Virginia Republicans have chosen conservative Winsome Sears Tuesday, the first black Republican woman elected to the Virginia General Assembly, as their nominee for lieutenant governor.
Sears, 57, competed against five other Republican candidates at Saturday’s nominating convention and ultimately defeated former Del. Tim Hugo of Fairfax County by a 9 percentage point margin after five rounds of tallying ballots.
“This afternoon, on my drive into Richmond, I passed the First African Baptist Church — a place of worship organized by freedmen and slaves — where, in 1865, the first-ever Republican State Convention was hosted,” Sears said in a statement. “Now, today, as the first Republican since 1865 to represent a Majority Black District, I am honored to accept the nomination to be Lieutenant Governor.”
Sears will join Glenn Youngkin and Jason Miyares on the Republican slate, who were selected by the state party to be their governor and attorney general nominees, respectively.
FIRST-TIME CANDIDATE GLENN YOUNGKIN WINS VIRGINIA GOP GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION
Over 30,000 Republican delegates voted Saturday during the state party’s “unassembled convention” that included 39 polling sites around the commonwealth.
Delegates voted by a ranked-choice voting system, whereby they listed the candidates in order of preference.
Sears, a member of Virginia’s House of Delegates, emigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica and entered the Marine Corps, where she served as an electrician and diesel mechanic.
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She later went on to become vice president of the Virginia Board of Education and received presidential appointments to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sears presently resides in Winchester and owns a plumbing, electrical, and appliance repair business.
