Ben Paviour
Ben Paviour is reporting in Virginia as part of The New York Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship. He previously covered courts, criminal justice and state politics for VPM News — with a focus on accountability.
He previously covered politics and culture in Cambodia and lived pre-journalism lives as a tech writer at Google and a program manager for a youth job training program in Alameda County, California.
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Winsome Sears, a Republican, will be sworn into office Saturday in Virginia alongside Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin. Sears ran, in part, on the idea that the country's racial reckoning has gone too far. -
Virginia Democrats’ two-year legislative blitz ended abruptly last November, when they lost the governor’s race and control of the House of Delegates. The new dynamics mean that anyone hoping to pass new laws this year will have to rely on a mix of compromise and cajoling.
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During his final days in office, Northam has been reflecting on his time leading the state. VPM State Politics Reporter Ben Paviour sat down with him last week.
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The group behind a major gun rally that drew tens of thousands of people to downtown Richmond in 2020 won’t stage a similar event this year. But the Virginia Citizens Defense League is still hoping to draw thousands of members to Richmond to lobby lawmakers on Jan. 17.
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After a slow start, Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin named several key positions in his Cabinet on Monday and Tuesday, including a chief of staff, counselor to the governor and communications director.
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Business groups say they’re looking forward to what some say will be a warmer reception in Richmond after Republican gains in the November election. Labor leaders, meanwhile, say some of the changes would come at the expense of workers.
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Gov. Ralph Northam and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney – both Democrats – say their plan would help depoliticize the debate over what to do with the statues.
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Democrats will have an advantage in six of Virginia’s 11 House of Representative races, with one seat a tossup, according to the analysis of election results from 2016 through 2020.
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Outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam gets a final chance to define his legacy with a budget proposal he presented to lawmakers on Thursday.
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Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin campaigned on bringing “election integrity” to a state where he acknowledged elections were fair and legitimate. He’ll now have the opportunity to shape how those votes are conducted by picking a new commissioner of elections and giving the GOP majorities on state and local electoral boards.
