In the only debate of the Virginia governor’s race, Democrat Abigail Spanberger did not affirm her endorsement of Jay Jones, the party’s nominee for attorney general who said in recently disclosed text messages that a Republican colleague should be shot in the head.
But she also didn’t take back her endorsement either or call for Jones to exit the race, even as her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, repeatedly urged her to do so.
“It’s up to every voter to make their own individual decision,” Spanberger said on Thursday night.
The candidates’ tactics, in their only scheduled meeting before the November 4 election, offered a clear glimpse of where the race stands.
Spanberger, the former congresswoman who is well ahead in the polls, tried to play it safe and ducked questions even after they were repeated. Earle-Sears, seeking to make up ground, interrupted Spanberger during nearly every answer her Democratic rival gave during the hour-long debate, from the first question all the way through Spanberger’s closing statement, drawing frequent admonishments from
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