Reece Smith, College Republicans president and graduate Batten student, and Brianna Sharpe, president of the University Democrats and fourth-year College student, discussed issues prevalent in the upcoming gubernatorial race such as the economy, housing, energy and healthcare during the event Monday.
The event was moderated by Christoph Schoer, Civil Discourse Initiative president and fourth-year College student. During the discussion, both presidents discussed their respective candidates’ policies and why they believed their pick for governor would be better. Sharpe advocated for democratic candidates Abigail Spanberger for governor and Jay Jones for attorney general, while Smith advocated for republican candidates Winsome Earle-Sears for governor and Jason Miyares for attorney general.
CDI is a contracted independent organization established in 2024 with the goal of encouraging political dialogue and discourse at the University. The College Republicans and University Democrats are both student-run organizations that campaign, advocate and organize for their respective political party’s platforms and politicians.
Schoer began by introducing one of the important issues for many voters — the economy and cost of living. Sharpe discussed the economic challenges in Virginia, citing high unemployment and the loss of many federal jobs. She went on to criticize Sears’ plan to cut corporate taxes and argued that it may help in the short-term but isn’t so effective in the long-term.
“She has this idea that cutting corporate taxes is going to bring business growth and stimulate the economy, which may be true in the short run,” Sharpe said. “But I think in the long run, we need to have more investment in the workforce and the training programs.”
She went on to discuss Spanberger’s Affordable Virginia Plan, which Sharpe describes as a plan to alleviate the financial burdens of many citizens by lowering the costs of various necessities. This includes focusing on affordable housing, expanding government services like Medicaid and lowering prescription drug costs.
“It’s sustainable for long-term economic growth, and I believe in her more to stand up to Trump’s attacks on federal job cuts, which are impacting Virginia most heavily,” Sharpe said.
Smith responded to this by highlighting the growing economy under Gov. Glenn Youngkin. According to Smith, Youngkin added 263,700 jobs to Virginia’s economy from January 2022 to 2025. She then connects this back to Sears, explaining why this makes her confident in Sears’ ability to stimulate Virginia’s economy.
“This is why I support Winsome Sears,” Smith said. “Economically, I think she’s just gonna pick up where [Youngkin] left off and be really successful.”
Smith also discussed the right-to-work law in Virginia, which prohibits any agreements that require employees to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment. She claims that it is important not to repeal this law and criticizes Spanberger for refusing to take a stance on this issue.
“Virginia is one of the few states that still has [right-to-work laws] and it’s important that we do not repeal this,” Smith said. “Abigail Spanberger has not said whether she supports repealing or anything with right-to-work, which is really scary given that Virginia Democrats in the General Assembly have pushed for repealing the right to vote.”
Following the discussion about the economy, they moved on to a variety of other topics, such as crime and public safety, immigration and the activity of ICE in Virginia. Afterwards, they ended with the potential constitutional amendments that could appear on the ballot in 2029 — right to reproductive freedom, same sex marriage and the right to vote for felons.
First-year College student Ricardo Bruinton said he attended the discussion after a friend recommended that he go. He thought that this would be a good way to learn more about what his peers thought about the election.
“I was interested in learning more about what students on campus thought about the gubernatorial election, and I felt this was the best, non-awkward way to talk about it and hear what people thought,” Bruinton said.
Bruinton felt that the discussion did not change his opinion on the candidates. He highlighted the partisan nature of the disagreements that both sides had despite agreeing on the same broad issues.
“I think there were disagreements that were that were just partisan in nature,” Bruinton said, “There were certainly some areas where there was overlap in opinion, like both of them agreed that we need to do something about energy costs, we need to do something about housing costs, we need to do something about affordability.”
At the end of the discussion, Schoer asked both Sharpe and Smith to describe one thing they disagree about with their candidate and one thing they agree about with the opposing candidate.
Sharpe discussed Spanberger’s position on transgender rights and Sears’ plan regarding the car tax credit.
“I disagree with Spanberger on a few issues,” Sharpe said. “I wish she would lean in harder on the trans issue — she’s kind of avoided it. One thing I appreciate about Winsome Sears is her commitment to ending the car tax credit. It would probably be very difficult to do, but I pay the car tax credit — it’s an unnecessary burden.”
Smith then went on to discuss what she disagrees with Sears and what she agrees with Spanberger, mentioning Sears’ abortion plan — which bans abortion in even extreme cases — and Spanberger’s housing plan.
“I maybe would disagree with Winsome’s abortion plan, I think that's maybe a little bit too extreme,” Smith said, “Spanberger, I do appreciate that she does have more of a plan for housing than [Sears] right now.”
The discussion ended with both Sharpe and Smith taking questions from the audience. One such question was directed at both of them, asking if their candidate for the governor's race was the best representation of their political party and if they would personally choose these candidates.
Smith responded by stating Sears is a good candidate for the Republican party, though she would rather have Youngkin run for governor again.
“Now I wish Governor Youngkin could run for a second term because I really enjoyed working for him, I think he is a good person,” Smith said, “I think Mrs. Sears is a good follow up to him, and I think she is a really good candidate for our party.”
Sharpe responded similarly, claiming Spanberger as a good democratic candidate, but not her personal choice.
“Yes, [Spanberger] is the best representation of what the Democratic Party believes,” Sharpe said. “Is she my favorite candidate that currently exists in the Democratic Party? No, because, like I said, I think she’s more centrist than me.”
Schoer ended the discussion by thanking the crowd, Sharpe and Smith for participating in the discussion and he made sure to remind everyone that the CDI was helping people register to vote after the event.
Early voting is open until Nov. 1st, with the election day Nov. 4, where registered voters can vote at their local polling day locations. Information on polling day locations can be found on the Virginia Department of Elections website.
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