Democrats are pulling every trick in the book during the final days of Virginia's gubernatorial race.
One candidate just got yanked off the campaign trail at the worst possible time.
And Virginia Democrats used one desperate move to sabotage Winsome Earle-Sears' campaign that should sound familiar.
Democrats forced Earle-Sears off campaign trail with surprise special session
Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears missed campaign events on three separate days this past week before Election Day.¹
The reason had nothing to do with her schedule or strategy.
Democrats called a surprise special session of the state's General Assembly to push through a constitutional amendment enabling redistricting next year.²
As Lieutenant Governor and president of the state Senate, Earle-Sears had no choice but to preside over the session instead of campaigning against her Democrat opponent, former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger.
The timing was no accident.
Polls show Spanberger leading by anywhere from 3 to 12 percentage points.³
But Sears is closing fast with the trends moving in her direction.
Democrats scheduled multiple days of legislative sessions during the final critical week when early voting was wrapping up and undecided voters were making their final decisions.
At a campaign event in Charlottesville where Earle-Sears was supposed to appear, her husband Terence Sears spoke on her behalf.⁴
U.S. Representative John McGuire (R-VA) didn't mince words about what Democrats were doing.
He called the special session "election interference."⁵
The Trump playbook all over again
Anyone paying attention to the 2024 Presidential race will recognize this tactic immediately.
Donald Trump spent weeks tied up in Manhattan courtrooms during the height of the campaign season while Democrats weaponized the legal system against him.
Trump couldn't campaign in battleground states because Democrats forced him into court to defend against dubious charges that legal experts across the political spectrum called into question.
The House Judiciary Committee released a comprehensive report documenting how Democrats used lawfare to remove Trump from the campaign trail and divert attention from President Joe Biden's failures.⁶
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even admitted the quiet part out loud during Trump's Manhattan trial.
She told supporters Trump was holding rallies in the South Bronx "because he's got court and the man practically has the legal version of an ankle bracelet around him."⁷
Trump couldn't leave the five boroughs because judges required his presence in court.
Meanwhile, Biden mocked Trump's limited availability by saying "I hear you're free on Wednesdays" when scheduling debates.⁸
The strategy was transparent – tie up your opponent in proceedings they can't skip, then campaign freely while they're stuck.
Virginia Democrats just ran the same playbook against Earle-Sears.
The redistricting scheme that nobody asked for
Democrats claim they need this constitutional amendment to respond to redistricting efforts in Republican-controlled states.
House Speaker Don Scott said "Virginia cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while Donald Trump tramples on our Constitution."⁹
That's rich considering what they're actually doing.
Virginia voters approved an independent redistricting commission in 2020 specifically to take partisan politics out of map-drawing.
Now Democrats want to blow that up and give themselves the power to redraw congressional districts mid-decade.
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee – chaired by former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder – donated $150,000 to Spanberger's campaign and another $150,000 to Virginia House Democrats in the last few weeks.¹⁰
Governor Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares both called the effort "unconstitutional," arguing it doesn't meet required timing standards.¹¹
Republican legislators filed a lawsuit in Tazewell County Circuit Court claiming the special session violates state law and the separation of powers because only the governor can call such a session.¹²
Meanwhile, Earle-Sears' Democrat opponent for Lieutenant Governor, State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, somehow managed to skip the Tuesday session entirely to meet with union members in Roanoke.¹³
Hashmi previously promised she would manage serving her taxpayer-funded role versus campaigning "without conflict."¹⁴
Apparently meeting with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers with campaign signs in the room doesn't count as a "campaign event" in Hashmi's world.
The double standard couldn't be more obvious.
Democrats pull Earle-Sears off the trail while giving their own candidate a pass to campaign.
The stakes for Virginia and beyond
This isn't just about one governor's race.
Republicans currently hold a narrow 219-213 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
If Democrats can flip a few more seats through creative redistricting, they could take control and oppose President Trump's entire agenda.¹⁵
That's what this Virginia power grab is really about.
Similar Democrat-led redistricting efforts are underway in California while Republican lawmakers in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina already approved new congressional maps.¹⁶
The race to redraw districts before the 2026 midterms is on.
Virginia Democrats don't care that they're trampling over their own 2020 referendum creating an independent redistricting commission.
They don't care that they're pulling legislative stunts during an active election.
And they certainly don't care about the optics of forcing their opponent off the campaign trail while their own candidates skip sessions to campaign.
Earle-Sears told supporters at a rally that Democrats are "playing games with our commonwealth, with your tax money, for their purposes."¹⁷
She accused Spanberger of leading the unconstitutional redistricting push after accepting that $150,000 from Holder's group.
"Abigail Spanberger sold out Virginia for $150,000," Earle-Sears said. "If she will do that in the light, what will she do behind closed doors?"¹⁸
The special session costs Virginia taxpayers at least $750,000.¹⁹
Democrats spent three-quarters of a million dollars in public funds to keep their top opponent off the campaign trail during the final week before Election Day.
¹ Eleanor Bartow, "VA Dems Use Special Session To Pull Sears Off Campaign Trail," The Federalist, October 30, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Markus Schmidt, "Poll: In top Va. races, Spanberger sustains lead over Earle-Sears," Virginia Mercury, October 27, 2025.
⁴ Samantha-Jo Roth, "Earle-Sears forced off campaign trail due to 'election interference'," Washington Examiner, October 29, 2025.
⁵ Eleanor Bartow, "VA Dems Use Special Session To Pull Sears Off Campaign Trail," The Federalist, October 30, 2025.
⁶ House Committee on the Judiciary, "LAWFARE: HOW THE MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AND A NEW YORK STATE JUDGE VIOLATED THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL RIGHTS OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP," July 9, 2024.
⁷ Brianna Lyman, "AOC Admits Lawfare Is Keeping Trump From Campaign Trail," The Federalist, May 22, 2024.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Markus Schmidt, "Va. House pushes through last-minute redistricting amendment as GOP cries foul," Virginia Mercury, October 29, 2025.
¹⁰ Markus Schmidt, "Democrats push redistricting amendment as special session jolts Virginia ahead of election," Virginia Mercury, October 27, 2025.
¹¹ Eleanor Bartow, "VA Dems Use Special Session To Pull Sears Off Campaign Trail," The Federalist, October 30, 2025.
¹² Markus Schmidt, "Va. House pushes through last-minute redistricting amendment as GOP cries foul," Virginia Mercury, October 29, 2025.
¹³ Eleanor Bartow, "VA Dems Use Special Session To Pull Sears Off Campaign Trail," The Federalist, October 30, 2025.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ Ibid.
¹⁷ Ben Sellers, "Winsome Earle-Sears slams Democrats' 'nonsense' over transgender policies," Washington Times, October 29, 2025.
¹⁸ Ibid.
¹⁹ Eleanor Bartow, "VA Dems Use Special Session To Pull Sears Off Campaign Trail," The Federalist, October 30, 2025.
