“We’ve got to continue what the governor has started,” Earle-Sears told Brian Kilmeade on Fox and Friends. “Gov. Youngkin has laid a great foundation. We’ve got to keep building on that.”

In Youngkin’s time as governor, major corporations have moved their headquarters to Virginia and businesses have boomed, the lieutenant governor said.

“It’s all about business because that’s where the money comes from,” she said. “So that we can have the beautiful things we like: the quality of life, the schools, the roads, the bridges, all of that.

“When you know the voters have given you a mandate to run, to move forward, then you’ve just got to press forward.”

Virginia law prevents governors from serving consecutive terms, but Youngkin has not yet endorsed Earle-Sears.

“I don’t know if the governor will endorse or not,” Earle-Sears said. “We are pressing forward. I’m always ready for a challenge. I’ve never waited on whatever other people will do, but the governor and I have an excellent relationship. That’s the only way I know.

“We ran as a team, and we work as a team, and I support his ideas because, you know, we’re Republicans together.”

Earle-Sears is the first Republican to announce her candidacy in the Virginia governor’s race. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) made her intention to run for the state’s top job known in November 2023.