Author: Eric Burk

Consulting Firm Staffer Claims to Represent Republican Party of Virginia While Working for Glenn Youngkin

Eric Burk

Glenn Youngkin’s gubernatorial campaign is facing criticism after a canvasser for a political consultant firm claimed to represent the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) while canvassing door-to-door. The canvasser was caught when she visited RPV State Central Committee (SCC) Member Heather Stefl’s house, who pushed back until the canvasser admitted she actually worked for Vanguard Field Strategies, a company working for Youngkin’s campaign.

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Online Sales and Big Jackpots Put Virginia Lottery on Path to Record-Breaking Year

Eric Burk

The Virginia Lottery’s new online offerings are driving an increase in revenue for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, which runs until the end of June. By February, online sales hit $436 million, about 21 percent of overall sales for that same period, according to lottery spokesperson John Hagerty.

“Fiscal Year 2021, which ends on June 30, is on track to break sales and profit records,” a Tuesday press release from the lottery states.

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Virginia Parole Board Blocked Automatic Victim Notifications

Eric Burk

The Virginia Parole Board paroled Hugh Brown last March after first telling his murder victim’s family that his request for parole had been denied, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch. The newspaper obtained emails showing that then-Chair Adrianne Bennett had specifically asked that automated emails to the victim’s family be blocked as the board reconsidered the decision to parole Brown.

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Virginia Gov. Northam Restores Civil Rights to 69,000 Felons

Eric Burk

Governor Ralph Northam announced the restoration of civil rights, including voting rights, to 69,000 felons. In the Tuesday announcement, Northam said would restore the rights for anyone who had been released from incarceration.

“Too many of our laws were written during a time of open racism and discrimination, and they still bear the traces of inequity,” Northam said in a press release.

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Virginia Takes Restaurant to Court After Owner Doesn’t Obey Mask Requirements

Eric Burk

Gourmeltz 90’s Music Bar & Drafthouse, based in Spotsylvania, has had its health certification suspended after owner Matt Strickland refused to enforce bar closures and mask restrictions. Strickland refused to close after the certification was suspended, and the attorney general is now seeking an injunction against Strickland that will force Gourmeltz to close, according to Fox5. Strickland had a court hearing on Friday, and is now waiting for a decision from the judge.

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Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Face off in Debate

Eric Burk

Four of the five Democratic candidates for Governor discussed legal reform, racial justice, environmental justice, and good government in a debate hosted by The Virginia People’s Debates. Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas), Jennifer Carrol Foy, Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond), and Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax participated; front-runner Terry McAuliffe was absent.

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General Assembly Will Need Another Session to Allocate American Rescue Plan Funds

Eric Burk

The General Assembly will probably have another special session in 2021, which is necessary to allow the legislature to allocate federal funds granted to the Commonwealth in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) passed by Congress and signed by President Biden Thursday.

Virginia Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne said, “It will require another session, but it probably will be sometime in the future weeks or possibly months because the Governor has made no decision. But part of that is because we have not received a specific certification on the actual monies yet from the Feds.”

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Colonial Downs Announces In-Person Racing to Begin July 19

Eric Burk

After closing the 2020 racing season early due to COVID-19, Colonial Downs Racetrack is announcing 21 live racing dates running from July 19. Premium tickets go on sale on Monday, but general admission and parking are free.

“As we enter our third year of racing, Colonial Downs looks forward to once again hosting top horses and horsemen from across the country with daily purses offered amongst the highest during the summer months,” Vice President of Racing Operations at Colonial Downs Group Jill Byrne said in a press release. “The past year of the pandemic has been so challenging for everyone, we can’t wait to see our wonderful fans and supporters safely enjoying the excitement of live horse racing.”

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Leon Benjamin Announces Non-Profit Virginians for America First to Re-Take Virginia House

Eric Burk

Former congressional candidate Leon Benjamin is founding a new political non-profit focused on helping Republicans retake Virginia House of Delegates seats. Virginians for America First will focus on grassroots training and education to retake control of the House in the 2021 elections by initially focusing on districts that recently flipped from Republican to Democrat control.

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Educator/Reporter Blasts Loudoun County Public School Board During Public Comments

Eric Burk

A northern Virginia educator and Right Side Broadcasting Network reporter attracted attention this week after blasting the Loudoun County Public School (LCPS) Board during a public comments period on Tuesday.

“I’m a teacher speaking on behalf of every fed-up teacher in this nation,” Lilit Vanetsyan said. “This school district continues to show up on national news and it is absolutely embarrassing to see what once used to be the nations’ leading school district has [descended] to.”

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Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Hears Lieutenant Governor Fairfax’s Defamation Lawsuit

Eric Burk

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax’s defamation suit against CBS on Thursday. In 2019, Fairfax sued CBS for defamation after CBS This Morning aired interviews with two women who alleged Fairfax sexually assaulted them in separate incidents in the early and mid 2000s. Fairfax has emphasized that the encounters were consensual.

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Coalition Sues Fairfax County Public Schools over New Admissions Plan at Magnet School

Eric Burk

A group of about 5,000 community members including parents, students, and staff are suing the Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) Board and Superintendent Scott Braband over changes to admission procedures at magnet school Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ). The lawsuit complaint filed Wednesday argues that the changes were meant to reduce the number of Asian-American students at the school.

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Virginia GOP Leadership to Vote on Unassembled Convention Again

Eric Burk

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) State Central Committee (SCC) will once again vote on amending the party plan to allow an unassembled convention. Chairman Rich Anderson called for the meeting on Monday, after last week determining that an in-person parking lot convention would not be possible at Liberty University. The agenda for the Friday evening meeting includes three potential amendments to party rules that would allow an unassembled convention.

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One-Fourth of Bills Passed in 2021 Virginia General Assembly Sessions Passed Along Party Lines

Eric Burk

In 2020 and 2021, the Democrat-led General Assembly passed nearly 20 percent more bills through strict party-line votes than in the three previous years when Republicans controlled both chambers. According to a data visualization from the Virginia Public Access Project, in 2020, 24 percent of bills passed were passed along party lines with Democrats voting for and Republicans voting against. In 2021, that number grew to 25 percent. In the Republican controlled sessions of 2017, 2018, and 2019, the percentage of bills passed along party lines was respectively 7.7 percent, 4.7 percent, and 5.7 percent.

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Virginia Parole Board Whistleblower Sues over Alleged Retaliation; Northam Stands by Parole Board

Eric Burk

An Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG) employee who helped investigate the Virginia Parole Board (VPB) is suing Inspector General Michael Westfall. Jennifer Moschetti’s lawsuit, filed on Monday, states that she was placed on pre-disciplinary leave on March 5, days after she approached the General Assembly as an anonymous whistleblower. On Tuesday, Governor Ralph Northam’s Chief of Staff Clark Mercer said the lawsuit was motivated by politics and criticized the OSIG report.

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Gubernatorial Hopeful Pete Snyder Announces Election Integrity Plan

Eric Burk

Pete Snyder announced his ‘Honest Vote’ election integrity plan on Thursday. The six-point plan focuses on transparency ballot verification and ballot verification measures.

“Having secure, legal, and trustworthy elections is something that we must demand in our Commonwealth. Unfortunately, for too many Virginians, whether they be Republicans, Democrats or independents, trust in our election system has been severely strained and due to many last minute Covid-related changes to our voting systems,” Snyder said in a press release.

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Virginia House of Delegates Kills Senator Kiggans’ Bill Requiring Weekly List of Decedents Sent to Department of Elections

Eric Burk

Senator Jen Kiggans’ (R-Virginia Beach) election reform bill passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support 34 to five. But when the bill was sent to the House of Delegates, the Privileges and Elections Committee voted to table the bill, effectively killing it. Kiggans’ bill SB 1422 would have required the State Registrar of Vital Records to provide a weekly list of deceased people to the Department of Elections, a process that currently is required to happen monthly.

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Despite Last Week’s Vote, Republican Party of Virginia Still Doesn’t Have a Clear Path to Nominate Candidates

Eric Burk

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) still doesn’t have a finalized option for how to nominate its candidates, despite the final-sounding words of party officials last week.

The RPV State Central Committee (SCC) has decided to hold a drive-in convention at Liberty University (LU), but after a site visit with LU officials Wednesday, the RPV team determined that convention would not be feasible. In a letter published Friday, RPV Chair Rich Anderson renewed a call for a convention that would have satellite locations across Virginia, and announced that the SCC would hold another Zoom meeting to vote on an unassembled convention again.

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‘Ghost Gun’ Ban Fails in Virginia General Assembly

Eric Burk

The Virginia House of Delegates and Senate failed to come to a compromise over a ban on “ghost guns” – a nickname for firearms that are handmade, improvised, or otherwise assembled from unserialized parts. As a result, the bill died when the General Assembly session ended Monday. Although HB 2276 passed in the House of Delegates, senators worried that the bill could have unintended consequences such as preventing legally owned firearms that had been grandfathered in from being transferred to someone else.

A Senate committee had already changed the bill to allow possession of unserialized firearms, but still banned manufacture, sale, or transfer of the weapons.

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New Mission PAC Hosts GOP Gubernatorial Forum

Eric Burk

GOP gubernatorial candidates Delegate Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), Peter Doran, Sergio de la Peña, and Glenn Youngkin met on Zoom on Thursday evening to answer policy questions about school reform, fixing Virginia’s tax code, improving broadband access, and making Virginia more veteran friendly. The New Mission PAC hosted the forum. PAC founder Daniel Gade and former Delegate Chris Saxman asked the questions in a format designed to allow candidates to demonstrate policy positions without engaging in direct debate.

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Virginia General Assembly Postpones Marijuana Legalization Until 2024

Eric Burk

The Virginia General Assembly passed marijuana legalization bills on Saturday, a move that had been expected to make Virginia the first southern state to legalize marijuana. However, legislators from the House of Delegates and the Senate passed a compromise that delays legalization and retail sale of marijuana until 2024. The compromise, created in a conference committee, also requires another vote in 2022 to confirm parts of the bill.

While some legalization advocates said passage of the bill was progress, others criticized it.

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Glenn Youngkin Creates Virginia Wins PAC to Fund Republican Candidates Across the Ballot

Eric Burk

Gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday he is creating a Virginia Wins PAC to fund Republican political candidates across the ballot in Virginia.

“Youngkin’s investment and fundraising will build a team of local and statewide Republican leaders to restore the Commonwealth, and counter the liberal agenda driven in Virginia by George Soros, who in recent years funded left-wing candidates and efforts aimed at transforming school boards and prosecutor offices,” a campaign press release states.

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Delegates Receive $8,651 Average in Per Diems from 2021 Sessions

Eric Burk

Members of the Virginia House of Delegates earn $17,640 per year and a per diem of $211 while in session, including days off during the session. The per diem is meant to help legislators pay for housing costs ($145/day) and food ($66/day) while in Richmond, but legislators have continued accepting the per diem even during the virtual house sessions of 2021 and 2020. For the 2021 sessions alone, that added up to an average total per diem per delegate of $8,651 — over $800,000 for all 100 delegates, according to reporting by The Virginian-Pilot.

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Governor Northam Approves Cultural Competency Requirement for Virginia Teacher’s Licenses

Eric Burk

Governor Ralph Northam approved legislation on Thursday to require cultural competency training for educators to be licensed by the Virginia Board of Education. HB 1904, introduced by Delegate Clinton Jenkins (D-Suffolk), and companion SB 1196, introduced by Senator Mamie Locke (D-Hampton,) require that anyone seeking licensure or re-licensure must complete cultural competency training by the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. Licenses with social science or history endorsements require additional training in African American history.

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GOP Lieutenant Governor Candidates Ramp Up Their Campaigns

Eric Burk

71 percent of Republican voters are undecided about the GOP Lieutenant Governor candidates; a recent Christopher Newport/Wason Center Poll found just eight percent of voters supported Delegate Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach), with Tim Hugo in second place at four percent. But the Republican Party of Virginia nomination convention is just over two months away, and the five candidates for the nomination are working to build the biggest list of delegates to the convention.

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Virginia General Assembly Votes to Remove Statue of Former Governor Harry Byrd, Sr.

Eric Burk

The Virginia Senate voted 36 to 3 Tuesday to remove the capitol’s statue of former Democratic Governor Harry Byrd, Sr. His legacy is marked by his expansion of Virginia’s economy and roads, and is tarnished by a battle to block desegregating schools. The House of Delegates had already voted in favor of the bill, HB 2208, introduced by Delegate Jay Jones (D-Norfolk.) Governor Ralph Northam is expected to approve the bill.

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Virginia General Assembly Kills Bill to Require Equal Educational Opportunities Across All Schools

Eric Burk

After passing in the Senate 34 to one, Senator Bill Stanley’s (R-Franklin County) constitutional amendment to require equitable educational opportunities in all Virginia schools was killed by the House of Delegates Privileges and Elections Committee. Virginia’s constitution requires that free school be provided for all school-aged children. Stanley’s bill SJ 275 would have added a requirement that those schools include “equitable educational opportunities” for all school-aged children.

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Virginia Legislators Call for New Parole Board Investigation After More Details Leaked About Release of Man Convicted of Killing Police Officer

Eric Burk

Legislators are calling for a new investigation into alleged misconduct by the Virginia Parole Board (VPB). Last summer, a leaked six-page report from the Office of the State Inspector General detailed how the VPB violated laws and policies when, in April 2020, it decided to parole Vincent Martin without giving his victims the required 50-day notice. Martin was serving a life sentence for killing police officer Michael Connors in 1979, and was released last June. But a new 13-page draft of the report leaked this week, first reported by WTVR, revealing more details about the alleged misconduct by the board and by former Chair Adrianne Bennett, who is now a judge.

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Virginia General Assembly Approves Bill That Would Require Absentee Provisions at Conventions

Eric Burk

The Senate and the House of Delegates passed HB 2020, a bill that, after it goes into effect in 2024, could effectively ban completely in-person nominating conventions like the one the Republican Party of Virginia is planning to hold this year. On Tuesday, the Senate passed their version of the bill, and on Wednesday, the House approved the Senate’s changes. Sponsor Delegate Dan Helmer (D-Check) said the bill isn’t meant to target any specific process, but rather to ban processes that don’t allow legitimate voters to participate.

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Virginia Gov. Northam Relaxes More Outdoor COVID-19 Restrictions, Announces Vaccine Progress

Eric Burk

As warmer weather starts to tempt Virginians out of their COVID caves, Governor Ralph Northam announced another round of relaxed restrictions on outdoor activities, effective March 1. On Wednesday, Northam amended Executive Order 72 to allow up to 25 people at outdoor social gatherings, allows outdoor venues to have the lesser of either 1,000 people or 30 percent of their capacity, allows overnight summer camps to begin operations on May 1, and extends alcohol sales curfews until midnight, when restaurants must still close.

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Virginia General Assembly Approves Styrofoam Ban

Eric Burk

The General Assembly passed a polystyrene (Styrofoam) ban for serving food in restaurants and similar vendors in Virginia. The bill, passed on Wednesday, will first take effect in July 2023 to large vendors with more than 20 locations; in July 2025, it will apply to all vendors, although vendors can apply for temporary exemptions to their localities. Violation can result in a $50 per day fine.

Senator Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) pushed HB 1902 in the Senate as a compromise to allow the House of Delegates to pass a bill adjusting regulation of new recycling technology. Republicans opposed the polystyrene ban, saying it would harm small businesses, but supported Senator Emmet Hanger’s (R-Augusta) advanced recycling regulation bill.

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DoorDash Giving $3,500 Grants to Small Virginia Restaurants

Eric Burk

Food delivery service DoorDash is giving about 125 small Virginia restaurants $3,500 each in partnership with the Virginia Restaurant Lodging Travel Association (VRLTA) but time is running out — the deadline to apply for the grant is 5 p.m. March 1.

“Virginia’s restaurants have faced unprecedented challenges the past year,” VRLTA President Eric Terry said in a press release. “DoorDash’s donation to the state’s restaurant relief efforts will offer much-needed help to small businesses.”

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Virginia GOP Leadership Votes to Hold Drive-In Convention at Liberty University

Eric Burk

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) State Central Committee (SCC) voted 37 to 31 to issue a call for an in-person drive-in-style nominating convention to be held at Liberty University (LU) on May 8 at 9 a.m. Before passing that vote, the SCC voted against changing party rules to allow an unassembled convention, and voted against holding a canvass. The nearly four-hour-long Tuesday evening Zoom meeting hit the same notes of exasperation as previous SCC Zoom meetings and again highlighted a sharp divide between the pro-convention faction, led in the meeting by Mike Ginsburg, and the pro-primary faction, led in the meeting by Jeff Ryer.

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Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee Kills Ban on Cyber Flashing

Eric Burk

Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler’s (D-Virginia Beach) HB 2254 passed with unanimous support in the House of Delegates. The bill would ban people from sending unsolicited obscene images to others. But after the House sent the bill to the Senate, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted eight to five to table the bill February 17, citing concerns that the bill could be applied too broadly.

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Dunnavant’s In-Person Learning Bill Moves out of Committee

Eric Burk

The House Education Committee voted Monday to approve changes to Senator Siobhan Dunnavant’s (R-Henrico) bill to require schools to provide in-person learning. After passing the Senate with bipartisan support, the House of Delegates Education Committee proposed a substitute that Republicans said would have effectively left the status quo intact. However, Dunnavant worked with the committee to create a new substitute including specific definitions for the in-person requirement, creating a compromise bill that received bipartisan support in the committee. The bill would be effective for the 2021-2022 school year — efforts to give the bill emergency status were shot down.

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General Assembly Votes to Make Virginia First Southern State to Abolish Death Penalty

Eric Burk

The Virginia General Assembly passed a death penalty repeal on Monday. Governor Ralph Northam is expected to sign the bills, which would make Virginia the first state in the South to ban capital punishment. Advocates have argued that the death penalty is vulnerable to wrongful conviction, is expensive, cruel, and applied unfairly, but opponents say some of the most heinous crimes require a death penalty to make sure the criminal doesn’t get free. During the 2021 session, House Republicans have emphasized the names of victims of particularly serious crimes, who they say are being ignored by Democrats.

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Senator Amanda Chase Still Dominates Virginia Gubernatorial Conversation as Other Candidates Announce New Policy Plans, Make Campaign Stops

Eric Burk

More gubernatorial polls this week show most voters are undecided, allowing contest leaders to continue to claim front-runner status while allowing everybody else to claim theoretical wins. But there’s more gubernatorial news than that — this week’s campaign news features new policy announcements, major endorsements, messaging controversy, and a late-night television mention.

First, the poll: 49 percent of Democratic voters and 55 percent of Republican voters are undecided, according to a Christoper Newport University/Wason Center Poll. Former Governor Terry McAuliffe leads Democrats with 26 percent, while Senator Amanda Chase leads Republicans with 17 percent.

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General Assembly Passes Bill to Study Gold Mining, but Removes Gold Mine Moratorium

Eric Burk

The General Assembly passed HB 2213, Delegate Elizabeth Guzman’s (D-Prince William) bill to create a work group of scientists, local representatives, activists and state officials to study the impacts of gold mining. Although the bill originally included a two-year moratorium on permits for new gold mines bigger than 10 acres, the Senate removed that clause before passing the bill Tuesday 23 to 16. The House passed the amended version Thursday 56 to 43, sending it to the Governor for final approval.

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