Lawmakers Shed Light on Mail Delivery Problems Plaguing Virginia

USPS Driver

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from Virginia are shedding light on mail delivery service in the commonwealth, with the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center under audit from the U.S. Postal Service inspector general.

The distribution center has been plagued with delays and disruptions, leading to veterans having to wait weeks to receive medication. The lawmakers authored a letter to the IG to highlight the issues ahead of an anticipated report and recommendation.

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Analysis: Democratic Retirements Could Help the House GOP Grow Its Majority in 2024

House Republicans appear to be in a better position to capitalize off of a wave of congressional retirements, as there are more Democratic-held open seats in swing districts that pose an opportunity for the GOP to flip in 2024.

There are currently 31 House members who are not seeking another term in the lower chamber, including 20 Democrats and 11 Republicans — nearly all of whom hold seats that are considered safe for the GOP. Four Democratic-held open seats in battleground districts in Michigan, Virginia and California are most likely to flip red, while several other seats are also up for grabs by the GOP in 2024, according to political analysts and electoral rankings.

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No Current Republican Frontrunners for 2025’s Virginia Gubernatorial Contest

With an early declaration from Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger that she will be running for governor in 2025 and Virginia’s one-term policy preventing Gov. Glenn Youngkin from running consecutively, Republicans can only speculate who their candidates will be.

Spanberger has said she declared early due to next year’s congressional races in which her seat will be reelected. She wanted to give interested parties time to prepare a strong campaign to keep District 7 blue.

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Virginia Reps Introduce Bill That Could Have College Savings Plans Applied to Certifications, Workforce Training

Virginia Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Rob Wittman are leading a bipartisan effort to diversify how college savings accounts can be used. 

The Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act would increase the number of eligible expenses for 529 savings accounts. Like Roth IRAs, 529 plans are investment accounts allowing individuals to use their after-tax contributions to pay for educational expenses. The earnings from the plans generally aren’t subject to federal or state income tax when used for qualified expenses.

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Republican Field in VA-7 Primary Is a Crowded One

The Republican field in the race to challenge incumbent U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger for Virginia’s 7th Congressional seat is a crowded one.

Former Green Beret Derrick Anderson, State Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania-SD17), Spotsylvania County Supervisor David Ross, Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chair Crystal Vanuch, Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega, teacher Gina Ciarcia, and Gary Adkins are among the candidates running in the Republican primary.

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Virginia Supreme Court Redistricting Map Drafts Shake Up Incumbents

The Virginia Supreme Court’s Special Masters released their first redistricting map proposals Tuesday, receiving mixed reactions over what will be a major shakeup for Virginia incumbents if final drafts are similar to the proposals.

The Court chose Republican-nominated Sean Trende and Democratic-nominated Bernard Grofman to draw the maps.

“These maps reflect a true joint effort on our part. We agreed on almost all issues initially, and the few issues on which we initially disagreed were resolved by amicable discussion,” the Special Masters wrote in a memo. “[W]e took seriously the Court’s command that, although we were nominated by the political parties, we would behave in ‘an apolitical and nonpartisan manner.’ Our duty is owed not to the parties that nominated us, but rather to the Court that appointed us and to the residents of the Commonwealth that it serves.”

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State Senator Bryce Reeves, John Castorani, and Derrick Anderson Announce Candidacies for the Seventh District

Three additional candidates announced their run for Congress in the recently, and all of them are military veterans. Former Alabama congressional candidate John Castorani, newcomer Derrick Anderson, and State Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) each announced their runs for the 7th Congressional District seat against incumbent Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07).

John Castorani is a former Army special operations soldier. Castorani deployed multiple times to the Middle East, where he worked in Army intelligence. Castorani continued his service as an intelligence officer after his military career. On his campaign site, he lists his support for border security, the sanctity of human life, and gun rights as his priorities.

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Virginia Representative Spanberger Calls for New Leadership, Does Not Vote for Pelosi as Speaker

Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) was one of just five House of Representative Democrats who did not vote for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) to continue as Speaker of the House in the 117th Congress.

“In a time marked by historically low trust in our government, new voices are necessary to moving forward and achieving real progress,” Spanberger said in a press release. “Last Congress, I kept my promise to vote for new leadership upon my swearing-in – and in this Congress, I remain consistent in my commitment to ushering in new leadership. Accordingly, I did not vote for Speaker Pelosi.”

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Avowed Socialist Lee Carter Mulls Run for Governor

Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas) isn’t shy about his liberal ideologies. “Ask me about Socialism,” his Twitter bio states. The former Marine hinted that he’s considering a run for Governor in 2021 in a recent Twitter comment. If he does run, he will be a hard-core leftist running in a primary packed with other Democrats, likely including former Governor Terry McAuliffe, Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond), Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and Delegate Jennifer Carrol Foy (D-Prince William).

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Chase, Chesterfield GOP Allege Serious Irregularities in Provisional Vote-Counting

The Chesterfield GOP and Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) have filed a court complaint alleging that the Chesterfield Registrar Constance Hargrove prevented a Republican representative from being present at a Friday meeting to evaluate provisional ballots. However, in a Tuesday hearing, Chesterfield Circuit Court Judge David Johnson dismissed the complaint, stating that he has no legal authority in the case, since it involves elected officials, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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Spanberger and Freitas Square Off in Debate on COVID, Health Care and National Security

Incumbent Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Republican challenger state Del. Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper) took part in their first debate Tuesday night, discussing a wide array of ongoing issues on the national and state levels.

The forum was moderated by Washington Week Managing Editor and a national political reporter for The Washington Post, Robert Costa, lasting a little less than an hour.

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Never-Trump PAC Gave $2 Million to Biden in Virginia

Anti-Trump conservative political action committee Defending Democracy Together (DDT) has given over $2 million to the Biden campaign in Virginia, placing them second-highest on a list of outside spending in Virginia.

“They’re just another bunch of loser never-Republicans frozen out of the greatest movement in America,” said Trump Virginia Delegation Chairman John Fredericks. “They want their old Republican party back.”

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State Delegate Nick Freitas Is Ready to Win Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District

At a small rally on the lawn of a local courthouse, Del. Nicholas Freitas (R-Culpeper County) exuded confidence in his ability to win Virginia’s seventh congressional district and reclaim the seat for Republicans.

Freitas is squaring up against incumbent Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), who recently became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019.

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Dave Brat’s Democratic Challenger Apologizes After Threatening Message Left On His Doorstep

by Evie Fordham   Virginia Republican Rep. Dave Brat’s Democratic challenger apologized Monday after her canvassers reportedly wrote “Rot in hell Dave” on a Spanberger flier and left it on Brat’s door this past weekend. Four high school students who were volunteer canvassers for Democrat Abigail Spanberger were responsible, her campaign said according to NBC12. “This type of behavior is completely unacceptable and beneath the dignity of this race, and we have already notified these students that they are not welcome to volunteer with our campaign again,” Spanberger’s campaign said in a statement according to NBC12. “We apologize to Mr. Brat and his family. As someone whose personal, confidential information has already been compromised in the course of this campaign, Abigail believes that politics should never threaten the safety and security of any candidate, their family, or their staff.” Brat’s children found the flier on the doorstep and his campaign referred the matter to local law enforcement, according to the campaign. Police confirmed Spanberger’s campaign’s assertion that “juveniles were involved in the incident,” reported NBC12. Spanberger’s “personal, confidential information” was the center of controversy when the pro-Republican Super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund obtained her “unredacted government background files.” The information was obtained…

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Democrat Abigail Spanberger Unhappy Her Past Was Revealed

Abigail Spanberger

by Richard McCarty   Abigail Spanberger is mad. Real mad – and threatening legal action against the Congressional Leadership Fund. Spanberger is the Democrat candidate for Congress in Virginia’s 7th District. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, recently obtained a document showing that Spanberger worked at the controversial Islamic Saudi Academy in Northern Virginia. Apparently, she didn’t want voters to find that out. How was this fact uncovered? Earlier this summer, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed with the National Personnel Records Center seeking “access to certain records contained in the official civilian personnel file of former federal employee Abigail Spanberger. Specifically, this request seeks records reflecting Ms. Spanberger’s employment dates, annual salaries, title, and position description.” This request was forwarded to the Postal Service, which also employed Spanberger. In its response to the FOIA request, the Postal Service included a document disclosing her employment at the Islamic Saudi Academy. Why might Spanberger have wanted to hide the fact that she worked for the school? The school, which was funded by the Saudi embassy, was dubbed “Terror High” by its critics. It had problems before she began working there, and those problems continued after she left. In 2001, two graduates of the…

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