Saturday, May 15, 2021

Winsome Sears wins Republican lieutenant governor race

By ohtadmin | NY Carib News 


On Tuesday, former Virginia delegate Winsome Sears won the Republican Party nomination for lieutenant governor, after becoming the first Black Republican woman elected to the Virginia Assembly some 20 years ago.

Sears beat five other candidates, including two — former Delegate Tim Hugo from Fairfax County and Virginia Beach Delegate Glenn Davis — who were far more active in recent GOP politics.

After the win, she said, “I want you to look at me because you’re seeing a walking impossibility,” she said. “My father came to this country with $1.75 — from a different culture, a different country, achieved the American Dream. And now I stand before you as an immigrant to say thank you for letting my father in, because it changed the trajectory of our lives…God bless this great country. Let us keep America America, because there’s no place else to run to.”


Sears was born in Jamaica and served in the Marines. She served a single term representing parts of Hampton Roads in the House of Delegates, winning election in 2001. She did not seek re-election and now resides in the Winchester area.

“Winsome Sears is the strong, principled leader Virginia needs to serve as our next Lieutenant Governor. As a mother and a former Marine, she built her own successful small business,” said Senate Republican Leader Thomas K Norment Jr, Republican-James City, and his fellow Senate leaders in a joint statement Tuesday night. “Winsome made history when she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Now, she is poised to make history again.”

In her campaign, she highlighted her more recent work as national chairperson for Black Americans to Re-Elect President Trump.

Sears, a onetime director of a Salvation Army homeless shelter — was a rising star in the state Republican Party in 2001, after she defeated longtime Democratic delegate William P. Robinson Jr. (Norfolk) for his seat.

She served one term in the House, among other things fighting for legislation that would have allowed parents to use public funds to home-school their children or send them to a private school — a cause she again championed in her campaign for lieutenant governor.

With Sears’s nomination, the party’s statewide ticket is complete. Miyares was named the candidate for attorney general, while Glenn Youngkin was declared the winner of the gubernatorial nomination Monday.

She will preside over the Senate and taking over as head of the state’s executive branch if the governor resigns or becomes incapacitated.

https://www.nycaribnews.com/articles/jamaican-winsome-sears-wins-republican-lieutenant-governor-race/