Virginia Lt. Governor-elect Winsome Sears, a Republican, praised the opportunities afforded to her by the U.S. when she came to the country at just six years old as an immigrant from Jamaica, saying that she was living “the American dream.”
Sears, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, won her election on Tuesday evening to become the first black woman elected to a statewide office in Virginia.
“I am at a loss for words for the first time in my life,” Sears said. ” So, I’m here because of you. I’m here because you voted for me, I’m here because you put your trust in me. That’s the only reason I’m here. Thank you.”
“I say to you, there are some who want to divide us and we must not let that happen,” she said. “They would like us to believe we are back in 1963, when my father came. We can live where we want, we can eat where we want, we own the water fountains. We have had a black president elected not once but twice and here I am living proof. In case you haven’t noticed, I am black and I have been black all my life.”
“But that’s not what this is about, what we are going to do is we are going to now be about the business of the Commonwealth,” she continued. “We have things to tend to, we are going to fully fund our historically black colleges and universities. You’re gonna hear from your governor-elect Glenn Youngkin. And he’s got a day one plan that I’m already tired about, I don’t know how we’re gonna make it to day two. But he’s going to make sure we keep more of our money in our pockets because he’s going to get rid of all kinds of taxes. We’re gonna have safer neighborhoods, safer communities, and our children are going to get a good education because education lifted my father out of poverty, education lifted me out of poverty, education will lift us all out of poverty because we must have marketable skills so that our children can not just survive, but they will thrive, and they will create generational wealth. That’s what this is about.”
She concluded by saying that “the cavalry has arrived” to help Virginians get the state turned around after being under Democrat rule for years.
WATCH:
"Education will lift us all out of poverty."
Lt. Governor-elect of Virginia Winsome Spears: "We're going to have safer neighborhoods, safer communities, and our children are going to get a good education." #VoteForAmerica2021. pic.twitter.com/81yZu9NtrV
— Newsmax (@newsmax) November 3, 2021
TRANSCRIPT:
WINSOME SEARS, LT. GOVERNOR-ELECT (VA): I am at a loss for words for the first time in my life. … So, I’m here because of you. I’m here because you voted for me, I’m here because you put your trust in me. That’s the only reason I’m here. Thank you. Thank you.
Got my speech. I want to introduce to you my husband Terence, he’s another Marine. My daughter Katia and my other daughter Janel. I’m telling you, that what you are looking at is the American dream. The American Dream. When my father came to this country, August 11th of 1963, he came at the height of the Civil Rights movement from Jamaica. He came and I said to him, but it was such a bad time for us, why did you come? And he said, ‘Because America was where the jobs and the opportunities were.’ And he only came with $1.75. $1.75. Took any job he could find any put himself through school and started his American dream. And then yes, and now he’s comfortably retired. And then he came and got me when I was six years old. And when I stepped on that Pan Am Boeing 737 and landed at JFK, I landed in a new world. And so let me tell you this, I am not even first generation American. When I joined the Marine Corps, I was still a Jamaican, but this country had done so much for me I was willing, willing to die for this country. …
I say to you, there are some who want to divide us and we must not let that happen. They would like us to believe we are back in 1963, when my father came. We can live where we want, we can eat where we want, we own the water fountains. We have had a black president elected not once but twice and here I am living proof. In case you haven’t noticed, I am black and I have been black all my life.
But that’s not what this is about, what we are going to do is we are going to now be about the business of the Commonwealth. We have things to tend to, we are going to fully fund our historically black colleges and universities. You’re gonna hear from your governor-elect Glenn Youngkin. And he’s got a day one plan that I’m already tired about, I don’t know how we’re gonna make it to day two. But he’s going to make sure we keep more of our money in our pockets because he’s going to get rid of all kinds of taxes. We’re gonna have safer neighborhoods, safer communities, and our children are going to get a good education because education lifted my father out of poverty, education lifted me out of poverty, education will lift us all out of poverty because we must have marketable skills so that our children can not just survive, but they will thrive, and they will create generational wealth. That’s what this is about.
I’m gonna finish up. … It’s a historic night. Yes, it is. But I didn’t run to make history. I just wanted to leave it better than I found it. And with your help, we’re gonna do that, we’re gonna have transparent government. And as I used to say, as we were on the trail, hold on Virginia, help is on the way, the cavalry has arrived. Thank you.
God bless you. And finally, want to thank my staff because I couldn’t have done it without them. We were a ragtag bunch of people. We ran an impossible, improbable, campaign against, God was exactly with us, otherwise, we would never have made it and so I want to finish up by thanking you, Jesus. How sweet it is.