History was made in Virginia on Nov. 4, when voters elected the state’s first woman governor. But of the two women candidates, it was Democrat Abigail Spanberger — not Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears — who prevailed in a state that politically is now a shade of purple.
Back on Jan. 5, I wrote to The Signal arguing that if California Republicans hope to win statewide office again, they must create a new conservative paradigm — one not anchored in MAGA politics. I suggested that British Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch could serve as a model: principled, pragmatic, and capable of broad appeal, while holding common-sense conservative principles.
In a Jan. 8 response, Mr. Larry Moore countered that I didn’t “need to go all the way to Great Britain,” pointing to Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears — a strong MAGA supporter and former Marine — as a future GOP leader. The majority of Virginia voters apparently disagreed. Spanberger defeated Earle-Sears by more than 14 percentage points — a landslide by any measure.
California continues to suffer under a one-party Democratic supermajority in Sacramento. Republicans can either persist in nominating MAGA candidates who alienate the majority of the state’s voters, or they can embrace pragmatic, solutions-oriented leadership — the kind that Abigail Spanberger exemplified in Virginia.
As for Kemi Badenoch, I still hope her next address is 10 Downing St. She makes more sense than most American politicians today.
Philip Wasserman
Stevenson Ranch
