Labor Day in Buena Vista traditionally marks the final sprint to Election Day in Virginia, where candidates, for local and state offices, not only join in the festivities but make some of their last pitches to voters.

It can naturally be a divisive occasion, as Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee for governor, illustrated when she suggested that Democrats in attendance had been bussed in — to an annual event that draws hundreds, sometimes thousands, from across the commonwealth.

But it can also be a time of bipartisanship, a chance for all six of the candidates for statewide office to stand together. And as illustrated by Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor, and John Reid, the Republican running for lieutenant governor, it can provide an opportunity t

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