Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will join Virginia gubernatorial nominee Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to kick off early voting at a rally Friday evening in Chesterfield County.
Democrats are seeking to exploit his appearance, characterizing it as proof of Earle-Sears’ alleged insensitivity to the loss of federal jobs in parts of the state that depend on them.
Ramaswamy, who is running for governor in Ohio next year, initially was a co-leader of the “Department of Government Efficiency,” a White House office that has led the assault on the federal workforce and spending under President Donald Trump.
Ramaswamy left in January because of the Ohio governor’s race and reported friction with Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman who became the face of DOGE before stepping down earlier this year.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, who is kicking off the start of early voting Friday with two appearances in Henrico County and another in Fairfax County, pounced on Ramaswamy’s endorsement of, and planned appearance with Earle-Sears. Democrats say Earle-Sears has played down cuts to the federal workforce and said displaced workers can find jobs in the private sector.
“If you know you know that name but can’t remember why, it’s because he was one of the chief architects of the DOGE efforts — you know that same effort that led to thousands upon thousands of Virginians losing their jobs,” Spanberger said of Ramaswamy in a video from her campaign.
The former congresswoman called on Earle-Sears to cancel her appearance with Ramaswamy and added, “It’s frankly the least she can do. She won’t defend Virginians who are losing their jobs. She won’t defend Virginia’s economy. But she shouldn’t invite him here.”
Earle-Sears’ campaign did not respond to requests for comment, but Virginia Republican Party Chairman Mark Peake said: “It just shows you how desperate Spanberger is.”
Peake, a Republican state senator from Lynchburg, asserts that Democrats are not excited about Spanberger’s campaign and predicted that Ramaswamy’s appearance “is really going to generate excitement in the Indian American community.”
“I think it’s really a kick in the teeth to the Democrats,” he said Wednesday.
RGA’s ad push
Peake also was gleeful about the Republican Governors Association’s decision to give $3 million to the Earle-Sears campaign since the last filing deadline, which ended Aug. 31. The money reportedly will pay for $2.7 million on television and digital advertising but does not represent an independent expenditure for advertising.
The RGA had donated just $500,000 to her campaign through Aug. 31, compared with the $10.7 million it contributed to Republican Glenn Youngkin as he defeated former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2021.
“I, of course, wish they had done that sooner,” Peake said.
The Democratic Governors Association gave $3 million to Spanberger’s campaign in the reporting period that ended Aug. 31, on top of $2 million it already had donated. She raised $14 million in the last reporting period, which she ended with $12.2 million in hand. In comparison, Earle-Sears raised $5.2 million in the period, with $4.9 million in the bank.
Richmond political analyst Bob Holsworth said Earle-Sears needs to get Republicans out to vote in the numbers that Youngkin did four years ago to counter Spanberger’s advantage in Northern Virginia and other suburban communities.
“Republicans are going to put some money into the last month to really try to charge the turnout,” Holsworth said.
Spanberger, in contrast, is trying to stoke Democratic enthusiasm that gave then-Fairfax County supervisor James Walkinshaw a 50-point victory margin over Republican Stewart Whitson in a Sept. 9 special election to succeed the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-11th.
It’s a heavily Democratic district, but Walkinshaw, a former longtime chief of staff to Connolly, focused relentlessly on DOGE cuts and their damage to Fairfax and the wider Northern Virginia economy.
“The message that Sears is defending the DOGE cuts is a strong message for Spanberger,” Holsworth said.
Youngkin won the governor’s race in 2021 by holding down McAuliffe’s margins in Northern Virginia and running up Republican turnout in the countryside, while winning in Chesterfield, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, suburban areas and cities that swing politically.
This year, Democrats in Northern Virginia won’t need more motivation to vote for Spanberger, said Larry Sabato, president of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “It’s written not in sand, but in stone in Northern Virginia.”
On the other hand, Sabato said, Ramaswamy’s appearance “will excite the Trump base.”
Fox News first reported Ramaswamy’s scheduled appearance, but details emerged on Wednesday. He will appear with Earle-Sears and the rest of the Republican ticket — lieutenant governor nominee John Reid and Attorney General Jason Miyares — along with Youngkin at 5 p.m. Friday at a rally near Pocahontas Park in southern Chesterfield.