correction
A previous version of this article incorrectly reported that no Republicans had formally entered the 2025 race for Virginia governor. Republican Merle Rutledge had declared himself a candidate in paperwork filed with the state. The article has been corrected.
RICHMOND — Babur B. Lateef, a prominent Northern Virginia eye surgeon, school board chairman and leader in the University of Virginia Health System, formally announced Friday that he is entering the race for lieutenant governor.
A Democrat, Lateef is the first candidate from either major party to seek the post held by Winsome Earle-Sears (R), who is widely expected to run for governor. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) cannot seek reelection because the Virginia constitution bars governors from seeking back-to-back terms.
Lateef, 52, filed candidate paperwork with the state in December and released a launch video Friday that plays up his service as a doctor and chairman of the Prince William County School Board. Lateef is a member of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors and chairman of the university’s Health System Board.
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“I believe these years I’ve spent as a doctor and on the school board are the best preparation one could have to take on Virginia’s challenges,” he says in the video, which emphasizes his willingness to listen in marathon school board meetings to members of the public stirred up in recent years by the coronavirus pandemic and K-12 culture wars.
“As the next Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, I will work to defend reproductive rights, lower costs for working families, create jobs, expand access to health care, and ensure equal opportunity for all,” he said in a written statement. “I look forward to taking my experience, diverse perspective, and energy to Richmond and make Virginia a better and more prosperous Commonwealth.”
Virginia’s lieutenant governorship is a part-time post that comes with just a few constitutionally mandated duties: presiding over the state Senate, breaking certain tie votes, and taking over if the governor dies or leaves office.
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The post has grown more impactful in recent years as the chamber has been closely divided, producing more tie votes. But no matter the partisan split, the position tends to be highly sought after as a steppingstone to the Executive Mansion.
Lateef announced his candidacy along with his first endorsement, from former governor Terry McAuliffe (D), who said in a statement that he had watched him “fight relentlessly for Prince William County families as their School Board Chair for the last six years. We need that type of energy, that type of fighter, and that type of competence in the Lieutenant Governor’s office.”
Virginia voters will not elect their next lieutenant governor until Nov. 4, 2025, when they also will choose a governor and attorney general.
The governor’s race has gotten off to an unusually early start with two Democrats — U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney — vying for their party’s nomination. Republican Merle Rutledge is the only member of the GOP to have formally entered the race, but along with Earle-Sears, Attorney General Jason S. Miyares is expected to seek the GOP nomination.
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