Republican Winsome Earle-Sears shakes up campaign staff in Virginia governor’s race

Virginia Republican Winsome Earle-Sears’ gubernatorial campaign said Thursday that it demoted one key staffer and parted ways with another less than four months out from the general election, as the candidate lags in the polls and fundraising.

Will Archer, a pastor with no prior major political experience, was removed from his post as Earle-Sears’ campaign manager, Mark Harris, a general consultant for the campaign, said on a call with reporters.

Archer will remain on the campaign in a role that focuses on voter turnout in the Northern Virginia area, said Harris, who also indicated there was not a plan to announce a new campaign manager imminently.

“Will, who was the campaign manager, is transitioning out,” Harris said. Asked when a new campaign manager would be announced, Harris replied, “When we decide to let you guys know.”

Harris also told reporters that Richard Wagner, Earle-Sears’ political director, has left the campaign.

“Richard has moved on to another race,” Harris said.

The Washington Post first reported news of Archer’s new role in the campaign.

The staff shakeup comes as Earle-Sears, the state’s lieutenant governor, has struggled to gain traction against Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman, in the race to succeed GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

A poll released Wednesday by Virginia Commonwealth University found Spanberger leading Earle-Sears 49% to 37% among registered voters. Those results were outside of the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4.16 percentage points.

And new fundraising reports released this week showed Spanberger with an advantage over Earle-Sears. Spanberger raised $4.3 million during the most recent reporting period, June 6 to June 30, and had $15.2 million in cash on hand. By comparison, Earle-Sears raised $2.4 million and had $4.5 million in cash on hand.

Republicans have criticized Earle-Sears’ campaign, saying that it lacks discipline and consistency. In interviews last month, Republican operatives in Virginia and elsewhere grumbled that the campaign has lacked a central message. But they also cautioned that it remained far too early to write off Earle-Sears — a message that was reiterated by the campaign itself on Thursday.

“We are at the very beginning of this fight,” said Harris, who noted that Youngkin won four years ago after starting the race behind.

“Our goal is to win and beat Abigail Spanberger,” he said. “I know that everyone is treating this race much like a fait accompli, and I think much like that was wrong in 2021, once again it will be wrong in 2025.”

Harris acknowledged that they “definitely are the underdog” but said that “there is a clear path to victory” for them to win.

“We need high turnout. We have to work hard to get high turnout,” he said.