By Lieutenant governor Winsome Earle Sears on December 16th 2024, in VaGovernor.substack

Candidates for public office should be transparent and honest with their voters. It seems reasonable, doesn’t it?

Democrats in 2024 across the nation didn’t agree. They chose to either lie flagrantly about past positions or ignore the most important issues that voters cared about.

The answer was simply “no” and the results were evident on Election Day.

It should be clear what the lesson is. It appears that Abigail Spanberger, the Congresswoman from Pennsylvania, missed the memo.

Last week, each of us candidates for Virginia’s next Governor had the opportunity to speak in front of hundreds of Virginia business leaders and job-creators to discuss our visions of economic growth and strengthening Virginia’s position as one the best states to do business. We owed Virginians a definitive answer about whether we would defend the Commonwealth’s Right to Work Law, which is a pillar in our competitive edge for the region and under threat from Democrat efforts to repeal.

My answer was unambiguous: I will protect Virginia’s Right to Work Law as governor.

Congresswoman Spanberger did not even bring up the subject.

Our Right to Work Law is the cornerstone of success in Virginia. It boosts economic competitiveness, encourages job creation, and creates a conducive environment for investments, businesses, and workers to make their own choices. It also makes Virginia look a lot different from Maryland, New York and California.

Virginia Economic Development Partnership, our very own Virginia Economic Development Partnership, warned us that repealing Right to Work would cost Virginia Billions of dollars in capital investments and tens or thousands of jobs. These risks are real and not just hypothetical.

For me, this is more than a policy — it’s my principle. Virginia will remain the best state in the nation for job creators and workers. It is also very personal. My father arrived in America with no money and worked many jobs to achieve his American Dream. He helped me do the same.

As an employee, I appreciated the freedom of choosing how to spend my wages. Now, as a businessman, I believe that every good worker should have the same choice.

Protecting the Right to Work is not enough to grow our economy. We must enhance public-private partnerships to drive innovation. We must continue to aggressively pursue new world-class businesses. We must also invest in the workforce development of Virginians to prepare them for the jobs that will be available in the future.

Politicians who take advantage of us are the greatest threat to Virginia’s business-friendly climate and its top ranking. A politician will dodge questions about Right to Work in a campaign only to repeal it when he becomes governor.

A strong leader builds upon past success, whereas a weak leader tears it down and wastes your time and money. We can’t afford to go in the wrong direction.

Right to Work may not be the only policy that drives Virginia’s economy, but its repeal would cause our economy to collapse: No new businesses will move in as existing businesses leave, and customers face higher prices and fewer choices.

Congresswoman Spanberger doesn’t seem to understand this. She cosponsored legislation that would have forced states to accept union mandates with no state debate.

If she had passed it, she would be responsible for destroying Virginia’s Right to Work Law and our competitive advantage.

Leadership demands clear, principled decisions.

Virginians deserve a direct answer on her position from Congresswoman Spanberger. Her silence so far proves that she doesn’t think we deserve an answer.

FairfaxGOP originally wrote this and published it as Winsome Earle Sears' Op-Ed: Voters deserve honesty