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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.
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.
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).
Truitt: How Va. Democrats can reclaim the education issue
In 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin was able to flip the K-12 education issue to pull off a victory by focusing on parents. This year, Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger should learn from 2021 by embracing higher educational standards to reclaim the education issue. As has been shown nationally, typical Democratic proposals for higher teacher pay and increased funding alone are not sufficient. In fact, those were major planks of Terry McAuliffe’s 2021 education platform.
VPAP Visual House of Delegates Fundraising: June 2025
See how much candidates for the House of Delegates have raised so far this election cycle, from Jan. 1, 2024, through June 5, 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 Candidate Fundraising: June 2025
See a ranked list of the amount raised by candidates and their cash reserves for Virginia's statewide offices through June 5.
From VPAP Now Live: Candidates’ Pre-Primary Campaign Finance Reports
VPAP has posted all pre-primary campaign finance disclosures filed by candidates whose office is on the November 2025 ballot. Use our overview page to find what interests you — including candidates for statewide office, the House of Delegates, and local offices on the ballot in November. We rank each group of committees by amount raised and cash on hand. If you are interested in a specific committee, you can drill down for a sortable list of donors and expenditures reported through June 5 for candidates.
Rozell: For Va. GOP, Richmond’s woes are low-hanging fruit
Being unable to open your faucet and get water that’s fit for drinking — or for bathing or doing the laundry or the dishes — sticks with a voter. In Virginia’s capital city of Richmond, it has happened twice in the first half of 2025. That doesn’t count chronic malfunctions that have dogged the city for years that include real estate and restaurant meals tax billing snafus, keeping its sewer system from spewing human waste into the James River and homicide rates perennially among Virginia’s highest. If those problems are big enough — or, from media reports, appear big enough — they can exert gravity on statewide elections.
Spanberger: Va. can make housing affordable. Here’s how
Virginians deserve a governor who is focused on responding to the most pressing issues that impact our communities and our commonwealth’s growth. And across Virginia, high costs at the pharmacy counter, in our energy bills and in the housing market are impacting families, business owners and Virginia’s long-term strength. As a candidate for governor, I’ve been laying out my plans to make Virginia more affordable. Last month, I announced my priorities to lower health care and prescription drug costs. And last week, I announced a straightforward agenda to increase the supply of housing Virginians can actually afford. This plan is a blueprint for how my administration will get to work on day one to put Virginians first.
Appeals court upholds dismissal of councilman’s lawsuit against Lynchburg
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Thursday upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit brought by At-large Lynchburg Councilman Martin Misjuns, who argued his termination from the city’s fire department violated his rights to free speech and religion. The opinion, written by Judge Roger Gregory, affirmed the rulings by Judges Norman Moon and Robert Ballou, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, to dismiss the councilman’s lawsuit.