‘I’m really not supposed to be here’: Winsome Earle-Sears touts unlikely rise in concession speech despite no Trump endorsement

Trump publicly called the Virginia race a “must-win” for Earle-Sears, but stopped short of giving her a glowing endorsement as he had with other gubernatorial challengers in different states.

Despite losing the race for Governor of Virginia on Tuesday night, Lt. Gov Winsome Earle-Sears hoped that Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger would be a successful leader as she thanked supporters in her concession speech.

Election experts called the race for Spanberger less than an hour after polls had closed. As the votes were tallied, the former U.S. Representative had secured nearly 500,000 more votes than Earle-Sears, the state’s first Black woman lieutenant governor.

“You know, I’m really not supposed to be here,” Earle-Sears told a crowd of supporters on Tuesday night. “I mean, think about it. I’m an immigrant from another country, and yet you all have given me the opportunity to do this.”

Among Earle-Sears’ staunchest supporters, one name that didn’t fully endorse her was President Donald Trump. When asked why Trump didn’t endorse her on Election Day, Earle-Sears flubbed her answer to reporters.

“I don’t really think that…Yeah…here’s the thing, I’m working and I’m working very hard. I’ve always run very hard races. I’ve never had an easy race,” Earle-Sears said.

Trump publicly called the Virginia race a “must-win” for Earle-Sears while also giving his opinion on the New York mayoral race and the New Jersey gubernatorial race. Unlike Earle-Sears, Trump gave a glowing endorsement of New Jersey Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli. 

Democrats swept all three major races from New York to New Jersey and Virginia.

During her concession speech, Earle-Sears leaned on her backstory before getting into politics, immigrating from Jamaica and rising up the ranks before becoming second-in-command in the Commonwealth.

“I thank you, I thank you for giving me this very great opportunity, and it started, of course, when you gave my father the opportunity to come to this great country,” Earle-Sears said. “With again, you heard me, his $1.75, and that’s what started the trajectory of my life, where I became, of course, a marine, a business owner, CEO of certain organizations, and then a delegate, and now Lieutenant Governor; second in command. I want to thank you. You believed in me, you voted for me, and you worked so hard for our dream of Virginia to come true.”

As her speech concluded, Earle-Sears stated she called Spanberger, but the Governor-elect did not answer. Still, the outgoing Lt. Governor remained hopeful about how Spanberger’s policies could affect all Virginians.

“I asked her to please consider all of us Virginians; that she will represent all of us, not just some of us. And, I wished her success,” Earle-Sears said. “If she is successful, Virginia will be successful. That’s what I wished for her. And I asked her to support policies that will unite us, that will not divide us, that strengthen our families and keep us safe. And, that if I ever could be of help doing that, I’m here, I’m ready to volunteer.”