FIRST ON FOX: A new seven-figure ad in Virginia's governor's race is drawing comparisons to the infamous Willie Horton spot of 1988 amid record early voting in the Old Dominion State.
The ad, produced by the American Principles Project, attacks Democrat Abigail Spanberger over transgender policies and warns of the dangers of biological men in women's spaces. It comes as early voting tops 146,000 ballots in the first week, more than twice the pace of 2021, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project.
The spot points to Richard Cox, a Tier III sex offender in Arlington County who has been charged multiple times with exposing himself in girls' locker rooms. The ad says Spanberger's record and her opposition to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's guidelines for transgender students would let it happen again. It accuses her of putting radical ideology ahead of safety for young girls.
"The case of sexual deviant Richard Cox preying upon young girls in Virginia is enraging to any decent person - but not to Abigail Spanberger," Terry Schilling, President of the American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital. "She refuses to condemn Richard Cox at all."
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"She's avoided answering any and all questions about it, and the answer is obvious because this situation is only possible because of Spanberger's radical transgender policy agenda. Cox has been a repeat offender for over 30 years. He was allowed to enter women's private spaces where little girls are vulnerable, and no one stopped him," Schilling added.
"If Abigail Spanberger is elected governor of Virginia, she will repeal all protections for women in Virginia and put even more young girls in danger. The reason we are spending $1 million on this ad is because every Virginia voter should know that Abigail Spanberger will endanger their daughters."
APP has run similar ads in other battleground states, positioning itself as a defender of families and warning against policies it claims "confuse[s] young children about changing their gender." By airing the ad now, APP hopes to frame Spanberger as out of step with Virginia voters before Election Day.
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The strategy echoes the famous Willie Horton ad of 1988 that linked Democrat Michael Dukakis to the convicted murderer who committed rape and assault while on weekend furlough from a Massachusetts prison. George H.W. Bush defeated Dukakis by seven points nationally, and the ad became a defining example of how the GOP can use crime to win races.
Spanberger has voted for the Equality Act in Congress and opposed Youngkin's guidelines, but local school boards control locker room access. Her campaign has tried to keep the focus on the economy and her own record in Washington.
"Convicted sex offender Richard Cox is a predator who should be in jail - and that's exactly where he is," a spokeperson for Spanberger's campaign told Fox News Digital. "Abigail is a parent of three daughters in Virginia public schools and a former federal law enforcement officer who went after child predators. Nothing is more important to her than the safety of Virginia's kids.
"As Governor, Abigail will work with state and local law enforcement officers to keep Virginia kids safe and make sure sex offenders are prevented from preying on children and prosecuted for their crimes."
Cox remains in custody at the Arlington County jail on multiple pending charges, according to the Arlington County Sheriff's Office inmate database.
"Abigail Spanberger's policies enabled Richard Cox to prey on women and girls. No amount of political damage control can erase that record," Schilling told Fox News Digital in response to the Spanberger campaign. "Spanberger is too dangerous to lead Virginia. As governor, Spanberger will repeal Gov. Youngkin's recent executive order barring males from female private spaces."
Republicans argue that safety and cultural issues are resonating more deeply with parents across the state, particularly after Youngkin's win in 2021, which many linked to parental rights in education.
Polling shows Spanberger with a lead, but the numbers suggest a competitive race. A Washington Post Schar School poll taken in late September showed her at 55% to Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears at 43. With Republicans casting about half of the first week's early ballots, the race is one of the most-watched in the nation.
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More ads are expected as the campaign heats up and voters in Virginia send in record numbers of early ballots. The final weeks of the race will show whether the tough-on-crime playbook still rings true nearly four decades after Willie Horton. Early voting ends Nov. 1.
The Earle-Sears campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
