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Anti-abortion group targets Democrats to stop Virginia’s reproductive rights constitutional amendment
Women Speak Out Virginia is sending 100 people out to knock on 150,000 doors in Richmond and Virginia Beach between now and late July. Their aim: influence voters to elect candidates this fall who oppose a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine reproductive rights into Virginia’s constitution. “As the largest pro-life voter contact program in the country, we are known for our impact on elections,” SBA Pro-Life America Virginia state director Marlene Downing said in a statement. “Our doorstep conversations change the minds of persuadable voters and energize pro-life Americans to go to the polls.”
What to expect in this week’s primaries to replace Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly
Voters in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, centered in Fairfax County, head to the polls for yet another election — just a week after the commonwealth’s regular primary last Tuesday. This time, voters have the chance to weigh in on party-run nominating contests, or “firehouse primaries,” which will determine the Democratic and Republican contenders to succeed Rep. Gerry Connolly, who died of cancer in May after serving the district for nearly two decades. Connolly’s death opens up a highly blue district in the Northern Virginia suburbs, and leaves the district temporarily without representation — at a time when the local federal workforce is reeling from federal government cuts. The House of Representatives is also narrowly divided, meaning that every vote counts.
VPAP Visual Lieutenant Governor Primary Night Timeline
For a few minutes on election night, Sen. Aaron Rouse took the lead in the closely contested Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. Sen. Ghazala Hashmi and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney had been in the lead at the start of the night, but the reporting of a large number of ballots from Rouse's hometown of Virginia Beach around 9:30 p.m. briefly put him in first place. This pattern quickly reversed as more ballots came in from Northern Virginia and across the state, leading to a narrow victory for Hashmi out of the three frontrunners. See how the election night results played out minute by minute and where ballots were reported throughout the night on the map and timeline in VPAP's latest visual.
Loudoun congressional delegation critical of U.S. bombing of Iran
Members of Loudoun County's congressional [delegation] condemned President Trump's bombing of Iran on Saturday, saying it was unconstitutional. After the bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, said in an online statement that the majority of Americans oppose war with Iran and noted Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on June 20 that Israeli bombing had set back Iran's nuclear program "at least two or three years."
D.C. region leaders criticize, endorse U.S. attack on Iran
U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites drew mixed reactions from Washington, D.C.-area leaders, whose response to President Donald Trump’s actions split along partisan lines. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) called Trump’s orders a reckless display of “horrible judgment,” as Democrats suggested that the United States was being drawn into Israel’s war with Iran.
Yancey: 25 more places on the western side of the state that Spanberger, Earle-Sears should visit for policy lessons
By the time you read this, Democrat Abigail Spanberger will be rolling somewhere between Martinsville, Wytheville, Blacksburg and Roanoke on her eight-day bus tour. Alas, that’s as far west as her bus tour goes, so that makes this a good time to remind her, and readers, about the list of 25 places in Southwest Virginia that candidates should see because they all might help inform future policy choices. She won’t get to any of them on this campaign swing. This is also a good time to remind everyone that you can drive three hours west of Wytheville and still not be in the state’s westernmost corner. On the other hand, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears doesn’t put out a campaign schedule — or many policy statements, either, for that matter.
Clean Virginia looks for change with entire Democratic ticket as allies
After hard-fought primaries for lieutenant governor and attorney general — where Clean Virginia and Dominion Energy poured money into opposing candidates — Clean Virginia now backs the entire Democratic ticket, an unprecedented shift that the group hopes will weaken Dominion’s political influence. Clean Virginia, a nonprofit that advocates for clean government and clean energy by fighting what it terms utility monopoly corruption in Virginia politics, donated $957,543 directly to statewide candidates this year, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Dominion, the state’s largest public utility, donated $1.27 million to their candidates this year.
Osprey population ‘near complete collapse’ on the Eastern Shore, scientists report
The osprey population on the Eastern Shore has dropped to just 18 birds, and scientists at Williams & Mary’s Center for Conservation Biology say it’s a sign of an “early complete collapse” of the species. In 1975, one of the first aerial surveys for ospreys, there were 68 breeding pairs on the Eastern Shore. In 1987, when the area was surveyed again, the population was about 83 pairs. Now, researchers have found only nine pairs from Fisherman Island to the Chincoteague Causeway.
‘Extremely distressing’ Chesapeake Bay blue crab populations call for curtailing harvest, experts say
Blue crab populations in the Chesapeake Bay have taken a sizable hit in 2025, marking a need for more cautious harvest regulations, some environmentalists say. Each winter, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary cooperate on a dredge survey to record the population of blue crabs.
Spanberger, Earle-Sears top ticket, but Trump will top the talk
Formally, the candidates in this year’s statewide election campaign will debate the advantages of a political trifecta (governor, House and Senate) versus divided government, casting outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin either as a roadblock to Virginians’ desires or a brake on legislative extremism. But the central character in this year’s drama over whether Abigail Spanberger or Winsome Earle-Sears will be the state’s next chief executive will likely be neither, political scientists agree.