Earle-Sears was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 11, 1964. She immigrated to the United States at the age of six, brought by her father who had already immigrated to the U.S.[4][5] She grew up in the Bronx, New York City.[6]
Earle-Sears (then Earle) while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, c.1983–1986
Political career
Earle-Sears at a 2013 Virginia Board of Education meeting
In November 2001, Earle-Sears upset 20-year Democratic incumbent Billy Robinson in the general election for the 90th district seat in the Virginia House of Delegates,[12][13] becoming the first female Black Republican,[9] first female veteran, and the first naturalized citizen to serve in the body.[14] She was the first Republican to represent a majority-Black House district in Virginia since 1865.[15] Sears received a presidential appointment to the United States Census Bureau's African American Committee and a separate appointment from the secretary of veterans affairs to the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans.[16]
In 2004, Earle-Sears was the Republican nominee for Virginia's 3rd congressional district, challenging incumbent Bobby Scott.[17] The race was not considered competitive and was projected for Scott at poll closing. Earle-Sears received 31% of the vote.[9][18]
In 2011, Governor Bob McDonnell appointed Earle-Sears to the Virginia Board of Education, succeeding Ella Ward.[19][20] She served as the board's vice president in 2014, succeeding Betsy Beamer.[21] Earle-Sears was succeeded as vice president by Billy K. Cannaday Jr.[22][23] In 2015, Earle-Sears retired from the board and was succeeded by Wes Bellamy.[24][25]
In September 2018, Earle-Sears ran as a write-in candidate for the US Senate after Corey Stewart won the Republican nomination, citing his past alliances with white nationalists and other racial controversies.[26] She received less than 1% of the vote.[27]
Following the 2022 United States elections, during which Trump-endorsed Republicans lost in critical battleground states, Earle-Sears criticized Trump, calling him a liability for the party and saying she would not support him running again in the 2024 United States presidential election.[29] Earle-Sears later changed her position, announcing her support after Trump was named the presumptive nominee in 2024.[30]
On January 21, 2021, Earle-Sears announced her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. [31]
On May 11, 2021, Earle-Sears won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Virginia on the fifth ballot, defeating former state delegate Tim Hugo 54% to 46%.[11] On November 2, she won the general election, defeating Hala Ayala. Her victory coincided with victories from gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin and attorney general nominee Jason Miyares.[32] She was inaugurated as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Virginia on January 15, 2022. She is Virginia's first female lieutenant governor, as well as the first Black female to hold the office.[2][3]
During the election campaign, she declined to say whether she had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2,[33] but encouraged others to get vaccinated.[34]
On February 28, 2025, Earle-Sears received opposition from former state senator Amanda Chase and former state delegate Dave LaRock due to Earle-Sears' previous criticisms on President Trump. Despite the newfound opposition, Earle-Sears was still viewed as the favorite in the primary.[37] In March 2025, Earle-Sears' campaign stated, "'Challengers can enter the race, but the outcome will be the same' — victory" which showed Earle-Sears was confident in her primary win according to WLJA.com.[38]
Ultimately, neither Chase nor LaRock reached the required number of signatures to qualify for the ballot. On April 5, 2025, Earle-Sears became the official Republican nominee for governor.[39]
General Election
While speaking at an Arlington County School Board meeting to oppose the system's "transgender locker room and bathroom policies", Earle-Sears was targeted by a racist sign in a crowd of protesters outside the venue.[40] It read, "Hey Winsome, if trans [sic] can't share your bathroom, then Blacks can't share my water fountain."[41] All six nominees for statewide office denounced the sign[42], with Earle-Sears's opponent, Abigail Spanberger, stating, "No matter how much one might find someone else's beliefs objectionable, to threaten a return of Jim Crow and segregation to a Black woman is unacceptable."[40][41]
In August 2025, VPM News, a National Public Radio affiliate for the Greater Richmond Region, submitted a FOIA request for Lieutenant Governor Earle-Sears's schedule and records, which are required to be kept and preserved permanently. Her office provided a mostly blank, 297-page PDF file, excluding about 297 records and citing exemptions for "confidential correspondence and working papers of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor".[43] A follow-up FOIA submission clarifying and broadening the request went unanswered within the legally required timeframe.[43]
All forecasting, polling, and expert analysis considered Spanberger to be the favorite to win.
On November 4, Earle-Sears lost the general election to Spanberger, receiving 42.22% of the vote.[44][45]
Earle-Sears opposes abortions. During her 2021 campaign for lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears stated she would support legislation similar to the Texas Heartbeat Act, which would ban abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected (i.e., as early as six weeks).[5] On the campaign trail, she called abortion "genocide" and stated she supported making abortion illegal in all cases unless the mother's life was at risk.[47] Later in her 2021 campaign, WRIC-TV wrote that Earle-Sears "appeared to backtrack" on her initial comments about the Texas Heartbeat Act.[48] She told WRIC-TV she had not reviewed the Texas law and declined to specify when abortion should be banned.[48] After becoming lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears said that abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, incest, and to prevent harm to pregnant women.[49] When Roe v. Wade was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022, she announced her support for a 15-week abortion ban.[50] Audio obtained by The Guardian captured Earle-Sears implying that consenting to sex is equivalent to consenting to pregnancy, saying that women "need to make our choices before we’re pregnant, not, you know, after.”[51]
In 2025, Earle-Sears signed Virginia’s pending constitutional amendment on reproductive rights while adding a handwritten note expressing her personal opposition to it.[52]
Cannabis
In 2021, Earle-Sears expressed support for medical marijuana legalization but opposed the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.[53][54] Earle-Sears has said that adult-use cannabis "will destroy us"[55] and has described marijuana as a gateway drug. During her campaign in 2021, Earles-Sears has stated that she fired one of her employees for using marijuana, “I had to let somebody go who worked for me, found out he was on marijuana, ‘you can’t work for me, you’re gonna destroy somebody’s home, you’re gonna crash, it’s gonna decimate us, because marijuana is a gateway drug … There is no hope in that, there is no future.’"[56]
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
Earle-Sears has argued, "Slaves did not die in the fields so that we could call ourselves victims now in 2025; Democrats think minorities can't succeed without DEI", highlighting Virginia as "the former capital of the Confederacy".[57]
Economy
In the Virginia House of Delegates, Earle-Sears was one of the two Republican state delegates who voted against the Republican-led attempt tax increase.[5]
In 2022, Earle-Sears supported Youngkin's 90-day gas tax holiday proposal.[58]
In 2025, Earle-Sears pledged to eliminate the car tax during her gubernatorial run.[59] She also pledged to eliminate taxes on tips at the state level during the campaign.[60]
When Earle-Sears was appointed to the Virginia State Board of Education as vice president in 2011, she defended their efforts to enact race-based testing standards where Latino and Black students were given lower standards than white students.[5]
Earle-Sears said critical race theory (CRT) was taught in the state's schools. She stated, "So I keep hearing that critical race theory is not taught in schools...They may not use the term critical race theory but it’s there. It's semantics and these word games help no one." She pointed to Loudoun County Public Schools' 2019 agreement with The Equity Collaborative, where she said consultants were trained to teach CRT to students. Loudoun County Public Schools denied her allegations: they stated their cooperation with The Equity Collaborative was for their schools' staff members — not the students. Earle-Sears supported Governor Youngkin's 'Executive Order One' which banned critical race theory in schools' curriculum and other executive orders which rolled back mask mandates and expanded 'parental rights'.[63] Earle-Sears called critical race theory "racist"– believing "the good and bad of American history should be taught."[3]
After the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted schooling in the state, Earle-Sears suggested the possibility of year-round school or longer school days to make up lost educational time.[64] In an August 2021 interview with Virginia Mercury, Earle-Sears proposed increasing teachers' pay and allowing parents to send their children to charter, parochial, and charter schools if they desired to. Earle-Sears has also called for the opening of more lab schools and virtual schools in Virginia.[65][66] Earle-Sears said critical race theory would "create moral problems for everybody" and she wanted to focus on transitioning schools from "labor-oriented" to "technology-driven."[67]
In the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election, Earle-Sears wrote an opinion piece on Virginia Scope which advocated for education reform by changing state education standards to national standards and making assessment results "accessible and understandable" for parents. As Lieutenant Governor, Earle-Sears supported "Education Excellence for All" which allows parents to take one-third of their child's education fund into the parents' education saving account (ESA) to spend for their child's education.[68][69] On her campaign website for Governor of Virginia, she said she would've "prioritized parents' rights" as governor.[70]
LGBT rights
Earle-Sears opposes same-sex marriage and opposes legal protections for LGBTQ people.[71] During her 2004 congressional campaign, Earle-Sears expressed opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage and adoptions by same-sex couples.[72] On May 1, 2025, Earle-Sears signed HB 174, a law requiring officials to issue marriage licenses regardless of sex, gender, or race, but added a note saying she was "morally opposed" to it.[73] In a survey conducted by Public Advocate of the United States, a conservative organization, Earle-Sears completed a candidate questionnaire in which she expressed opposition to same-sex adoption and workplace protections for LGBTQ workers, and described homosexuality as an "immoral lifestyle choice" during her 2004 congressional run.[74]
During the 2025 gubernatorial debate, Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger said that Earle-Sears had previously stated that same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry and that firing employees for being gay was acceptable. After both statements, Earle-Sears interrupted Spanberger and replied, "that's not discrimination".[75][76] When asked about these comments in an interview on October 28, she said that she had misspoken and that she meant to say that she had not personally discriminated against gay people in that manner.[77]
Gun policy
Earle-Sears supports gun rights.[48] During her 2021 campaign for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears faced scrutiny over a campaign image depicting her holding a rifle on a campaign sign — a portrayal she defended amid the ensuing controversy.[78]
Personal life and business career
Earle-Sears has been married to marine officer Terence Sears since 1986.[79] Earle-Sears is the mother of two children: Katia and Janel. Her third daughter Dejon — who suffered from bipolar disorder and depression — and her two granddaughters, Victoria and Faith passed away in a car crash in 2012.[80] Since 2016, Earle-Sears resided in Winchester, Virginia with her family.[81]
Earle-Sears follows the Christian faith. Since 2013, she attended Victory Church in Winchester, Virginia which is part of the organization Assemblies of God.[82] She is the author of the Christian self-help book: Stop Being a Christian Wimp! which was published in 2009.[49][83] She too wrote the book How Sweet It Is: Defending the American Dream which was published 2023.[84]
From 2010 to 2020, Earle-Sears opened and lead the Shenandoah Alliance, Plumbing, and Electric which managed to make profits in the 2008 recession.[85] During the COVID-19 pandemic, she closed the company and blamed the government’s response to the pandemic, along with staffing challenges for its closure. The business received over $102,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans, which were forgiven.[86]
Italics indicate next-in-line of succession for states and territories without a directly elected lieutenant governor or whose lieutenant governor office is vacant:
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