Tipsheet

Winsome Sears Made History as VA's Lieutenant Governor-Elect, But Left Went with White Supremacy Narrative

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  November 03, 2021 4:15 PM

As Katie reported, Lieutenant Governor-elect Winsome Sears is the first woman and first black woman to hold the office. She's also a Marine and an immigrant from Jamaica. But that wasn't the narrative many in the mainstream media took. 

Curtis Houck with NewsBusters highlighted how MSNBC did not acknowledge Sears' historic win until after Youngkin gave his victory speech, immediately following Sears' victory speech. They also failed to do so throughout the night.

Virginia also elected Jason Miyares as attorney general, who defeated incumbent Mark Herring, a Democrat. Miyares is the commonwealth's first Latino attorney general. He's also the son of an immigrant from Cuba. 

MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace and Joy Reid were especially relentless in harping on Critical Race Theory (CRT), dismissing parental concerns as "racist" and claiming it isn't taught in Virginia schools.

As I reported over the weekend, however, the Virginia Department of Education website promotes CRT. 

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Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin, also a Republican, made education a priority during the campaign trail. Exit polls revealed education was a top issue. Fox News found that 25 percent said CRT was the single most important issue. Among these voters, 70 percent favored Youngkin. Additionally, 72 percent of voters said CRT was an "important" issue.

Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA), who served from 2014-2018 and lost against Youngkin in his bid to serve once more, repeatedly used the same talking points that raising concerns about CRT was a "racist dog whistle," including during his Sunday appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Several of Sears' campaign emails emphasized how McAuliffe was referring to her as a racist, then. 

Houck also highlighted a Monday segment on MSNBC where University of Virginia Professor Larry Sabato also noted that Republicans were fixating on the "race" component of CRT, as did Spencer. 

Many others took note of the significance of Sears' win and how much it destroyed this narrative, as "White Supremacy" trended on Twitter.

As Matt highlighted, The Atlantic's Jemele Hill chalked up the GOP victory to "white supremacy." 

Sears' staff responded from their Twitter account. 

Former DNC Chairman Howard Dean attributed it to "racism."

Chandelis Duster, writing for CNN, did acknowledge the significance. Her headline read that "Winsome Sears will become Virginia lieutenant governor, CNN projects, becoming first female and woman of color in the office." Her reporting touched upon an exchange between Sears and her Democratic opponent, Hala Ayala:

Ayala congratulated Sears on making history and "paving the way for future women leaders who look like us."

"We may not be able to claim victory today, but we know that the results of this election are simply a minor setback in our larger fight for progress," Ayala said in a statement Wednesday thanking her supporters.

She also wished Sears "luck and success" when the two spoke on Wednesday, Lauren Chou, communications director for Ayala's campaign, told CNN.

Had Ayala won, her election would also have been historic, as Ayala describes herself as "Afro-Latina, Lebanese and Irish."