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Youngkin urges vigilance to combat antisemitism
A new executive order will expand Virginia's fight against antisemitism, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Monday night at the Combat Antisemitism Movement's Faith, Freedom, and Legacy: Honoring Virginia’s Jewish Heritage dinner in Richmond. "Antisemitism exists, and we must acknowledge it, we must educate people to it, and we must go to work to eradicate it," Youngkin said at the dinner, held at The Commonwealth Club.
‘It’s going to be tough’: Virginia Republicans brace for a grim November
Virginia Republicans are bracing for November with a growing sense of doom. The GOP already faced a tough climate in this year’s elections thanks to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s war on the state’s robust federal workforce. Then came a bitter, intraparty feud over Republicans’ lieutenant governor candidate. Now, some Republicans are privately expressing concerns about the viability of their gubernatorial nominee, Winsome Earle-Sears. “With the demographics of Richmond, in an off year with the Republican White House, it’s going to be tough,” said longtime Virginia Republican strategist Jimmy Keady. “To be a Republican to win in Virginia, you have to run a very good campaign. You’ve got to have [tailwinds] and the Democratic candidate’s got to make a mistake.”
Virginia’s budget surplus grows as revenues beat expectations despite national slowdown
Virginia’s general fund revenues rose sharply in April, bucking signs of a national economic cooldown as the state continues to post steady long-time job growth and rake in more tax dollars than projected. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday that general fund revenues are up 6.3% — nearly $1.5 billion — compared to the same 10-month period last fiscal year. April alone brought in $322.4 million more than the same month in 2024, marking an 8.8% jump.
Why Democrats Don’t Love Glenn Youngkin’s Latest Efforts to Shield Virginia From Trump’s Cuts
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican Trump ally, is at once publicly supporting the president’s agenda and taking steps to inoculate his state from it. Those actions include Youngkin’s recent use of his line-item veto power to cut $900 million in projects and programs from the state budget in order to put those funds in the state’s rainy day fund. The rainy day fund, according to Youngkin, needs bolstering as President Donald Trump tries to shrink the federal workforce and pursues a disruptive economic agenda. Democrats say Youngkin’s cuts to shield the state from the effects of the administration have quickly become a point of frustration.
Decline in preschool access continues in Virginia, despite legislative efforts
Virginia has provided thousands of children access to preschool over a year’s time, but the commonwealth continues to trail other states, which are expanding services and providing more kids a chance at early learning. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research’s State of Preschool Yearbook, Virginia has dropped by three spots to 26th in the country in offering preschool access for 3-year-olds, but maintained its 30th place ranking for preschool access for 4-year-olds.
Yancey: 5 new factors that are shaping the governor’s race
We’re expecting a new Roanoke College poll before the month ends, and that will give us some numerical sense of where Virginia’s governor’s race stands. However, we don’t need polls to tell us about some of the forces that are shaping the contest that will put a woman in the governor’s office for the first time in Virginia history. Some things we knew all along: how voters feel about President Donald Trump, how they feel about Governor Glenn Youngkin, how they feel about lots of other things. Here are five new factors: 1. Spanberger tries to take ‘right-to-work’ off the table, but Earle-Sears presses the attack anyway.
State Sen. Favola receiving treatment for uterine cancer
State Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, announced Monday that she has been diagnosed with uterine cancer and underwent a hysterectomy on Friday. "The operation was successful and my care team at Virginia Hospital Center was wonderful," Favola said. Favola said a series of chemotherapy treatments is likely to follow, but she expects to continue her Senate duties between these sessions.
Jenkins: Academic freedom means rejecting book bans
While grading narrative essays in the school library when I was teaching, a parent tour entered. The parents focused on a bookcase full of books on display in the front of the library, with yellow caution tape draped across it — the same type you would see at a police crime scene. “Why is there caution tape across these books?” asked a parent.
It’s past time to prohibit personal enrichment by office holders
So many Americans seem to reflexively believe their elected officials are corrupt — at least two-thirds of adults, according to a recent poll by YouGov — it sometimes seems as if such suspicions are a requirement of citizenship. It certainly doesn’t help, though, when the president and lawmakers do less and less to avoid the appearance of wrongdoing or commit acts that, by any reasonable standard, defy the responsibilities of holding elected office. One of the most egregious examples of potential corruption lately is President Donald Trump’s direct involvement in peddling a meme coin called $Trump.
Virginia revenues still strong, with warning signs ahead
Virginia remains more than $200 million ahead of its forecast for tax revenues to meet its budget obligations with two months left in the fiscal year, but state policymakers remain concerned over the potential economic fallout from shifting federal government policies on spending and tariffs. State tax collections through April were $1.5 billion ahead of the same 10-month period a year ago, but the margin shrank to $211.1 million when compared to the revenue projections that Gov. Glenn Youngkin used to assemble a revised two-year budget that he introduced in December and signed earlier this month.