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Virginia Senate panel says no to Cuccinelli, other Youngkin college appointees
A key state Senate panel has refused to confirm all eight of Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s latest appointments to college and university boards, including former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to the University of Virginia board of visitors. The Senate Privileges and Elections committee voted down Youngkin appointees to the boards of UVA, Virginia Military Institute and George Mason University by an 8-4 party-line vote.
Spanberger in Norfolk announces plan to lower Virginia energy costs
Democratic nominee for Virginia governor, former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, made a stop in Norfolk Monday. Spanberger unveiled another pillar of her plan she says will make Virginia more affordable, specifically when it comes to energy bills. She visited the home of a Norfolk resident who recently made her home more energy efficient. Some of the changes include new windows and solar panels on the roof.
New system for using credit cards to ride Metro earns Virginia leaders’ praise
New tech allowing Metro users to pay their fare by tapping debit or credit cards is receiving good grades from local leaders. At a meeting last week, representatives on the Metropolitan Washington Area Transit Authority (WMATA) board of directors said the new “Tap-Ride-Go” initiative will benefit both regular and infrequent users of the regional system. “The acceptance of this program already has been hugely successful. The numbers are well beyond the expectation we had,” said Virginia representative Paul Smedberg at a Thursday meeting of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC).
Rise in Virginia deportation orders sparks concern from lawmakers, community
Virginia is now one of the top five states in the country experiencing a dramatic increase in immigration enforcement, with more than 2,000 individuals receiving deportation orders in March alone. Over 300 of those cases originated in the Richmond region, according to newly released federal data. The sharp uptick comes as part of a nationwide directive from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to triple daily arrests, aiming for a quota of 3,000 per day.
Yancey: Who does the unrest in Los Angeles hurt most politically? Here’s what history and polls tell us about Va.
The president federalizes the state’s National Guard — and then sends in the regular U.S. military to an American city to deal with a crisis. This action comes against the backdrop of a governor’s race in Virginia. The year was 1957, when President Dwight Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce the integration of Little Rock Central High School. In Virginia that year, Republican Ted Dalton of Radford was mounting the second of his two gubernatorial campaigns that challenged the iron grip of Sen. Harry Byrd’s political machine on Virginia. Four years before, Dalton had come closer to winning than any Republican ever had in Virginia. Come 1957, Dalton was trying again. He was thought to be doing well — there was no real polling in those days — but then came the Little Rock crisis that September.
N. Va. leaders: More funding is not guaranteed for proposed Metro improvement plan
Northern Virginia political leaders at the local and state levels seem to have a firm dollar figure associated with the proposal to improve Metro service across the region. There remains a question, however, regarding whether they’ll be able to come up with the funding. The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) is preparing to adopt a resolution on July 17 acknowledging that Virginia will need to commit an additional $153 million in fiscal year 2027 to implement operational upgrades and keep the transit system on track.
Feds respond to Virginia lawmakers’ privacy concerns about airports’ facial recognition screening
Identification screening technology that launched during the pandemic to reduce airport check-in times has helped improve security and travelers’ experiences, but carries a privacy concern stemming from the capture and storage of passengers’ photos. Virginia lawmakers, privacy advocates and others have questioned how images of citizens are used and stored, and how peoples’ rights are being protected.
Danville area is rare part of Virginia with both Democratic and Republican House primaries in same district
Del. Danny Marshall’s seat has drawn a primary election on both sides of the aisle. Marshall announced in February his intention to not seek reelection to the House of Delegates 49th District, citing health concerns. Two Democrats and two Republicans qualified for primary elections in a district made up of the city of Danville and parts of Halifax and Pittsylvania counties. Only one other House district in Virginia — District 89 in Chesapeake and Suffolk — also has both a Democratic and Republican primary this year. It’s also a district where the incumbent is retiring; in that case Del. Baxter Ennis, R-Chesapeake.
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi leans on legislative experience in lieutenant governor run
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi was an educator and an academic administrator before being elected in 2019 to represent Virginia’s 15th District, which covers much of Chesterfield County. Now, Hashmi is hoping to preside over the Senate as Virginia’s next lieutenant governor. She is the only woman of the six candidates in the June 17 Democratic primary for the statewide position. The winner will face Republican John Reid for the office currently occupied by Republican gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears. VPM News state politics reporter Jahd Khalil recently spoke to Hashmi about her campaign, as part of a series of conversations with all six Democratic candidates for the state’s No. 2 job.
Wallace: Trump’s DEI mandate is a surrogate for white social grievances
On April 3, President Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring elementary through higher education institutions to certify they have no “illegal DEI practices,” defined as whites being subjected to discrimination while non-whites and marginalized groups benefit. Non-compliant institutions have lost federal non-related research contract funding and private universities may lose tax-free status. Sixty colleges have opposed this interference with higher education legal entitlements. Additionally, Trump utilized various retaliatory schemes against law firms, publishing and broadcast companies, major corporations and tech companies which ignored his expectations.