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Federal cuts hit coastal flooding, dam projects in Virginia

By SHANNON HECKT, Virginia Mercury

As Virginia’s various government agencies wait to hear how the federal budget will affect their funding, some departments have already seen significant cuts that are putting a hold on important hazard mitigation projects and emergency management support. In an effort to understand the full scope of federal cuts on the commonwealth, state House members have been hosting committee meetings in communities across Virginia. In a Friday meeting in Norfolk, which increasingly faces rising sea levels and coastal land loss, officials shared projects and goals that will not move forward.

VaNews June 25, 2025


VPAP Visual Three Leaders, Three Types of Votes

The Virginia Public Access Project

Each of the top three candidates in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor "won" among a different set of ballots. Levar Stoney won the most early in-person votes, Sen. Aaron Rouse won the most mail votes, and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi won the election day votes, the largest category of ballots.

VaNews June 26, 2025


The Republican statewide ticket announces plans to appear together for the first time

By MICHAEL POPE, WVTF-FM

Republicans locked down their ticket back in April, although the three statewide candidates have yet to appear with each other on a stage. The GOP is planning to change that. Earlier this week, Republicans were grabbing headlines with news that their statewide candidates were actually talking to each other after a protracted silence. Late Tuesday night, they announced a rally for July 1st in Vienna.

VaNews June 25, 2025


Virginia Democrats ask judge to bar some Youngkin picks from college boards

By DAN ROSENZWEIG-ZIFF AND LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A group of Virginia Senate Democrats sued the leaders of the governing boards at three public universities, an unusual step that escalated their effort to remove several of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s board appointees amid a fight over how to govern the state’s colleges. The lawsuit alleges that the Youngkin administration — namely Youngkin, Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares and Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera — are trying to usurp legislators’ authority by ignoring a recent vote by a Senate committee to reject some appointees to the boards of the University of Virginia, George Mason University and Virginia Military Institute.

VaNews June 25, 2025


They Were Roommates in D.C. Now They’re Both Running for Governor.

By MATTIE KAHN, Elle

Abigail Spanberger has a simple explanation for all this. She knows how she became a CIA case officer focused on counterterrorism, and how she succeeded as a three-term congresswoman—elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 when Democrats took back control of that chamber during Donald Trump’s first administration. She knows how she won her race to represent Virginia’s 7th district at the same time that a former naval helicopter pilot named Mikie Sherrill was elected to represent New Jersey’s 11th, and how the two became fast friends in Washington D.C. She knows how both are now running for governor in their respective home states—two of the most-watched races of the year. It’s just not that complicated: “Mikie and I are both the eldest of three sisters,” Spanberger explains. “So that’s the essential piece.”

VaNews June 25, 2025


State Senate Democrats sue Youngkin officials in latest institutional push

By JAHD KHALIL, VPM

Nine Virginia Senate Democrats are suing three university rectors over the gubernatorial appointment of board members, they announced Tuesday, opening a new field of contention between Virginia’s Democrat-controlled Legislature and Republican executive. On June 5, the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee voted against confirming eight of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees to the Board of Visitors at George Mason University, University of Virginia and Virginia Military Institute.

VaNews June 25, 2025


Virginia senators sue to oust Youngkin’s university board appointees

By KATE SELTZER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Democrats on the state Senate Privileges and Elections Committee filed suit Tuesday over what they say is constitutional overreach by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. It’s the latest escalation in an ongoing feud over the appointment of eight university board of visitors members. State Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, in her capacity as president pro tempore of the Senate, is asking a judge to remove the members in question.

VaNews June 25, 2025


Senate Democrats sue to keep refused Youngkin appointees from boards

By DAVID MCGEE, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)

State Senate Democrats are seeking a court order to keep former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and seven other Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointees from participating on college and university boards. The senate’s Privileges and Elections Committee refused to confirm the appointees by a party-line 8-4 vote at a meeting earlier this month, but Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares have challenged the action, saying it is up to the full General Assembly to confirm or deny gubernatorial appointments to college boards.

VaNews June 25, 2025


Democrats sue over Youngkin’s appointments to various education boards

By TYLER ENGLANDER, WRIC-TV

Virginia Democrats are suing the leaders of the Boards of Visitors at George Mason University, the University of Virginia and the Virginia Military Institute. “We have a rule of law in Virginia, and it’s important the governor follow our Constitution and our laws,” Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) told 8News. The lawsuit asks a judge to decide whether university leaders should allow eight of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s appointments to the schools’ Boards of Visitors to continue to serve.

VaNews June 25, 2025


Senate Democrats sue over Youngkin appointees kept on college boards

By NATHANIEL CLINE, Virginia Mercury

A Fairfax County court will soon weigh in on whether leaders at three of Virginia’s universities broke the rules by allowing rejected appointees to remain in their governing boards — despite Senate Democrats voting to remove them earlier this month. The lawsuit, first reported Tuesday by the Washington Post, targets the leadership of the Virginia Military Institute, the University of Virginia and George Mason University. It asks the court to bar the contested board members from continuing to serve and declare that any board member who permits them to remain is violating their legal duties.

VaNews June 25, 2025