Why Is Susan Collins Mixed Up in the Virginia Governor’s Race?
Clicking the Donate button takes people to a WinRed page, a fundraising platform for the Republican Party, with the Earle-Sears campaign logo at the top. One appeal for donations reads: “George Soros and Hollywood liberals are all putting A LOT of money against me and my team in this must-win race. Please donate even $10 to help me keep pace with the left’s dark money!” Fine print fans, take note: Small text under red buttons with varying amounts specifies that donations will “benefit Collins for Senator,” rather than a donation split between the two campaigns or to the Earle-Sears campaign only.
The New Republic reached out to the Collins campaign for comment on the fundraising pitch, whether she supports Earle-Sears and whether she supports an abortion ban in Virginia, but they did not respond as of publication time.
Earle-Sears has taken far-right positions on issues beyond abortion. During a debate on October 9, Earle-Sears said he was no discrimination firing someone for being gay, a moment Spanberger took advantage of social networks. Collins’ email was sent nearly three weeks after those damning comments, and after the announcement that Earle-Sears had made a Donation of $1,800 to the Richmond-based Family Foundation, which called in vitro fertilization, or IVF, “child trafficking” and opposes same-sex marriage, which worries LGBTQ defenders, since the State has a ban on books which could come back to life if the Supreme Court overturns the 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges decision. (Virginia is one of 32 states that would automatically ban same-sex marriage if the precedent were overturned.)
