By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats seeking to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor and attorney general remained locked in tight races in Virginia’s primary election Tuesday night.
Virginia government
An abundance of rain in recent weeks has alleviated the drought plaguing Northern Virginia, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) says.
The department announced this morning (Monday) that it has lifted drought advisories for the entire Commonwealth, including a drought watch for Fairfax County and the rest of Northern Virginia that had been in place since September.
With early voting in the June 17 Democratic primary underway, Fairfax County residents might be curious where the politicians on the ballot stand on the prospect of a casino development in Tysons.
Fortunately, the topic was one of the first to crop up last night (Thursday) during a televised debate between the six lieutenant governor candidates seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination — right after a discussion about how they would protect Virginia’s economy and help workers affected by the Trump administration’s federal government cuts.
Early voting in Virginia’s 2025 Democratic primary begins tomorrow (Friday), officially kicking off the party’s bid to retake statewide seats that were swept by Republicans in 2021.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger has already secured the gubernatorial nomination, setting up a historic race with Republican nominee and current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears that will give Virginia its first-ever female governor.
By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said on Monday that he hoped to bolster Virginia’s rainy-day fund by $300 million in light of economic uncertainty surrounding the White House’s overhaul of federal jobs and its impact on the state’s workforce.
The General Assembly has given the green light for state researchers to launch studies on removing books in public school libraries, the funding methodology used to determine judicial allocations and the total cost of coastal storm risk management.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which conducts analysis and provides oversight of state agencies on behalf of the legislature, is responsible for the studies. Research completed by JLARC often prompts new legislative proposals and changes to governance.
It hasn’t taken long for Fairfax County’s own Pat Herrity to become the GOP’s top fundraiser in the lieutenant governor race.
The 64-year-old’s campaign announced more than $200,000 in total contributions within a week of its Jan. 3 launch, handily surpassing the $645.53 raised by Williamsburg businessman John Curran, who was the first Republican to declare his candidacy for Virginia’s second-highest statewide office.
Fairfax County’s top Republican policymaker is entering the race for lieutenant governor.
Pat Herrity, who has represented the Springfield District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for more than 15 years, formally announced his candidacy for the office this morning (Friday).
Floyd County Circuit Court Judge Randall Lowe determined Wednesday Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin acted unlawfully by withdrawing Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a program aimed to reduce climate changing emissions that has funneled hundreds of millions to the state to deal with the impacts of extreme weather events.
In his five page opinion, Lowe wrote that “the only body with the authority to repeal the RGGI regulation would be the General Assembly. This is because a statute, the RGGI Act, requires the RGGI regulation to exist.”
By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday allowed Virginia to resume its purge of voter registrations that the state says is aimed at stopping people who are not U.S. citizens from voting.