A white Democratic donor was captured on video shouting a racial slur at Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears during a football game at James Madison University over the weekend.
The confrontation occurred as Sears attended a football game at the university.
Video footage shows a man wearing a JMU hat yelling “Go back to Haiti” at the Republican candidate as she was present at the event.
The video quickly spread across social media platforms after being posted over the weekend.
Nova Campaigns identified the man in the video as Scott Pogorelc.
According to their investigation, Pogorelc has an extensive history of donating to Democratic candidates and causes.
His donation record includes contributions to Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Jennifer Wexton.
Pogorelc has also donated to President Joe Biden’s campaigns and ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s primary online fundraising platform.
Additionally, Pogorelc donated twice to Abigail Spanberger, who is currently Sears’ opponent in the Virginia gubernatorial race.
Sears responded to the attack on X.
She pointed out the irony of the situation, stating, “I thought Democrats were supposed to love everyone… and just to be clear, I’m Jamaican. But I have nowhere to go back to — because America is my home.”
In a subsequent post, Sears addressed the broader pattern of abuse she has faced throughout her political career.
She wrote, “I’ve been called names no one should ever hear, and I’ve watched people hold racist signs meant to shame me. And because I have an R next to my name, few care. But I am no victim. Words won’t break me, and they won’t stop this campaign. We are going to win.”
The Powhatan Democrats previously posted a political cartoon that many interpreted as depicting Sears as an “angry black woman” following her debate with Spanberger.
The controversial image drew immediate backlash from community members and political observers.
Following the widespread criticism, the Powhatan Democrats deleted the post from their social media account.
The county Democratic page issued a statement attempting to clarify their position, saying, “We reposted an online political cartoon that some people thought had racist overtones. That was certainly not our intent. We have deleted it out of respect to anyone who took it that way.”
Another incident involved a white woman at a rally protesting Sears who carried a sign with explicitly racist language, Resist the Mainstream previously reported.
The sign read, “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then blacks can’t share my water foundation.”
The Post Millennial reported that in response to that particular incident, prominent Democratic donor and BET founder Robert Johnson made a significant statement.
Johnson donated $500,000 in support of Sears, crossing party lines to condemn the racist attack.
