Virginia set to elect first woman governor in 2025 race

Driving the news: Over the weekend, the state GOP announced that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears will be the party's nominee for governor in November.

• Former state Sen. Amanda Chase, who describes herself as "Trump in heels," was vying for the GOP ticket but failed to make the ballot.
• Chase told Virginia Scope she'll be backing Earle-Sears and confirmed to the Washington Post she won't be running as an independent.
• Former Del. Dave LaRock, another potential rival to Earle-Sears, was also short of the 10,000 signatures needed to qualify.

No one filed to oppose former Rep. Abigail Spanberger for the Democratic ticket, which means the Republican and Democratic nominees for governor are both women for the first time in Virginia history.

The big picture: Just 51 women have served as governor in the nearly 250-year history of the United States, Axios Denver's Esteban L. Hernandez reports.

• Those women have led in only 32 states, said Jean Sinzdak, associate director at Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).

Zoom in: There's also a chance Virginians will elect the first Black woman governor in U.S. history.

• The closest the state has gotten to even having a Black woman gubernatorial candidate was in 2021, when Rep. Jennifer McClellan and Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy ran for the Democratic nomination.
• They lost to former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who went on to lose to Gov. Youngkin.

Between the lines: Youngkin, who's limited to one term, is backing Earle-Sears.

Zoom out: Virginia has a record of electing a governor from the opposite political party of the sitting president, per the state elections database.

• There's only been one time in the past 50 years when that wasn't true: The year after former President Obama's reelection — 2013 — McAuliffe won against Ken Cuccinelli, a Republican.

What we're watching: On Monday, the DLCC, which supports and funds Democrats in state races, announced a seven-figure investment to help keep Virginia's Democratic majority in the House of Delegates, where all 100 seats are up for grabs this year.

• The party is also targeting the race for lieutenant governor, who can cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate.