History will be made on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2, when the race for lieutenant governor is decided.

Two women of color are on the ballot, Democrat Hala S. Ayala, 48, and Republican Winsome E. Sears, 57. Whoever wins will be the first woman to secure the No. 2 post in Virginia history.

Polls suggest that Delegate Ayala currently holds a small lead over Ms. Sears in what commentators suggest will be a tight race that could turn on which party’s candidate takes the top post of governor.

While largely considered part time, the lieutenant governor’s primary job is to preside over the state Senate. That has become a big deal on a host of issues ranging from abortion to the minimum wage on which a narrowly divided state Senate can deadlock.

In the 40-member Senate, Democrats hold a slight majority of 21 seats.

Delegate Ayala points to the major role current Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax has played in advancing the Democratic reform agenda and hopes she will have the same opportunity. Since taking office in 2018, Mr. Fairfax has broken 52 ties that, among other things, have enabled Virginia to raise the minimum wage for the first time in 12 years, legalized marijuana and authorized the state to expand Medicaid to provide health insurance to nearly 600,000 low-income residents.

Those are issues that Delegate Ayala supports and which most Republicans have not.

The two women would bring different experiences to the office.

Delegate Ayala, who claims African, Latino, Lebanese and Irish heritage through her parentage, once worked in a gas station to make ends meet and almost died in childbirth for lack of health care.

A former cybersecurity specialist for 18 years with the U.S. Coast Guard, she is from Prince William County in Northern Virginia.

Ms. Sears, who briefly served in the House of Delegates from 2002 to 2004, is a Jamaican-born émigré who served in the U.S. Marines and most recently operated a plumbing and electric business in Winchester that has since closed.

In May, Ms. Sears emerged from a crowded field to become the Republican nominee, according to political commentators, largely on the enthusiasm she generated among the relatively small group of Republicans allowed to participate in the convention from a photo showing her posing with a military rifle.

Known as a gun rights advocate who opposes abortion, Ms. Sears also generated support after her service as national chair for Black Americans to Re-Elect Donald Trump.

Delegate Ayala, meanwhile, organized women’s resistance to President Trump, which led to her election to the General Assembly in 2017. She rose quickly in the House of Delegates to become chief deputy whip to help pass Democratic bills supporting the Equal Rights Amendment, abolishing the death penalty, overhauling the criminal justice system, reinstating controls on gun sales and authorizing early voting and other election reforms.

As lieutenant governor, Delegate Ayala said she would be a bulwark to protect women’s reproductive rights and also help prevent Republicans from rolling back reforms.

The two candidates have differing views on addressing COVID-19. Delegate Ayala supports the vaccine mandates that Gov. Ralph S. Northam has imposed for state workers and mask mandates in schools.

Ms. Sears opposes mandates and has refused to respond to questions about whether she has been vaccinated against the virus. She also has ridiculed Gov. Northam’s mask mandates.

As a Black candidate, she also argues that Democrats want to use the “problems of the past to define us, and we shouldn’t let them. Yes, we know that there are problems, but it is time to fix them.”

Her main campaign themes include slashing regulations that she said interfere with small businesses, cutting state taxes and expanding vouchers and charter schools to assist families to move their children out of failing public schools.

Delegate Ayala is touting her campaign positions to improve public education, increase transportation options, promote jobs, fight climate change, continue criminal justice reform and protect women’s rights.

As of Sept. 30, Delegate Ayala’s campaign has raised $3.9 million. By comparison, Ms. Sears’ campaign has raised $1.9 million.