Winsome Sears District: Virginia district 3 Party: Republican Age: 39 Type of seat: challenger (Rep. Bobby Scott)  Convention: She won her party's nomination.  Website: www.winsomesears.com

Background:  If Sears wins, she will be the first African-American female Republican elected to Congress. Sears currently serves in the Virginia General Assembly and directs a homeless shelter for women and children. Sears is also a journeyman electrician and served as the regional education manager with the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. Sears is a former U.S. Marine and has held a variety of leadership positions in the Corps; she received the Meritorious Mast for effective reorganization of the training department, as well as the Good Conduct Medal.

Her legislative record stresses government reform and includes initiatives delineating the powers of housing authorities, funding the needs of special education children, requiring greater reporting on charter schools, ensuring stricter alcohol-related laws, penalizing cross burning, prohibiting children from buying tobacco products, and penalizing drug dealers who sell near schools.

The district:  Virginia’s 3rd district covers the part of the state southeast of Richmond, including parts of Newport News and Norfolk. She is running against incumbent Democrat Bobby Scott, also an African American who has run unopposed in the last few elections. The district is Democratic and almost 60% black and has a large rural area. Sears considers herself the David taking on Goliath in this race.

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