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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of June 10, 2025:
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi leans on legislative experience in lt. governor run
Reported by VPM News’ Jahd Khalil
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi was an educator and an academic administrator before being elected in 2019 to represent Virginia’s 15th District, which covers much of Chesterfield County.
Now, Hashmi is hoping to preside over the Senate as Virginia’s next lieutenant governor. She is the only woman of the six candidates in the June 17 Democratic primary for the statewide position. The winner will face Republican John Reid for the office currently occupied by Republican gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears.
VPM News state politics reporter Jahd Khalil recently spoke to Hashmi about her campaign, as part of a series of conversations with all six Democratic candidates for the state’s No. 2 job.
Hashmi says she has the most legislative experience of all of the candidates running. She spoke about the cost of childcare, the threat of cuts to Medicaid and the importance of protecting reproductive rights.
Barbour, McEachin meet in primary rematch for Richmond commonwealth’s attorney
Reported by VPM News’ Dean Mirshahi
Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin and attorney Tom Barbour both think the other is wrong for the city's top prosecutor job.
They are facing off in a June 17 Democratic primary rematch in a city typically without a Republican candidate, so the winner is all but certain to be leading Richmond's prosecutor's office next year. McEachin won the previous round, in 2021, with more than 73% of the vote.
McEachin, who has been in the commonwealth’s attorney’s office for 25 years and has been its chief prosecutor since 2019, says Barbour simply lacks the experience for the role.
“The fact that Tom would say that he is prepared to be the commonwealth’s attorney of the City of Richmond when, right now, he has the same level of prosecutorial experience as my three youngest new attorneys is laughable,” she said in an interview. “How is he going to train them? What is he going to teach them?”
For Barbour, who worked as a prosecutor in the office for 10 months, McEachin has an outdated approach for the office and has fallen short of what city residents hope for in a prosecutor.
“I think this election poses a singular choice, which is: Do we want more of the same, or do we want change and progress for better public safety?” Barbour told VPM News.
News you might have missed from around the commonwealth:
- Emails: City finance employees have worked 4,400 hours of mandatory OT in 2025 (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*
- Fifteen years after shuttering its tax-prep app, Va. may be ready to compete with TurboTax again (Virginia Mercury)
- Avula taps state official to lead gun violence prevention office (The Richmonder)
- Nelson officials raise major concerns with county social services leadership (Nelson County Times)*
*This outlet utilizes a paywall.