U.S. Representative John McGuire (R-VA-05) said on Monday that Virginia Republicans have a “chance” to retain the commonwealth’s executive branch in November, saying that Democrats in the General Assembly are not behaving like a party that is trying to expand its coalition ahead of the 2025 elections.
McGuire, making the comments during an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show,” highlighted the legislative agenda unveiled by Virginia Democrats as evidence the party may not be capable of beating Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who seems likely to become the Republican gubernatorial nominee.
He told John Fredericks, who is the publisher of The Virginia Star, “I’m staying in touch with my friends in the House of Delegates and State Senate, and if you’re going into a statewide governor’s election, you need to make decisions that give you lots of votes,” while Democrats are largely pushing legislation popular with their base.
“If you want to be a winner, politics is about addition and multiplication, and if you look at the policies, if you look at the egregious bills,” said McGuire.
He listed, “I mean, they’re going after Right to Work, they’re going after life, they’re going after your guns, they’re going after everything. They even told the governor he has the executive branch, but he can’t have his appointees, which is unheard of. They’re not doing the things that you would think you would do if you wanted to win a statewide race, so I think we’ve got a chance.”
McGuire also compared the Democrats’ political odds to those of his predecessor, Representative Bob Good, who he defeated in a primary contest last year.
“Governor Glenn Youngkin was super smart, he says elections are about additions and multiplication. If you remember, one of the reasons I won my primary, is because I went up against a guy who was about subtraction and division,” offered McGuire.
The newly-elected congressman, who previously served in both the House of Delegates and State Senate, ultimately suggested that Earle-Sears’ victory will be dependent on Republicans turning out voters who seldom vote.
McGuire told Fredericks, “If we want to get Winsome Sears across the finish line, if we want to save Virginia, if we want to keep Virginia from becoming San Francisco, I need all of your listeners to ask 10 people to ask 10 people to ask 10 people to involved, to vote, and spread the word.”
He is the third Republican to suggest Earle-Sears will be buoyed to victory through the strength of the Republican ticket, with both gubernatorial candidates John Reid and Pat Herrity making similar comments earlier this month.
“This is about getting the ticket over the finish line. This isn’t about Pat Herrity and Lieutenant Governor, I was asked to run four years ago. This is about getting Winsome over the finish line, because it’s critical to Virginia’s future,” said Herrity during an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show” last week.
Reid similarly predicted that Earle-Sears would be successful, before stating of his own campaign, “Everybody thinks Republicans are racist, everybody thinks Republicans are homophobes, all the Democrats think that we’re xenophobes,” adding “when they hear me talk about these issues, and they hear me talk about my life story in the Republican Party, I think people are going to go, ‘Wait a minute, maybe I’ve been wrong, maybe I should give this party a second shot.’”
Watch McGuire’s full appearance with John Fredericks:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Winsome Earle-Sears” by Winsome Earle-Sears. Background Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Martin Kraft. CC BY-SA 3.0.
