Four years ago, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) was able to ride education and parents' rights as campaign issues straight to victory. But current Republican nominee Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears isn't getting the same traction.

Earle-Sears has positioned transgender Virginians in women’s locker rooms and on women’s sports teams in schools as a top issue, slamming her Democratic opponent, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, multiple times during their only debate on Thursday.

But Earle-Sears has been struggling in the polls, and other issues appear set to dominate the off-year race, leading observers to ask: Have Virginia voters shifted on education, or is the cycle friendlier to Spanberger for other reasons?

Earle-Sears used an aggressive approach at the debate on Thursday, asking Spanberger directly about her stance on transgender children in girl’s locker rooms in schools.

"Are you going to change in a gym where men are nude in the locker rooms? Are you going to do that?" Earle-Sears asked her opponent.

"My answer is that in each local community decisions should be made between parents and educators, and teachers in each community. It shouldn't be........

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