State Races

Former and perhaps future Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently said that student performance in Peterburg, one of Virginia’s most financially troubled cities, vastly improved when he led the state from 2014 to 2018.

A new poll from Christopher Newport University finds the average Virginians describes themselves as slightly right-of-center when it comes to politics. At the same time, more than two-thirds of those polled support ideas associated with liberals, like passing the Green New Deal.

Virginia is set to see its first minimum wage increase in over a decade on Saturday. But Democratic candidates for governor are vowing to go farther, pushing for a swiffer minimum wage increase to $15 an hour as early as 2023.

Governor Ralph Northam, House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and House Majority Leader Charniele Herring made the biggest endorsement yet in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor today. They announced their support for Del. Hala Ayala (D-Prince William County), shaking up the race just days after early voting started.

No Republican in the General Assembly voted for a coming law on July 1 that will legalize possession of an ounce of marijuana in Virginia. Beyond the legalization, their list of objections includes what they say are light penalties for people possessing much more than an ounce of the drug.

In a swift reversal, Virginia Republicans will allow observant Jews and other people with religious obligations to vote early in their upcoming May 8 nominating convention for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.

Observant Jews in Virginia will have to forgo observing the Sabbath to participate in the Saturday, May 8 Republican nomination conventions. The party’s top decision-making body, the State Central Committee, failed to approve a proposal late Thursday night that would have allowed people with religious obligations to vote absentee.

Conservative businessmen Pete Snyder and Glenn Youngkin have vowed to bring board-room discipline to the governor’s mansion. The latest round of campaign finance reports show they’re also carrying over another asset from their private sector days: money.

State Sen Amanda Chase threatened to bolt the Republican party and run for governor as an independent last December, a threat she later rescinded. PolitiFactVA examines whether Chase has changed her position.

Gov. Ralph Northam has endorsed his predecessor, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, to be his successor.