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Virginia’s Republican statewide nominees appeared together for the first time this election season Tuesday night, seeking to project unity at a Vienna rally after a contentious primary and months of internal tension.

Gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, lieutenant governor nominee John Reid and Attorney General Jason Miyares shared the stage at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department. Gov. Glenn Youngkin also joined them as speakers attacked Virginia’s Democratic ticket and repeatedly compared its policies with those of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

Earle-Sears, Virginia’s incumbent lieutenant governor, argued that Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger’s ideas were “socialist in nature” because they would expand government programs using taxpayer money.

She also reaffirmed her opposition to “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and voiced support for qualified immunity for police officers.

Earle-Sears specifically criticized Mamdani’s proposal for city-owned grocery stores offering lower-cost food.

“Eventually they’re going to run out of our money, because it’s our money they’re being free with,” she said.

Youngkin also sought to tie Spanberger to the New York candidate before praising Earle-Sears as a Marine and someone who understands what the United States has provided her.

The show of unity came months after Youngkin tried to persuade Reid to withdraw from the lieutenant governor’s race.

Reid alluded to that conflict during his remarks, joking that he had not reached the stage because “the establishment in Richmond” liked him. He said his allegiance was to Virginia voters rather than political insiders or wealthy donors.

He also emphasized his opposition to transgender girls competing in girls’ sports, saying biological sex should remain a factor in public policy. Scientific research has found that the biological characteristics associated with sex are complex and do not always fit a simple binary.

Miyares, the incumbent attorney general seeking reelection, completed the Republican statewide ticket at the event.

Protesters warn about health care

Outside the fire department, demonstrators focused on a federal budget bill heading to the House of Representatives and its potential effect on Medicaid.

Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates for Virginia, said the legislation supported by Youngkin and Earle-Sears could remove 300,000 Virginians from health coverage.

Planned Parenthood Advocates for Virginia helped organize the demonstration alongside SEIU Virginia, New Virginia Majority, Women’s March and the Committee to Protect Health Care.

Medical worker Joyce Rena Bumbray-Graves said her clients rely on Medicare and Medicaid assistance for testing, transplants and surgery. She also said members of her family depend on Medicare.

“Medicaid is holding a lot of families together,” Bumbray-Graves said, urging lawmakers to consider how broadly changes could affect residents.

Members of SEIU Virginia 512 had met with Spanberger and Democratic lieutenant governor and attorney general nominees Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones in Fairfax on Thursday, June 26. The Democratic candidates also visited Fairfax City and Tysons during a statewide bus tour launching their joint campaign.

Voters debate taxes and Medicaid

Inside the rally, some attendees said rising local taxes were driving their support for Earle-Sears and the Republican ticket.

Vienna-area resident Sally Segal cited Fairfax County’s property tax, plastic-bag tax and trash-related charges. She was especially upset about the meals tax approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors as part of the fiscal year 2026 budget without a referendum. County voters had rejected meals-tax proposals in the 1990s and again in 2016.

Segal said she also expected another major property-tax increase next year, based on information she described as coming from a reliable source.

She and several nearby attendees argued that the federal budget legislation would target Medicaid fraud rather than reduce benefits. Others in her row insisted the measure contained no Medicaid cuts.

Segal credited the Department of Government Efficiency with finding billions of dollars in Medicaid fraud and said the legislation would not leave children without food.

Another attendee, a rising West Potomac High School senior identified by his initials, MJ, expressed more uncertainty. His uncle had recently died after a long fight with cancer, he said, and had exhausted his retirement savings paying for treatment before Medicaid began helping with the cost.

“Without Medicaid, he wouldn’t have been able to get the treatment he needed,” MJ said.

MJ described his family as traditionally liberal but said they voted for Youngkin in 2021 and later for Donald Trump. He supported Trump in the most recent election because of Trump’s promises to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, but said he still wanted to listen to both political sides.

At the state level, MJ said his top concern was increasing school-security funding. Recalling the stabbing of a younger student, he said his school had only one school resource officer and argued that additional armed security could deter violence.