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Candidates for Virginia governor respond to the words of an immigrant mother with U.S.-born children
President Donald Trump is removing people without legal status from the United States, and Virginia, at a breakneck pace. It’s brought federal agents into communities across the Commonwealth, including Chesterfield County where more than a dozen people have been removed in recent days. They’re targeting folks like the one mother of three U.S. born children who lives outside of D.C. We’re only referring to her as “the mother” because she fears deportation. Her husband, and the father of two of her children, who we’re not naming for similar reasons, was deported in front of those kids last month.
Spanberger, Hashmi advocate in Charlottesville for abortion access
Three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a crowd of about 300 people gathered Tuesday in Charlottesville to hear Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger discuss the future of reproductive health care in Virginia. Spanberger was joined on her “Span Virginia Bus Tour” by her running mates, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D–Chesterfield) and former Del. Jay Jones, to say that a potential Democratic trifecta in state government would work to codify reproductive rights in Virginia’s Constitution.
Legislators call for revisiting Clean Economy Act as rural Virginia rejects large solar farms
Five years after the General Assembly enacted the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which mandates Dominion Energy transition to 100% carbon-free power sources by 2045, two Republican legislators who represent Isle of Wight and Surry counties say the goal is easier said than done. It’s a position two of the state’s top Democrats, who voted to enact the 2020 law when their party held both legislative chambers and the governor’s office, say they’ve come to share.
Va. unemployment rate sees longest rise since ’08 crisis
Virginia's unemployment rate is on a steady five-month increase — the longest streak since the 2008 Great Recession. The Trump administration's federal job slashing and freezing of grants, contracts and medical research may be to blame. Virginia's unemployment rate climbed to 3.4% in May, per new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. While still below the national average (4.2%), the uptick marks the state's highest unemployment level since August 2021. The state's total labor force decreased by more than 11,500 compared with last May, according to new Virginia Works household survey data.
Hashmi to receive $1M from Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association
Virginia’s Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, will receive a $1 million donation from the national Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association — the largest donation ever received by a lieutenant governor nominee in the state, the group says. The DLGA is a national organization that works each year to elect Democratic lieutenant governors and candidates across the U.S.
In first big federal relocation, HUD will move to Virginia
The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be the first major federal agency to relocate its headquarters outside of D.C., part of a larger plan to restructure the federal government’s real estate footprint. HUD Secretary Scott Turner, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and Michael Peters, commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, said at a news conference that the agency will move 2,700 workers from a building in such a state of disrepair that the ceiling appears to be crumbling to a more modern building in the city of Alexandria.
HUD announces relocation to National Science Foundation building in Alexandria
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will relocate its headquarters to the National Science Foundation (NSF) building in Alexandria, displacing approximately 1,800 NSF employees over the next two years, officials announced Wednesday. HUD Secretary Scott Turner, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and General Services Administration (GSA) Commissioner Michael Peters made the announcement at the NSF headquarters at 2415 Eisenhower Ave. on Wednesday (June 25), emphasizing taxpayer savings and improved working conditions for HUD employees.
Yancey: Why Google’s data center project in Botetourt gets applause while others don’t
When Prince William County approved three rezonings for the Prince William Digital Gateway complex of data centers, neighbors went to court. When a developer proposed a data center complex near Chatham, it sparked six months of controversy before the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors voted down the project. When Botetourt County announced Tuesday that Google — yes, that Google — has bought 312 acres in the county’s business park for what was described as the first hyperscale data center project in the western part of the state, a room full of people cheered.
VPAP Visual Three Leaders, Three Types of Votes
Each of the top three candidates in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor "won" among a different set of ballots. Levar Stoney won the most early in-person votes, Sen. Aaron Rouse won the most mail votes, and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi won the election day votes, the largest category of ballots.
The Republican statewide ticket announces plans to appear together for the first time
Republicans locked down their ticket back in April, although the three statewide candidates have yet to appear with each other on a stage. The GOP is planning to change that. Earlier this week, Republicans were grabbing headlines with news that their statewide candidates were actually talking to each other after a protracted silence. Late Tuesday night, they announced a rally for July 1st in Vienna.