MAGA rabble-rouser Dave LaRock forced to drop out of 2025 Republican governor race

Winsome Earle-Sears is down one challenger in the Republican governor race, with college dropout/former state legislator Dave LaRock confirming on Thursday that he failed to get enough signatures to get his name on the June primary ballot.

“The current governor jumping in early to designate his successor did not make it easy for us to give the Republican voters a real choice in the primary, but we came close,” LaRock said in a statement.

You need 10,000 confirmed signatures to get on the ballot for a statewide race. LaRock said he was able to get 9,000, but that doesn’t mean he was close, because you always expect issues with names and addresses in the review process.

The status of the ballot-access effort of former State Sen. Amanda Chase isn’t known right at the moment.

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ICYMI

• Earle-Sears in trouble: Chase teases Trump endorsement, LaRock takes aim at record
• Jan. 6 guy Dave LaRock mounting campaign for Republican governor nomination

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Chase and LaRock had emerged in recent weeks as challengers to Earle-Sears, the sitting lieutenant governor, as the MAGAs smell blood in the water with the Earle-Sears campaign floundering in the head-to-head race with presumptive Democratic Party nominee Abigail Spanberger, a former Northern Virginia congresswoman.

For a sense of how LaRock would have dragged Earle-Sears even more toward unelectability, let’s go back to his statement:

“The Commonwealth of Virginia faces some complex challenges. Virginia has heavily relied on federal government spending and employment to fuel our economy, but much of that was done with borrowed money, and simply cannot continue,” LaRock said. “It excites me to see the Trump administration’s commitment to efficiency and commonsense values. This moment should be embraced, as it creates a unique opportunity for Virginia.

“I sincerely hope that Virginia’s next governor will do everything possible to work with President Trump, as the best interests of every man, woman and child in the Commonwealth will depend on it,” LaRock said.

They’re doomed over there.