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Ghazala Hashmi Could Become the First Muslim Woman Elected to Statewide Office
Ghazala Hashmi recalls adults, many of them meeting a Muslim for the first time, asking her awkward questions like whether she believed in multiple gods or prayed to Jesus. Hashmi had just emigrated from India to a small Georgia town, one of the first two Muslim families to move to the area. She was 8. The questions were unfair, at least for a child, but they helped Hashmi forge an identity at an early age — one that would shape her political career, she says now. ... More than 50 years later, Hashmi is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Virginia. She narrowly won a six-way primary in June and is running on a ticket with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger in what is widely seen as the first big electoral tests for her party in President Donald Trump’s second term.
From VPAP New Episode: The Virginia Press Room Podcast
In the latest episode of the podcast from VaNews and VPM, Michael Pope is joined by Charlotte Rene Woods of the Virginia Mercury, Olivia Diaz of the Associated Press, and Whittney Evans of VPM News. They discuss the week's top headlines: Google partners with Youngkin to offer AI training courses, state corrections ombudsman is on track reviewing prisoners' complaints, and how ballot initiatives and recalls work in Virginia. Tune in for insights and analysis on Virginia politics. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Va. was the only state to see unemployment rise in June
With Virginia’s unemployment rate being the highest it’s been in four years, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that it’s the only state to see an unemployment rate rise in June. According to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday, July 18, the unemployment rate in Virginia rose again in June, to 3.5%, saying, “Virginia had the only rate increase,” while Illinois decreased by 0.2% and Maine by 0.1%. 8News previously reported that Virginia’s unemployment rate has increased steadily to 3.4% in May since January, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Virginia’s rate is 0.6% lower than the national rate of 4.1%.
Luckman: The Virginia Beach ‘Green Line’ is under attack
Established in 1979 to preserve Virginia Beach’s rural area and thwart urban growth, the Green Line has been a stalwart as a policy tool to stop urban sprawl and channel growth and infrastructure improvement to the northern half of the city. For 45 years city councils have reinforced its original purpose. It is an integral part of the city’s numerous updated comprehensive plans. The current draft comprehensive plan continues to state the well-known Green Line policy under its overview, context area goals, objectives and big ideas, thus documenting the fact that during its lengthy work-up citizens overwhelmingly favored continuing this established open space protection and minimal growth strategy.
Hinson: Distortions unfairly malign Virginia menhaden fishery
Steve Atkinson’s July 13 guest column (“Halt menhaden harvest until studies determine its effects”) is riddled with distortions about the menhaden fishery. While it claims to advocate for a “precautionary” approach, it would harm Virginia workers and undermine marine science, all to elevate recreational priorities over commercial fishermen’s livelihoods. Atkinson demands that menhaden fishing be halted “until it can prove” it causes no harm. This is a classic “our fishing is more important than your fishing” argument.
Toscano: For Youngkin, a big bill is coming due
Twenty-six billion dollars. That’s the staggering price tag Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s own Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) just placed on the Virginia impact of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA). Over the next 14 years, this federal wealth redistribution bill will stretch Virginia’s budget, strain our hospitals, raise insurance premiums and harm many of our most vulnerable friends and neighbors. For weeks, Youngkin has dismissed warnings from Democrats as exaggerated and “made up.” But now, with these sobering estimates coming from his own administration, denial is no longer an option. The damage may not be immediate, but it will be deep.
Jaffe: Return Virginia to RGGI, a program that works
[Last] week, Virginia’s State Air Pollution Control Board was in court asking the Virginia Court of Appeals to revive its ill-conceived plan to leave a pivotal climate change program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). A trial judge had earlier found the board’s withdrawal to be “unlawful.” With all due respect, the board should get out of the courtroom and back to a program that helps Virginians prepare for the extreme weather events we have witnessed in recent years.
Surovell: Virginia deserves leaders who will stand up for workers
As Senate majority leader, I wake up every morning thinking about how to create more opportunities for Virginia families — not how to defend policies that rip jobs away from our communities. Yet that’s exactly what we’re witnessing from Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares as they cheer on devastating job losses across our commonwealth. The numbers are staggering and heartbreaking. A new comprehensive analysis by the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center reveals that approximately 11,100 federal civilian jobs in Virginia have already been eliminated this year, with an additional 10,500 positions at risk in the coming months.
Williams: From Texas to Virginia, we’re drowning in climate denialism
Ed Maibach’s work recently followed him home from George Mason University’s Virginia Climate Center, whose mission is to enhance the state’s resiliency to climate change. When I emailed him about this season of flooding, from Texas to Petersburg, Maibach, the founding director of the Mason Center for Climate Change Communication, replied with this bit of context: “I’m doing this at my house right now because the recent heavy rains flooded my basement.” In case you hadn’t noticed — and it’s hard to miss amid piercing weather alerts — we are being flooded with powerful evidence of the Earth’s changing climate.
Yancey: Earle-Sears and Spanberger both say they want to eliminate the car tax. Here’s why that is unlikely to happen.
Today’s column is in the form of a consumer advisory: how to avoid getting tricked in the marketplace. Some of this should be simple. If some guy shows up at your door, says he’s part of a road crew that has some leftover asphalt and he’ll patch your driveway for a cut rate, don’t believe it. If you get a text purporting to be from your bank that says you need to send your account number to resolve a problem, don’t believe it. And if a candidate for governor says they intend to do away with the car tax, don’t believe that, either. We should know by now not to fall for the first two; Virginians may still need some warnings about the promise of a car tax repeal.