FAIRFAX — An American flag draped Bill Ficken’s white front door. Another adorned the back of his old Ford Mustang in the open garage below. Leaning against the garage wall, he wiped a forming tear from his eye.

A year ago, Ficken’s adult son passed away. The loss was still fresh in his mind as he spoke with Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears — a door-knocking encounter that quickly became personal.

Earle-Sears lost her oldest daughter, Dejon, and two granddaughters, Victoria and Faith, in a 2012 car crash, less than three miles away.

“They’re supposed to bury us,” the lieutenant governor said.

“Who else can I lean on except God?” Earle-Sears asked later in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, recalling her family’s losses. “You’re looking at three caskets in front of you … I don’t know how other people do it.”

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As she made her way to the front doors of various houses on the street to deliver pamphlets festooned with her face, she quickly transitioned from compassionate listener to campaigning politician. There was an almost a youthful excitement to her movements as she scurried from door to door, careful not to step on anyone’s lawn.

“Are you ding-dong ditching?” Press Secretary Peyton Vogel jokingly asked.

After trying a few more houses, and showing 2-year-old Casey Kauffman how to properly hold the small American flag she had given him, the candidate returned to her home on the road, a nondescript silver Chevy SUV, and sped off to the next stop of the day.

Earle-Sears or Democrat Abigail Spanberger will be the first woman to be elected governor of Virginia. Each campaign recently gave a Richmond Times-Dispatch photojournalist access to the candidates as they met with voters across Virginia, shining a light on the grind of running for the commonwealth’s highest office.

The Republican ticket includes conservative radio personality John Reid, who is running for lieutenant governor, and Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is seeking a second term. The Democratic ticket also includes Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor, and former Del. Jay Jones of Norfolk, who is running for attorney general.

The statewide tickets are the most diverse in Virginia’s history. The lieutenant governor race features Republican Reid, Virginia’s first openly gay candidate for statewide office, and Democrat Hashmi, a woman born in India who is the first Muslim nominated for statewide office in Virginia. The contest for attorney general features Democrat Jones, who would be Virginia’s first African American attorney general, and Republican Miyares, the son of a Cuban refugee and the first Hispanic person elected to statewide office in Virginia.

“I never wanted to be governor,” Earle-Sears said later in the day. “My only reason for getting in the race was because I feel I was called. It’s a ‘Daniel call’ — are you willing to be eaten? Are you willing to get in the arena with the lions?”

In the Bible, Daniel was thrown into a den of lions because of his faith in God. The Bible says that God then sent an angel to protect Daniel by shutting the mouths of the lions. For Earle-Sears, her Christian faith is the compass in her life and a lens that she applies to politics.

Another stop brought Earle-Sears to a celebration at a middle school in Manassas.

With the smell of fried fish wafting through the air, Earle-Sears joined a tent full of members of Greater Mount Calvary Christian Church, tambourine in hand, as they sang hymns at the Manassas African American Heritage Festival. Walking through the festival in the parking lot of Metz Middle School, Earle-Sears greeted each person she met with a smile and bits of meaningful conversation.

Taking to a makeshift stage, Earle-Sears paraphrased the words Martin Luther King Jr. spoke during his “What is Your Life’s Blueprint?” speech at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia months before his assassination in 1968.

“I know your socioeconomic status, but doors are going to open for you that were never open for your parents,” she said.

If elected, Earle-Sears would become the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. She would also make Virginia the first state that has elected two African American governors.

She stepped down from the stage as a band set up their instruments behind her, and DJ A-Ron turned up the music.

A few minutes later, her SUV pulled into the four-car lot of Tom’s Diner on Centreville Road, a small family-owned restaurant boasting “breakfast served anytime.” Owner Belal Saleh greeted the candidate with lots of questions and excitement for the high-profile visitor.

“Where do you live?” he asked.

“In hotels,” she quipped back.

If elected, “you’re going to be residing in Richmond?” Saleh asked.

“I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing now, which is going and visiting people and listening,” she replied.

As the food arrived, Earle-Sears bowed her head in prayer before diving into the plate of fresh fruit and a bun-less burger with french fries on the side. Taking half an hour for lunch is one of the few respites she has in a packed day of campaigning.

Earle-Sears emigrated from Jamaica at the age of 6, and her path led her to become a U.S. Marine, where she trained to be an electrician and a diesel mechanic. In a varied career that included stints directing a homeless shelter and selling used cars, she eventually became the owner of an electrical, plumbing and appliance repair business.

Though she took a break from politics during much of the 2010’s, campaigning is nothing new for Earle-Sears.

She first ran for office in 2001, upsetting Del. Billy Robinson Jr., D-Norfolk, a 20-year veteran and becoming the first Black female Republican to serve in the House of Delegates. After a couple of unsuccessful election attempts — she lost a 2004 challenge to Rep. Bobby Scott, D-3rd, and mounted a late write-in bid for U.S. Senate in 2018 — she made history in 2021 with her election as Virginia’s first female lieutenant governor and the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Virginia.

As Earle-Sears arrived at the office of the Fairfax County Republican Committee, bright red yard signs lay stacked under the watchful eyes of Presidents Washington, Lincoln, Reagan and Taft hanging in picture frames on the wall. Earle-Sears was ushered downstairs to the basement where a crowd of supporters cheered as Stewart Whitson, a fired-up 11th District GOP congressional candidate, wearing an elephant patterned belt, introduced her.

“I have lived a life that I’ve had to fight for everything,” Earle-Sears said. “There’s nothing I have faced that folks in the Bible haven’t faced. So I know that with God, all things are possible.”

Outside, supporters swarmed Earle-Sears, hoping to introduce themselves or to take a selfie. After posing for “one more photo,” despite her staff’s best efforts, Earle-Sears said her goodbyes, climbed back into the car and was off to the next stop on the campaign trail.

Mike Kropf (804) 649-6027

mkropf@timesdispatch.com

@mikekropfphoto on Twitter