Ghazala Hashmi

Janet Howell, longtime former state senator in Fairfax County, dies at 82

Published August 3, 2026 at 10:00AM

Virginia Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, watches the vote tally board during the Senate session at the state Capitol in Richmond, Va., March 7, 2020. Howell, the veteran Democratic Virginia state senator who co-chairs her chamber’s finance committee, announced Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, that she will not seek re-election. (via Steve Helber/Associated Press file)

Janet Howell, a former Democratic state senator who had represented parts of Fairfax County for decades, has died at age 82.

Howell was first elected to the Virginia Senate in 1991, taking office in 1992 as senator for the 32nd Senate District. The district included Reston, Tysons, Wolf Trap, northern Chantilly and portions of McLean and Arlington County. Before retiring on Jan. 10, 2024, Howell was the longest-serving woman in the state Senate alongside current President pro tempore Louise Lucas (D-18). When Democrats took control of the chamber in 2019, she was the first woman to chair the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

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Flanked by N. Va. lawmakers, Spanberger signs bills in Lorton to boost contraception access

By Sébastien Kraft / Inside NoVA

Published June 19, 2026 at 1:45PM

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs reproductive health legislation at Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton (photo by Bert Shepherd/Americans for Contraception)

With the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial just a stone’s throw away, Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed landmark reproductive freedom and contraception access legislation Wednesday during a ceremony at Occoquan Regional Park.

The new law, the governor said, protects the right of Virginia women to access and use birth control and reduces the cost of contraception across the commonwealth.

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BREAKING: Democrats projected to win governor seat, all Fairfax delegate races

By Angela Woolsey and Associated Press

Published November 4, 2025 at 8:55PM

Campaign signs outside Cedar Park Elementary School in Vienna for the 2025 Republican and Democratic statewide tickets (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the governor’s race in Virginia today (Tuesday), defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, the Associated Press declared at 7:58 p.m.

Spanberger will succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is not allowed to run for a second consecutive term. Her victory aligns with recent voting patterns in Virginia, which picks its governors the year after a presidential election and tends to elect someone of the opposite party of the president.

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Polls open for Va. gubernatorial election after strong early voting period across Fairfax County

By Jared Serre

Published November 4, 2025 at 9:15AM

A "vote here" sign outside the PARC at Tysons, one of Fairfax County's polling precincts (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Voters across Virginia are now casting their Election Day ballots, but many in Fairfax County have no need for a last-minute trip to their polling place.

Just shy of 190,000 voters in Fairfax County cast a ballot during the early voting period, which ran from Sept. 19 through 5 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 1). That’s a jump of 7.4% compared to 2021, which is the last time the three statewide races were on the ballot.