Spanberger or Earle-Sears? Google data shows which candidate is sparking more interest online ahead of debate

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — On Thursday, the Republican and Democratic nominees for Virginia’s governor are taking the stage for their first and only gubernatorial televised debate at Norfolk State University.

HOW TO WATCH: Exclusive Virginia Gubernatorial Debate

Hosted by NSU and WAVY-TV 10, the debate serves as an opportunity for Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) to go head-to-head on a televised stage. However, before the candidates step foot on the debate stage, the public has been searching online for information about them.

Google Trends data shows a timeline of when the candidates spiked interest online.

The data can be organized by region and dates, and can be viewed by individual candidates or by comparing the two. Over the last 90 days in Virginia, Spanberger has taken the majority of the search engines in every region.

On the evening before the debate, the area where Earle-Sears had the largest percentage was in the Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill area at 48%, whereas Spanberger took the highest percentage of interest in Harrisonburg at 66%.

• Harrisonburg: 66% Spanberger, 34% Earle-Sears
• Charlottesville: 64% Spanberger, 36% Earle-Sears
• Richmond-Petersburg: 63% Spanberger, 37% Earle-Sears
• Washington, D.C.: 60% Spanberger, 40% Earle-Sears
• Tri-Cities between Tennessee and Virginia: 59% Spanberger, 41% Earle-Sears
• Hampton Roads: 58% Spanberger, 42% Earle-Sears
• Roanoke-Lynchburg: 57% Spanberger, 43% Earle-Sears
• Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill: 52% Spanberger, 48% Earle-Sears

The numbers and percentages are determined over a period of time, and show relative interest over the total Google searches. As time goes on, spikes and numbers may increase or decrease based on the overall searches.

On an individual basis, the most searches for Spanberger stemmed from the Richmond-Petersburg area, while Earle-Sears got a larger number of searches in the Charlottesville area.

While the searches don't indicate whether the recipient was consuming positive or negative information about either candidate, it does help paint a picture of whose name is popping up on the screens.

Specific dates also sparked spikes in interest for the candidates. On July 22, Spanberger announced her "Growing Virginia Plan" in Suffolk, which coincided with a spike on Google.

Earle-Sears saw spikes on multiple occasions as well, including a meet-and-greet in Shenandoah Valley on Aug. 25.