Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate for governor, spent her last week of the campaign on an extended bus tour, bookended with stops in Hampton Roads that culminated in a rally in Norfolk alongside former President Barack Obama. Her opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who has consistently trailed in the polls, was stuck in Richmond.

Republican lawmakers and Earle-Sears supporters gathered last week on the steps of the Virginia Capitol. State Sen. Mark Peake, chairman of the state Republican party, took the podium.

“We’re here at the invitation of the Democrats in the Senate and the House of Delegates,” he said. “They have us here to get Madame Lieutenant Governor off the campaign trail. And why do they want to get Winsome Earle-Sears off the campaign trail?”

“Because she’s w

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