Lt. Gov.-Elect Winsome Sears speaks about the past and her future leading the Virginia Senate

By Andy Fox
January 6, 2022
WAVY.com

Virginia’s political power for the three state-wide offices transfers from Democrats to Republicans, as does control of the House of Delegates, this month.

Former Del. Winsome Sears made history in November by becoming the first woman elected as Virginia’s 42nd lieutenant governor.

On Wednesday, Sears sat down with 10 On Your Side one-on-one. She told us she always thought she would win, but there were many skeptics out there. Sears has often been underestimated, she said.

She won a stunning upset in 2001, defeating 20-year Democratic Norfolk Del. Billy Robinson. In 2004, Sears unsuccessfully ran against Congressman Bobby Scott in the heavily Democratic 3rd District.

Many people in Virginia were introduced to Winsome Sears through a campaign picture of her holding an AR-15.

“That picture does a few things; it shows women as powerful. I’m familiar with this gun. I’m a Marine. I had to train with this AR-15, and they shoved it in my face and told me it was my best friend,” she said.

On election night, Sears became the first Black woman elected to a statewide position.

“It was a historic night, but I did not run to make history. I just wanted to leave it better than I found it,” she said.

She was once described as a Marine veteran, former unwed mother who married and became an evangelical Christian.

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