RICHMOND — Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, has expanded her commanding fundraising advantage over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in their historic race to become the first woman elected governor in Virginia, with nearly five times more cash to spend in the final five months of the campaign.
Spanberger, a Henrico County resident who stepped down this year after three terms in Congress to run for governor, raised $6.5 million in just over two months, compared with $3.5 million for Earle-Sears, whose campaign spent more money than it collected from April 1 to June 5.
The Democratic nominee ended the period with $14.3 million in the bank, compared with just under $3 million for her Republican opponent.
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“This is a huge financial disparity,” said Steve Farnsworth, director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. “Republicans are going to have to step up in a big way to narrow the gap if they have any hope that Republicans can win the governor’s race this year.”
Spanberger’s campaign said it will not relax because of its financial advantage. “Our campaign has clear momentum, but we’re not taking anything for granted — and we’re tremendously grateful to our grassroots supporters and volunteers all across Virginia,” campaign manager Samson Signori said. “We will use every minute of the next 148 days to make sure Abigail gets her winning message to Virginians in every corner of the Commonwealth.”
Earle-Sears’ campaign said it remains confident. “Campaigns are about momentum, and we’re investing aggressively in building the strongest grassroots movement Virginia has ever seen,” spokesperson Peyton Vogel said. “We’re confident in our fundraising strength and the support we’re seeing from across the Commonwealth.”
Spanberger had an early jump on Earle-Sears after announcing her candidacy in late 2023. The lieutenant governor was barred by law from collecting political contributions while presiding over the Virginia Senate with the General Assembly in session over the past two years.
“My expectation is the gap between the two candidates will narrow as the election gets closer,” Farnsworth said.
But the former congresswoman’s campaign also has been buoyed by polls showing her leading the race by widely varying margins. Republicans also have struggled to unify their statewide ticket after Gov. Glenn Youngkin tried and failed to force John Reid, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor and an openly gay man, to withdraw because of racy photos that Reid said the governor falsely attributed to him.
Earle-Sears has yet to appear publicly with both Reid and Attorney General Jason Miyares since the controversy erupted in late April.
Democrats, energized by opposition to the policies of President Donald Trump, are putting big money into the Virginia governor’s race, one of two nationally, along with New Jersey, to take place a year after Republicans regained control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. On Monday, the Democratic Governors Association pledged $5 million to Spanberger’s campaign, including $500,000 that topped her contributions in the fundraising report due by midnight on Monday.
Top donors
During the latest reporting period, covering April 1 to June 5, Spanberger’s other top donations were $250,000 from information technology executive Glen E. Tullman — who previously donated $250,000 to Spanberger in January 2024 — and $200,000 from Clean Virginia Fund, which had contributed an additional $265,000 to Spanberger in 2024.
Earle-Sears’ top donations in the reporting period were $105,000 from the Building a Remarkable Virginia PAC, which backs the development and construction industry, $100,000 from real estate developer Richard Baxter Gilliam — who had donated another $100,000 to Earle-Sears in March — and $100,000 from Elite Contracting Group.
Earle-Sears got some good news on Tuesday, when the Republican State Leadership Committee announced that it would spend more than $2 million to help get out the vote for party candidates in Virginia and New Jersey. The committee said it also would spend money on digital, direct mail and text advertising aimed at “swing and persuadable voters in select districts.”
“This personal approach aims to engage communities more directly and enhance local participation in a way no other group has done before,” RSLC President Edith Jorge-Tuñón said in the announcement on Tuesday.
Last week, Earle-Sears also received a public boost from Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee, who appeared with her at a training session for campaign volunteers in Fairfax County.
But Republicans have much ground to make up this summer before the governor’s campaign begins the home stretch at Labor Day.
Funding gap
Spanberger has raised a total of $22.8 million since launching her campaign, compared with $9.2 million for Earle-Sears. She raised $6.7 million in the first quarter of the year, more than double the amount that the lieutenant governor, hobbled by state prohibition of fundraising during the legislative session, collected.
“It raises some very serious concerns for Sears,” said Bob Holsworth, a veteran political analyst in Richmond. “Because it doesn’t appear that, on her own, she can raise enough money to be competitive with Spanberger, financially.”
Holsworth said that either Youngkin, a multimillionaire former financier who spent $20 million of his own money in leading a statewide GOP sweep in 2021, will have to tap into his own considerable financial network to help her, or national Republicans will have to make a much bigger financial commitment to her campaign than they have done so far.
“It’s early, but it’s critical for her,” he said.
Earle-Sears is looking to rally Republicans next week as Democrats choose their candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general in closely contested party primaries next Tuesday. Her campaign said she will host a rally in the Richmond area after the polls close “as she turns the page from a spirited primary campaign to the general election in the race for governor.”
Neither candidate for governor faced opposition for the nomination. Miyares chose to run for reelection instead of for governor, and two conservative Republican challengers, former Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, and Del. Dave LaRock, R-Loudoun, did not collect enough signatures to qualify for the primary ballot. Spanberger’s only potential challenger, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-3rd, quashed speculation over his potential candidacy in late February.
While Republicans struggle to unify their statewide ticket on a single stage, Democrats are focusing on what they term the damage that Trump’s policies are doing to Virginia’s economy. It is tied closely to the federal spending and work force that the president is cutting, and to international trade that his proposed tariffs could curtail.
Earle-Sears, who had angered Trump supporters in November 2022 by suggesting the GOP move on from Trump after the party’s disappointing midterm elections, has embraced the president’s aggressive attempts to slash the government workforce and spending, and impose tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
“You also have the reality that a lot of the Trump policies are going to hurt Republicans” with voters, said Farnsworth. “They will not say thank you to Republicans for the economic pain that lands at their doorstep.”
