Winsome Earle-Sears, left, and Abigail Spanberger. Getty Images

The only debate in the Virginia governor’s race is likely to focus on a candidate who won’t be on stage: Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, who suggested in text messages that a Republican colleague be shot in the head.

Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears are set to square off Thursday night in their first and only scheduled debate. The two will debate at Norfolk State University, with early voting already underway for nearly three weeks and Election Day on November 4 approaching.

Spanberger and other prominent Democrats have condemned Jones’ texts and violence in politics but stopped short of calling on him to drop out of the race. Earle-Sears has pounced on Spanberger’s

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