The VPM Daily Newscast contains all your Central Virginia news in just 5 to 10 minutes. Episodes are recorded the night before.
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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of Nov. 7, 2024
Stoney, Avula meet to discuss mayoral transition
Reported by VPM News’ Keyris Manzanares
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said he will guarantee that mayor-elect Dr. Danny Avula has the tools to hit the ground running when he takes office Jan. 1, 2025.
Unofficial election results show that Avula holds leads in six of Richmond’s council districts — the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th — enough to secure the city’s top job, which requires winning a majority of the nine districts.
“We want to ensure that it's a streamlined transition process, something that we've never seen before here in the city of Richmond, that ensures that he and his team are prepared to lead this city into its next chapter,” Stoney said at a joint press conference held with Avula on Wednesday at City Hall.
Avula said he would conduct a national search for a new chief administrative officer to replace current CAO Lincoln Saunders.
No flips in Virginia federal races, despite 'national sway' to Trump
Reported by VPM News’ Patrick Larsen
Former Republican Del. David Ramadan, a professor at the George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government, told VPM News his “basic analysis” of the nationwide results in Tuesday’s election: “One, once again, the polls missed the mark. Two, Harris faced a strong rejection from working class Americans across all races.”
The former delegate said a Trump campaign strategy of emphasizing economic issues like inflation contributed to that “rejection.”
Ramadan also said he wasn’t surprised by the winners in Virginia’s other federal races. No seats were flipped in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives — but the margins were closer than he expected.
“This is a race that probably Tim Kaine could have won by 12 points if we didn't have that national sway to Donald Trump,” Ramadan said.
Rounding up VPM News’ 2024 Election Day coverage
Reported by VPM News
National eyes were on the presidential election Tuesday, but there were other races being contested all over the commonwealth too.
At the federal level, VPM News’ Jahd Khalil and WAMU’s Margaret Barthel covered Sen. Tim Kaine’s re-election win over Republican challenger Hung Cao.
We also have unofficial results from nine of Virginia’s 11 U.S. House districts, including a report from state Sen. John McGuire’s win in the 5th Congressional District.
(The 2nd and 7th had not been called by The Associated Press yet, though incumbent Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans and Democrat Eugene Vindman have declared victory in those races, respectively.)
VPM News also covered local races in Richmond (where Dr. Danny Avula appears to be the mayor-elect and the new city council is going to look a lot like the old city council), Albemarle County and Harrisonburg.
And staff and freelance photojournalists captured stunning images throughout the day.
In other news
- Harrisonburg officials reveal new stormwater plan (Daily News-Record)
In case you missed it
- Irvo Otieno's mom weeps on his grave after hearing cases likely to be dropped (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*
- Danville’s well-known Civil War ties overshadow much of its other history. But one man’s World War II legacy has been unexpectedly preserved. (Cardinal News)
*This outlet utilizes a paywall.
