NORFOLK — Virginia gubernatorial candidates Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger participated in the first and only face-to-face debate this election season. Right off the bat, it got contentious.

Republican Earle-Sears was first asked about how she would finance getting rid of the state’s car tax. She did not lay out a plan, rather she said the state has the money to do it and quickly changed topic — launching into what would be a key theme of the night. She asked Spanberger when she would call on Jay Jones, the Democratic Attorney General candidate, to step down from the ticket. Jones came under fire last week when it was reported that he sent texts in 2022 to a Republican colleague speculating about shooting former Speaker of the House of Delegates Tod

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