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Winsome Earle-Sears has donated to a far-right group that opposes IVF, abortion, marriage equality, and LGBTQ+ rights.
The revelation comes less than two weeks before voters in the state pick their next governor.
With less than two weeks to go until a hotly contested gubernatorial election in Virginia, the Republican candidate, whom her Democratic opponent’s campaign calls “so far right, she’s wrong for Virginia,” is trying to appeal to a broad swath of voters. However, newly unearthed campaign finance records, obtained by The Advocate, show that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle‑Sears donated thousands of dollars to a far-right Christian organization that has described in vitro fertilization as “child trafficking.”
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The donation has not been previously reported. The revelation comes just as President Donald Trump and his administration announced that they are working to expand access to fertility treatments, bringing to light a stark ideological incompatibility within the GOP.
On September 29, Earle‐Sears’s campaign committee, Winsome for Governor, made a $1,800 charitable donation to the Family Foundation, a Richmond-based extreme anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy group that opposes marriage equality, supports so-called conversion therapy, and in blog posts has described IVF as immoral and likened it to “child trafficking.” The contribution is documented on page 54 of the campaign’s schedule filed with the Virginia State Board of Elections.
The Family Foundation has long championed banning abortion, repealing no-fault divorce, and overturning protections for LGBTQ+ Virginians. In 2024, its blog described fertility treatments as contributing to “the erosion of the traditional family structure.”
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Earle-Sears’s financial support of the Family Foundation comes at the same time that Trump is promoting a policy package to lower fertility drug prices and encourage employer-sponsored fertility benefits — a move the administration is messaging as a pro-family, pro-growth appeal for suburban and middle-class voters. The paradox is acute: While the national GOP tries to signal support for fertility access, Earle-Sears aligns with a group that attacks it.
In leaked audio from a virtual campaign meeting obtained in March by Virginia Scope, a senior staffer said Earle-Sears was “ideologically right there with Donald Trump” and even “more conservative” than him, a claim later echoed by campaign insiders. The recording captures staff boasting that the candidate’s politics were “more conservative than Donald Trump, who I love and respect greatly,” while describing the campaign as focused on “the general election” and not the primary.
The timing of the donation is notable. It came just weeks before Trump’s high-profile IVF announcement, positioning Earle-Sears squarely at odds with the party leader’s public stance.
The contradiction is compounded by her recent debate performance, in which she repeatedly declared that firing someone for being gay and opposing same-sex marriage “is not discrimination.” During the only scheduled gubernatorial debate, held at Norfolk State University, Earle-Sears interrupted her opponent, former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, and interjected “That’s not discrimination!” as Spanberger cited her record of opposing LGBTQ+ protections. The exchange drew immediate outrage from LGBTQ+ advocates and civil rights groups.
The donation revelation comes as Earle-Sears trails in public polling and fundraising ahead of the November election. A Suffolk University survey released on October 23 found Spanberger leading the race with 52 percent of likely voters, compared with 43 percent for Earle-Sears, while 3 percent remained undecided. According to The Washington Post, Spanberger’s campaign reported raising $21.8 million as of early October, compared with $12.4 million for Earle-Sears.
Together, the donation and the debate remark highlight a campaign deeply embedded in Christian nationalist social policy networks, even as the national party looks to broaden access to fertility and appeal beyond its base. If elected, Earle-Sears would become Virginia’s first Black woman governor and one of the most socially conservative governors in modern U.S. history.
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