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HRBT to break through on latest tunnel, route vehicles onto new bridge this fall
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project will pass a pair of milestones this fall. Mary, a nickname for the 430-foot-long machine boring the two new eastbound tunnels, is on track to make its second breakthrough in September. The machine completed boring the first tunnel last April and took more than five months to get turned around. The Virginia Department of Transportation also plans to route eastbound traffic onto a new section of the bridge. Drivers exiting the tunnel to Norfolk will be directed onto the structure by early September. The traffic shift will mark the end of the old eastbound roadway nearby, which will be torn down next, and what’s expected to be the final 18 months of the project.
Chesapeake City Council rejects data center proposal
Chesapeake’s City Council received a rare standing ovation from a packed chamber Tuesday night after it voted unanimously to reject a proposed data center. “It was like Christmas again,” said Helen Messer, who lives in one of the houses that sits a few hundred feet from where the data center would have been. “I’ll sleep better than I have in a month.” The proposal from long-time Chesapeake developer Doug Fuller would have been the region’s first major data center. He pitched a 350,000-square-foot facility at the corner of Ethridge Manor and Centerville Turnpike, where Chesapeake’s Great Bridge suburbs give way to farmland, arguing it could be a huge financial windfall for the city and capitalize on new internet infrastructure the city is spending tens of millions on.
Carnegie, Lamonea win House District 89 primaries
Democrat Karen “Kacey” Carnegie will face Republican Mike Lamonea in the November House District 89 race, after both candidates won their party’s respective primaries Tuesday. Carnegie beat Blaizen Buckshot Bloom with more than 76% of the vote when the Associated Press called the race Tuesday night. Carnegie had 2,706 votes as of 8:51 p.m., and Bloom had 848 votes. Lamonea beat Kristen Shannon with 65% of the vote when the Associated Press called the race at 9:17 p.m. Lamonea had 2,168 votes compared to Shannon’s 1,000 votes.
Richmond voters rebuke Stoney as Hashmi declares victory in Democratic lieutenant governor race
A Richmond-area politician appeared to win the lieutenant governor spot on Virginia’s statewide Democratic ticket in Tuesday’s elections. But it wasn’t former Mayor Levar Stoney. State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, declared victory Tuesday night after an unpredictable six-way primary to earn the right to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger in the fall. “Tonight we've made history yet again, not just by winning this primary, but by declaring with one voice that Virginia is not going to be bullied or broken or dragged backwards by the chaos that's unfolding in Washington,” Hashmi told her supporters at an election night party in Richmond’s Fan District.
In Virginia Democratic primary, Jay Jones wins AG nod, lieutenant governor race too close to call
Statewide races for lieutenant governor and attorney general in the Virginia Democratic primary were very tight, with just a few thousand votes separating the candidates. According to unofficial results, former Del. Jerrauld “Jay” Jones narrowly clinched the party’s nomination for lieutenant governor, with a 1% lead over Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor. The Associated Press called the race just before 10 p.m. with an estimated 95% of the vote counted.
Loudoun County supervisor says 25 people have been taken from Sterling Immigration Court in past month
Loudoun County Supervisor Juli Briskman sharply criticized the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office for working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a press release as tensions rise nationwide. While 10 people were detained and arrested at Sterling Immigration Court last week, Briskman alleged that ICE agents confronted two more people who were watching. One person was "manhandled" outside of the building by plain clothes officers, according to a press release. The officers also pushed away the other person's phone, she wrote.
5 takeaways from Virginia’s primary election results
The political spotlight this year is on Virginia, which kicked off its statewide election cycle on Tuesday as voters around the state cast their ballots in primary races that determine this fall’s closely-watched battle for the top posts in Richmond. ... “The old saying that all politics is local doesn't really apply in Virginia in 2025,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. “Even though Donald Trump's name is not on the ballot, the president will be at the center of these conversations.” He added that the primary appeared to be largely determined by suburban women and Black voters in the Hampton Roads region ...
With federal funding uncertain, Va. faces $8 million gap for attendance, teacher retention programs
Virginia could be on the hook for $8 million to cover two initiatives to address student attendance and teacher retention if the federal government denies the commonwealth’s appeals, House lawmakers learned on Monday. The Virginia Department of Education, along with 14 school divisions and the Department of Juvenile Justice, filed appeals after being informed that the deadline for spending all allocated funds was abruptly moved to March 28 of this year. The original deadline had been set for March 2026. VDOE’s two appeals focused on the state’s Attendance Data Dashboard, designed to combat chronic absenteeism, and Grow Your Own, a program to support teacher apprenticeship pipelines.
Spanberger looks to unite party after primary day
On the eve of Virginia’s down-ballot primaries, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger announced a statewide bus tour and criticized her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, during a campaign rally Monday. The event, held just hours before Democrats select nominees for other statewide races, signaled her intent to steer the party clear of the internal conflicts currently dogging the Republican ticket. Hundreds of supporters packed a hallway at the new J.R. Tucker High School, the school Spanberger attended growing up.
From VPAP June Primary Election Results
See results from yesterday's primary elections, including Democratic nomination contests for lieutenant governor and attorney general, and both Republican and Democratic primaries for the House of Delegates and local offices.