Governor Glenn Youngkin is standing strong in his support of Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in her bid for Virginia governor, casting Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger as a “progressive left candidate” who would “turn Virginia into California” and endanger the state’s safety, economy, and schools.
Youngkin, during an interview on The John Fredericks Show, accused Spanberger of masquerading as a moderate while supporting far-left policies. “
“She’s pretending to be a moderate, and yet she is a progressive left candidate who will turn Virginia back into the California that the previous administration was trying so hard to do. We just can’t let it happen,” Youngkin explained.
The governor pointed to the recent tragedy involving a twice-deported illegal alien accused of killing a Virginia Beach man while driving drunk, blaming lenient immigration policies and framed the case as a harbinger of what would come under Spanberger’s leadership.
“Abigail Spanberger wants to actually protect this gentleman who just killed an innocent Virginian. That is the clear distinction,” Youngkin said, referencing Spanberger’s reported support for turning Virginia into a sanctuary state. “Abigail Spanberger on her first day would turn Virginia into a sanctuary state. She said it. It’s what she believes.”
“She is no moderate. She absolutely wants to unleash violent crime in Virginia because she wants to stand with criminals and not stand with the victims. It’s that clear…Winsome will stand strong for law enforcement and protect Virginians, not expose them to illegal immigrants who drive the wrong way with an illegal driver’s license when they’re drunk and steal a life,” Youngkin added.
During the interview, Youngkin also highlighted recent job growth and major investments, including a $450 million expansion by Hitachi Energy, as successes at risk under a Spanberger administration.
“Abigail Spanberger will undo all of that. Abigail Spanberger wants to eviscerate Virginia’s right to work status, which would result in people being forced to join unions,” Youngkin explained.
In contrast, he said Earle-Sears would continue pro-business policies and help build on the state’s economic momentum.
“Winsome will protect our businesses,” the governor said.
On education, Youngkin praised Earle-Sears for attending a Prince William County school board meeting this week alongside hundreds of parents protesting policies related to gender identity and student safety.
“Winsome showed up at the Prince William County School Board meeting…to stand up for the rights of parents so that their children aren’t demeaned and their children’s safety is protected. What Abigail Spanberger stands for is boys in girls’ locker rooms, boys in girls’ sports, and most importantly, a compromise of the safety of our children,” Youngkin said.
“Listen, we want to love all of our kids, but we also have to recognize that putting biological men in the same bathrooms with biological young girls is not just wrong, but on top of that, it puts their safety at risk,” he added.
The governor emphasized that the contrast between Earle-Sears and Spanberger could not be clearer when it comes to parental rights in education, framing Earle-Sears’ stance as “common sense” as opposed to Spanberger’s “nonsense.”
“This is the distinction that this election is drawing very clearly in everyone’s eyes, and that’s why Winsome is coming up on the outside so strong…There’s just this enormous enthusiasm for the clarity of Winsome’s common sense against Abigail Spanberger’s nonsense,” he said.
Youngkin addressed an ongoing investigation into allegations that Fairfax County school officials facilitated abortions for minors without parental consent, potentially using public funds.
Noting how he directed the Virginia State Police to treat the matter as a criminal investigation, Youngkin connected the issue to broader concerns over parental rights, one of the cornerstones of his and Earle-Sears’ education platforms.
“This is, again, why this election is so important. School board elections, the election for Winsome Earle-Sears, our house elections, to elect John Reid as our next Lieutenant Governor and of course to reelect Jason Miyares as our great attorney general…These are critical elections that we need to stand strong and make a statement that Virginia is not going to go back to what we saw when the Democrats had full control of everything and they tried to turn Virginia to California,” Youngkin said.
“We are going to stand strong for parents and we’re going to make sure that, particularly with regards to our children, we’re protecting their dignity and their safety,” he added.
With early voting set to begin September 19, Youngkin stressed the importance of early participation to secure victory for Republicans and urged listeners to visit SecureYourVoteVirginia.com to make a voting plan.
“We have to get the vote out and you have to vote early…We’ve got to get the vote out, and when we get the vote out like we did in 2021, we win,” Youngkin said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Winsome Earle-Sears and Glenn Youngkin” by Winsome Earle-Sears.
Editor’s Note: John Fredericks is the Publisher of The Virginia Star.
