tried to position herself as a moderate, Republicans have seized on moments like this to paint her as beholden to radical supporters and out of step with suburban parents.
Earle-Sears, a rising conservative voice and the first Black woman to serve as Virginia’s Lt. Governor, is expected to make cultural issues — from school policies to political violence — a focal point of her campaign.
The controversy further intensifies the already heated 2025 Virginia gubernatorial race between Earle-Sears and Spanberger, with early voting set to begin this Friday.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Spanberger’s campaign for comment.