Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R-VA) will face off against former Rep. Abigail Spanberger in the Nov. 4 Virginia gubernatorial election.

Earle-Sears, who is serving as lieutenant governor of Virginia alongside Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), is the first black woman to be elected to a Virginia statewide office and the commonwealth’s first female lieutenant governor.

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Here’s what you need to know about the Republican gubernatorial hopeful.

Age

Earle-Sears, 61, was born on March 11, 1964.

Hometown

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Earle-Sears immigrated to the United States at 6 and grew up in the Bronx in New York City. She later moved to Virginia to attend college.

Education

Earle-Sears has an associate’s degree from Tidewater Community College in Virginia, a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in economics from Old Dominion University, and a master’s degree in organizational leadership with a concentration in government from Regent University, located in Virginia Beach.

Family and religion

Earle-Sears and her husband are devout evangelical Christians and have three daughters. One of Earle-Sears’s daughters died in a 2012 car crash, along with her two granddaughters.

Books

Earle-Sears has published two books. The first is a 2009 Christian self-help book titled Stop Being a Christian Wimp! The other, How Sweet It Is: Defending the American Dream, is a 2023 memoir that details how she relies on her faith, patriotism, and commitment to conservative values while in office.

Occupations

Earle-Sears was an electrician in the Marine Corps before starting her career as a businesswoman. She also worked as an electrician, led a men’s prison ministry, and was the director of a women’s homeless shelter, according to her campaign website.

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Earle-Sears has also held several appointments. She was vice president of the Virginia State Board of Education, a presidential appointee to the U.S. Census Bureau as co-chair of the African American Committee, and was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans by the secretary of veterans affairs.

Major policy positions

The death of her daughter, who struggled with mental illness, in 2012 spurred Earle-Sears to fight for mental health funding.

As president of the Virginia Senate, she supported additional funding for mental health support, including behavioral health facilities, better pay for mental healthcare workers, school-based support programs, and staff and disability waivers, according to local outlet WTVR.

According to her campaign’s website, Earle-Sears does not agree with allowing biological men to play in women’s sports competitions, saying it is “anti-women.”

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She also says she will be tough on crime, calling out Democrats for not doing so. “A safe Virginia is a prosperous Virginia,” her website reads.

While Earle-Sears has praised President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency, she has been criticized by some fellow Republicans for not embracing the MAGA movement more.