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An op-ed from Winsome Earle-Sears: Voters deserve honesty
by Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who is running for governor in 2025.
Voters deserve honesty and transparency from candidates seeking public office. Seems reasonable, right?
Democrats across the country in 2024 didn’t think so, choosing instead to either flagrantly lie about positions they’d taken in the past, or downright ignore the biggest issues on voters’ minds.
They simply had no answers –– and they paid for it on Election Day.
The lesson here should be obvious. But, it appears Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger missed the memo.
Each of us, as candidates to become Virginia’s next governor, were given last week an opportunity to stand before hundreds of Virginia’s business leaders and job creators to share our visions for economic growth and strengthening our position as one of the best states in the country to do business. Importantly, we owed Virginians a clear answer on whether we would protect the Commonwealth’s Right to Work law –– a pillar of our competitive advantage in the region, and is under threat of Democrat efforts to repeal it.
My answer was clear and unequivocal: as governor, I will fiercely protect Virginia’s Right to Work law.
Congresswoman Spanberger failed to even raise the topic.
Our Right to Work law is a cornerstone of our success: It drives economic competitiveness, attracts job creators, and bolsters an environment where investments flourish, companies thrive, and workers have the freedom to choose their own path. And it keeps Virginia looking a lot less like Maryland, New York, and California.
Our very own Virginia Economic Development Partnership warned us that repealing Right to Work could cost Virginia Billions in capital investment and tens of thousands of jobs. These are not hypothetical risks but documented realities.
This is more than policy for me — it’s a principle. It ensures Virginia remains the best state for workers and job creators. It’s also deeply personal. My father came to America with nothing, and worked multiple jobs to achieve the American Dream. He paved the way for me to do the same.
When I was an employee, I valued the freedom to decide how to spend the wages I earned; as a business owner, I respected that a good worker deserves the same freedom.
Of course, growing our economy doesn’t stop at protecting Right to Work. We must strengthen public-private partnerships that drive innovation. We must continue our aggressive push to attract and retain new world-class companies. And we must invest in workforce development to prepare our Virginians for the jobs of the future.
But, the biggest threat to Virginia’s pro-business climate and top ranking isn’t just competing states who outsell us — it’s politicians who sell us out. It’s a politician who dodges questions about Right to Work during a campaign, only to repeal it as governor.
A strong leader builds on past successes, while a weak one tears it down, wasting your time and our money. We cannot afford to move in the wrong direction.
Right to Work isn’t the only policy fueling Virginia’s economic engine, but repealing it would destroy our economy: no more new businesses moving in, as more businesses move out, leaving customers with higher costs and fewer options.
Congresswoman Spanberger’s actions prove she doesn’t understand that. She cosponsored legislation that would have forced all states to accept union mandates without state debate.
Had it passed, she would have been responsible for dismantling Virginia’s Right to Work law and our state’s competitive advantage.
Leadership demands clear, principled decisions. Fourteen governors — seven Republicans and seven Democrats — have each defended our Right to Work law.
Virginians are owed a straight answer from Congresswoman Spanberger on where she stands. Her silence, so far, proves she believes we don’t deserve one.
