Virginia Republicans are raising alarm bells about the state of Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’s (R) campaign in the state’s closely watched gubernatorial race.

Last week, news broke that Earle-Sears’s campaign manager Will Archer was removed from his post but would remain on her campaign in a different capacity. The development came as polls show Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger in the lead.

Now, some Republicans are warning that further shake-ups are needed if they want to win in what is seen as the most significant bellwether this year.

“From my vantage point and the people we’re talking to, it’s a disaster,” said one Virginia Republican operative who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Conservative talk show host John Fredericks has been one of the most vocal figures to raise concerns about the state of the race, pointing directly to Earle-Sears’s campaign.

“This thing is a clown car she’s got going on,” Fredericks, who served as Trump’s 2016 and 2020 Virginia campaign chair, said in an interview with The Hill, calling the campaign “a dreadful operation.”

“And it’s frustrating everyone in Virginia,” he added.

Virginia Republican Party Chair and state Sen. Mark Peake (R) pushed back on Fredericks’s characterization of the campaign as “a clown car” during an interview with the talk show host last week.

“I think we’re fixing it as we speak,” Peake told Fredericks, referring........

© The Hill