What to watch in the only debate of the Virginia governor’s race
By Eric Bradner, CNN
(CNN) — The only debate in the Virginia governor’s race is likely to focus on a candidate who won’t be on stage: Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, who suggested in text messages that a Republican colleague be shot in the head.
Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears are set to square off Thursday night in their first and only scheduled debate. The two will debate at Norfolk State University, with early voting already underway for nearly three weeks and Election Day on November 4 approaching.
Spanberger and other prominent Democrats have condemned Jones’ texts and violence in politics but stopped short of calling on him to drop out of the race. Earle-Sears has pounced on Spanberger’s reaction to the controversy.
Here’s more on that and other key issues to watch for Thursday night. The debate starts at 7 p.m. Eastern.
The Jay Jones texts
Earle-Sears is certain to look to pin Spanberger down on the Jones texts, first published by the National Review and later obtained by CNN. How Spanberger responds could determine whether efforts to link her to her ticket-mate remain potent through the rest of the governor’s race.
In a new 30-second ad Earle-Sears launched Tuesday, a narrator highlights Jones’ texts and says Spanberger “stands with him, not us.”
The Jones texts have come at a critical time for Earle-Sears, who has trailed Spanberger throughout the race and faced GOP criticism over how she’s run her campaign.
The Virginia Police Benevolent Association, which endorsed Spanberger while backing Republicans for lieutenant governor and attorney general, issued a statement Wednesday calling on Jones not to take office if he were to win.
The government shutdown
The federal government shutdown is especially impactful in Virginia, home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers. Rather than weighing in on the debate over health care spending that’s led to the impasse, Spanberger has focused on Trump’s threats to withhold pay from furloughed workers.
She’s linked Earle-Sears to Trump, pointing to the Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts to the federal workforce, which slashed jobs in Virginia. Spanberger said in a statement Tuesday that Earle-Sears “has backed President Trump’s job-killing and price-hiking agenda at every turn.”
Earle-Sears has blamed Democrats for the shutdown, pointing to Democratic senators’ opposition to a short-term spending bill and saying Spanberger should lobby the state’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, to vote to pass such a measure.
“Every House member who’s a Republican voted for it, and every senator who’s a Republican voted for it. Come on, Abigail, don’t be a coward on this,” Earle-Sears said in an interview with WTOP last week.
Trans issues and ‘they/them’ ads
Earle-Sears has blanketed Virginia’s airwaves with ads accusing Spanberger of being for “they/them,” a reference to nonbinary individuals that mimics the attacks Trump used against former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.
While Spanberger has focused on economic issues, Earle-Sears has leaned into the cultural divide, hoping to paint Spanberger as out of touch and undermine her messaging on economics and health care. She has repeatedly attacked Spanberger for not answering whether she agrees that trans youth should be able to use any bathroom in a school building or play on a sports team that corresponds with their gender identity.
The candidates could both be put on the spot on trans issues Thursday night.
Whether Earle-Sears’ attacks will work is a question both parties will be watching closely. Polls have consistently found the economy and affordability at the top of Americans’ list of concerns. But Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won four years ago on a message that emphasized parents’ rights in schools and a vow to end the teaching of critical race theory.
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