She said she will work to fully fund historically Black colleges and implement Youngkin’s agenda.
“He’s going to get rid of all kinds of taxes,” she said.
Ayala conceded early Wednesday afternoon in a statement on Twitter.
“I want to congratulate my opponent on making history and paving the way for future women leaders who look like us,” Ayala said.
During the campaign, Ayala criticized Sears for refusing to say whether she had been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Sears ridiculed mask mandates during the primary.
Sears won despite being badly outgunned financially — reports showed Ayala’s campaign more than doubled Sears in fundraising, with $6.4 million raked in by Ayala, compared with $2.6 million for Sears.
In the attorney general’s race, Herring would be the first to win a third term since World War II.
But Miyares, the son of a Cuban immigrant, declared victory early Wednesday, saying he is now the first Latino to be elected statewide in Virginia.
“I can’t wait to go to work with Governor Youngkin and Lieutenant Governor Sears for you,” Miyares said.
Herring had not conceded defeat as of Wednesday afternoon.
Jurisdictions throughout the state reported high turnout, with roughly 3.3 million ballots tallied by 3 a.m. Wednesday. That greatly exceeded the 2.6 million ballots cast in the last gubernatorial election in 2017, which itself was a high turnout year. The turnout in 2017 was in part a backlash to Donald Trump’s 2016 election. Democrats swept all three statewide elections in 2017.
Republicans have struggled in Virginia over the past decade — Democrats have won every statewide election since 2009. But now at least two of the three Republican candidates this year have broken that streak.
Both the attorney general and the lieutenant governor posts have served as launching pads to the governor’s mansion. Half of the past 10 lieutenant governors in Virginia have gone on to be governor. The previous nine elected attorneys general all ran for governor.
___
Associated Press writers Brian Witte in Chantilly, Virginia, and Alexandra Jaffe in McLean, Virginia, contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared here.
