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Virginia Democrats join Planned Parenthood to launch ‘Bros for Repro’
Several incumbent Democrats running in competitive House of Delegates districts joined Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia in launching its “Bros for Repro” campaign on Tuesday. “Women are family members, they are spouses, they are many things to lots of different men, and they care and want those people to stay in their lives,” said Del. Josh Thomas (D-Prince William). “It just seems like it’s a cheesy slogan on a very serious topic,” said Republican Tim Anderson, who’s challenging one of the Bros for Repro, Del. Michael Feggans (D-Virginia Beach).
Students, faculty, and lawmakers rally behind GMU amid Trump administration civil rights probe
When student Hanaan Kazia first heard about the federal civil rights probe into George Mason University, she wasn’t surprised. But the junior political science major and member of the school’s Political Science Honor Society says the implications still scare her. “I think it is kind of frightening, because I know that one of the reasons that I went to Mason and one of the reasons why other people have attended Mason is because it is one of the most diverse public universities in Virginia,” Kazia told The Mercury in an interview Tuesday.
VPAP Visual House of Delegates Mid-Year Fundraising
See how much money candidates for the House of Delegates have raised so far this election cycle, from Jan. 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, and how much money they still have in their campaigns. Filter the list to see information on challengers, incumbents, and candidates running for open seats, or click through for more information.
VPAP Visual Statewide Mid-Year Fundraising
How much have statewide candidates raised so far this election cycle as of June 30? Toggle to see candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.
Hopewell sewage spill highlights need for spending on wastewater. Will federal funds dry up?
The Hopewell Water Renewal wastewater treatment plant released over 1 million gallons of untreated sewage into the James River on Friday night following an electrical failure. The spill resulted in an advisory warning against swimming, fishing or otherwise coming into contact with the river from the Old City Waterfront Park to the Berkley Plantation. The advisory will likely be in place until Friday, giving the section of river time to flush or settle out the contaminants. In 2024, over two-thirds of the water treated by Hopewell Water Renewal came from industrial sources, which is contaminated with different chemicals than domestic sewage.
State reasserts board of visitors’ importance after Trump forces out UVa’s Ryan
When University of Virginia president Jim Ryan was forced out of his job last month, the school’s governing board was seemingly left out of the process. The board of visitors never cast a vote on Ryan’s performance or met immediately before his resignation, raising questions about whether the body held Ryan accountable as the law requires. On Tuesday, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, or SCHEV, issued a statement stressing the importance of each school’s board of visitors’ responsibility to shape policy.
Virginia’s fall elections to determine whether abortion will be on the ballot in 2026
Jessica Anderson was a freshman in college juggling a full course load and two jobs when her birth control failed. Anderson talked about her options with her partner at the time, as well as her parents, and decided to terminate the pregnancy. Navigating the state’s mandatory waiting period was difficult, she recalled, but federal abortion rights ultimately protected her ability to choose an abortion. Anderson went on to have three daughters, and decades later, she credits access to the procedure with paving the way for her future family. Anderson is running for one of the most hotly contested seats in the Virginia legislature this November, and she is making the fate of a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive rights in the state a top issue of her campaign.
Planned Parenthood says Trump’s megabill targets thousands of Virginians’ health care
Thousands of Virginians use Medicaid at Planned Parenthood health centers across the state for reproductive health care services every year. But a provision in President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” could cut off those people from accessing services using federal support. The organization serves roughly 25,000 people per year in the commonwealth, according to Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia spokesperson RaeAnn Pickett. That includes nearly 800 people who use Medicaid for Planned Parenthood services in Virginia every month. With the potential cuts, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia Executive Director Jamie Lockhart said that’s subject to change.
Spanberger extends financial advantage over Earle-Sears
Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, raised almost twice as much money in her campaign for governor in the last quarter as Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, her Republican opponent, and had $15.2 million in hand with less than four months to election day. Spanberger raised $10.7 million in the past three months, including almost $4.3 million between June 5 and the end of June. Earle-Sears raised $5.9 million, including $2.4 million since the last campaign finance reporting deadline, and finished June with $4.5 million in the bank.
Owner of former Virginia Intermont campus pays $605,000 in back taxes day after Bristol sought to take over property
Bristol City Manager Randy Eads said Tuesday that he’s tired of playing games with U.S. Magis, the company based in China that owns the blighted and burned-out property that was once Virginia Intermont College. One day after the city filed a lawsuit July 10 in circuit court to gain control of the 37-acre downtown property — trying to take advantage of a new law Eads successfully sought from the General Assembly — a lawyer for Magis paid off all the current and back taxes owed to the city. Eads then requested that the court nonsuit the lawsuit, which dismisses the action, he said.