If Thursday night’s Virginia gubernatorial debate was a test of conviction, clarity, and leadership under pressure, then Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears came prepared with a sharpened pencil—and Abigail Spanberger brought a blank scantron.
In what was arguably the most pivotal public moment of this high-stakes race, Spanberger managed to dodge, deflect, and dilute nearly every major question thrown her way. And none loomed larger—or landed harder—than her refusal to address the Jay Jones scandal, or to take a firm stance on biological males in girls’ spaces, an issue that continues to galvanize parents across the Commonwealth.
Let’s start with Jay Jones. When pressed—repeatedly—on whether she still supported her party’s nominee for attorney general after it was revealed that he sent graphic, homicidal texts about a fellow lawmaker and his children, Spanberger’s response was a masterclass in political cowardice: “We are all running our individual races.”
That’s not leadership. That’s abdication.
Here’s the exchange where Abigail Spanberger is unable to simply say that men should not be allowed to change in the same locker rooms as girls.
DISQUALIFYING.pic.twitter.com/nWXpTZ5yld
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 10, 2025
In refusing to condemn Jones or call for him to drop out of the race, Spanberger didn’t just miss a political opportunity—she failed a moral test. There’s no nuance to a fantasy about “two bullets to the head.” There’s no “individual race” logic that excuses grotesque, violent rhetoric aimed at a colleague’s family. The only correct answer was the one she refused to give.
And then came the question that’s been waiting for her all campaign: locker rooms.
Where does Abigail Spanberger stand on boys in girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports? The answer she offered—after dodging the question for months—was weak, waffling, and wrapped in bureaucratic word salad: “Each local community decision should be made between parents and educators and teachers.”
In other words: Don’t ask me to take a position. I’m too focused on being electable.
The irony? By refusing to show backbone, she may have made herself unelectable.
Because this issue—girls’ privacy and safety in public schools—isn’t a fringe debate in Virginia. It’s central. It helped flip school boards. It helped elect Glenn Youngkin. And now it’s part of the gubernatorial contest. When Spanberger refused to say whether she’d overturn Youngkin’s common-sense rule requiring students to use restrooms aligned with their biological sex, she signaled to voters exactly where her priorities lie—not with parents, not with students, but with the far-left base of her party.
That’s when Winsome Earle-Sears seized the moment.
Abigail Spanberger COLDLY stares into the darkness as @WinWithWinsome asks if she’d comfort young girls crying after being harassed by biological males.
No compassion. No answer. Just silence.
Heartless. pic.twitter.com/t0MmmVHHXY
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 9, 2025
Calm, composed, and laser-focused, Earle-Sears took Spanberger’s vague, meandering response and turned it into a Mike Dukakis moment—a cold, detached, politically calculated answer to a question that demanded moral clarity and human empathy. She didn’t need theatrics. She just needed to ask: What would you do if it were your daughter?
Spanberger had no answer.
And that’s what voters will remember. Not just what was said, but what wasn’t. The blank stare. The sidestepping. The inability to draw a moral line in the sand when it mattered most.
So, did this debate move the needle?
Absolutely. Toward Earle-Sears.
In a race that was already tightening, this debate offered voters a crystal-clear contrast. One candidate who can answer a simple question. And one who can’t.
The only thing left is to see if Virginia parents—and voters—will reward courage over calculation. If Thursday night is any indication, they just might.
