Virginia will elect its first woman lieutenant governor Tuesday. The contest is between Democrat Hala Ayala, 48, a native of Alexandria who now makes Prince William County home or Republican Winsome Sears, 57, of Winchester, Va.
Election results (2,723 precincts of 2,855 reporting) at 11:40 p.m.:
- Hala Ayala: 49.08 percent
- Winsome Sears: 50.82 percent
Whoever wins the race will become the first woman of color to be elected to statewide office in Virginia. Ayala is a native of Virginia and Afro-Latina and whose mother was Lebanese and Irish. Sears is a native of Jamaica who grew up in The Bronx and served as an electrician in the U.S. Marines. She served a one-year term 20 years ago as a delegate representing the Norfolk area.
The Washington Post describes Sears as "a Trump loyalist who supports a controversial Texas ban on most abortions and whose most prominent campaign ad showed her gripping an assault rifle."
Ayala is a former security analyst for the U.S. Coast Guard for 20 years and is currently a delegate in the Richmond statehouse representing Prince William County after she was elected in 2017.
Attorney General Race
Also on Tuesday at the top of the ticket is Democrat Attorney General Mark Herring, who is seeking a third term in office and is facing Republican Del. Jason Miyares.
Election results (2,723 precincts of 2,855 reporting at (10:45 p.m.):
- Herring: 49.43 percent
- Miyares: 50.49 percent
Herring grew up in Leesburg, where he worked as an attorney in private practice before he became attorney general. Previously, he served as a state senator representing Loudoun County and started out in politics on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.
Herring has said the Affordable Care Act, abortion rights and gun violence prevention are areas where he's fought to make progress.
Miyares is a delegate representing part of the Virginia Beach area. Miyares has said he is concerned about the murder rate in Virginia and hoped to focus "on measures that actually lower gun violence," he told WTOP.
