It's been more than a month since the Republican Party officially nominated all three of their statewide candidates. The party’s candidate for governor does not appear to have plans for a unity event any time soon.
Back in April, the Republican Party locked in their statewide ticket: Winsome Earle-Sears for governor, John Reid for lieutenant governor and Jason Miyares for attorney general. But the candidates have yet to appear on stage together. Here’s how Earle-Sears responded to a question about that during an event in Falls Church this week.
"We have yet to see you on a stage with John Reid and Jason Miyares. When can we expect that to happen that all three of the statewide candidates will be on a stage together," reporter Michael Pope asked.
"Actually, as you know, we are all running our campaigns," Earle-Sears replied.
They’re running their campaigns independent of each other, and so far with no indication that they’ll be appearing on a stage together anytime soon.
"I hope that at some point during this election process, we will have all three of our candidates together at the same event," says Mark Peake, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia.
Back in April, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin asked Reid to withdraw from the race after a risqué Tumblr account with his username emerged. Reid said it was not his account, and Earle-Sears responded with a written statement saying, “We all have our own race to run.”
"I don't think that the Sears campaign has adequately addressed the controversy itself," says Republican strategist Chris Saxman. "That's probably something they’re going to be forced to do, better sooner than later because it's going to continue on like this conversation."
Although Republicans already have their statewide ticket, Democrats are in the middle of a primary to choose candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
