Her fundraising numbers are significantly lower than her opponent and her polling is lagging far behind. Now Republican candidate for governor Winsome Earle-Sears is ditching her campaign manager and hiring a new one.
"The person who she had in this role previously was, to say the least, a bit of an amateur," J. Miles Coleman at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics explained. "For a statewide campaign, is that really going to cut it? Well, obviously not."
The campaign will now be led by Corey Barsky– a strategist who has been successful in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That could indicate a new direction for the Republican, says Karen Hult at Virginia Tech.
"Someone coming in as a new campaign strategist with lots of experience in a competitive setting like Pennsylvania could well make a difference," according to Hult. "No doubt about that."
If a new campaign manager is able to turn things around for the Republican candidate for governor, it's going to need to be fast. Voting starts in seven weeks.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.