PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican candidate for Virginia governor, will headline this year’s Lincoln-Reagan Dinner hosted by the Prince William County Republican Committee on Saturday, May 3, 2025. The event will take place at 7 p.m. at Foxchase Manor, located just outside Manassas.
Republican Committee Chairman Jacob Alderman says this year’s dinner will be the largest the committee has ever hosted. “We’re on pace to double, maybe even triple our normal turnout,” Alderman said in an interview on the Potomac Local News Podcast. “I think we’re going to have over 300 people there. We’ve only got maybe 40 or 50 tickets left to go.”
The event serves as the committee’s marquee annual fundraiser and is generating renewed excitement in the local GOP following what Alderman describes as a “momentum shift” across Prince William County and Northern Virginia. “More voters are voting with their pocketbooks,” Alderman said, citing frustrations with the rising cost of living, taxes, and perceived fiscal mismanagement by local Democrats.
Attendees can expect to hear a keynote from Sears, focusing on pocketbook issues such as taxes, business growth, and education. A Marine and Jamaican immigrant, Sears has built a reputation as a dynamic speaker and a trailblazer. “She is the embodiment of the American dream,” Alderman said. “She’s not just talking about conservative values—she’s lived them.”
This year’s Republican ticket is being touted as the most diverse in the party’s history in the state of Virginia. In addition to Sears, the GOP slate includes John Reid, an openly gay candidate for lieutenant governor, and Jason Miyares, whose family fled communist Cuba. “This is a party that believes in a conservative message that speaks to everyone,” said Alderman. “We’re not asking voters to support candidates because of their identity—we’re elevating people with strong messages and strong cases to make.”
The dinner comes at a time of shifting local dynamics. Alderman and other Republicans have been outspoken critics of the newly passed Prince William County budget, which they argue missed an opportunity to give residents meaningful tax relief despite record revenues from the county’s booming data center industry.
“The data center industry provided tens of millions in new revenue,” said Alderman. “Instead of giving that money back to residents, the Board of Supervisors chose to spend it. The average tax bill is going up by $250, and we’re only seeing a 1% reduction in the meals tax starting next year.”
In response, Alderman said the local GOP is working to engage voters across the political spectrum, particularly in parts of the county not traditionally considered Republican strongholds. “We’re taking our message everywhere,” he said. “There’s no neighborhood we won’t go into.”
To learn more about the event or to purchase tickets, residents can visit pwcgop.gop. Organizers say they expect the event to sell out quickly.
