Tag: Shannon Taylor

Virginia Political Candidates Look Ahead to 2025

The Center Square
Virginia Capitol

As President-elect Donald Trump is making cabinet picks and Congress orients its new members, Virginia is gearing up for its next elections.

One week after election day, campaign announcements for 2025 are popping up across the commonwealth. Virginia is one of just a handful of states that holds major elections in off years, so while special elections to replace state Sens. John McGuire, R-Goochland, and Suhas Subramanyam, D-Loudoun – both elected to Congress last week – are the most immediate, they’re just the beginning of the political contests Virginians will see in 2025.

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Virginia State Sen. Morrissey Introducing Legislation to Strengthen Good Samaritan Law

Eric Burk

Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) is drafting legislation to strengthen a Virginia law that protects people from arrest or prosecution for substance-related crimes when experiencing or reporting overdoses. The law was originally passed in 2015 to make sure that people needing emergency medical attention could get needed care. Morrissey said that Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor’s office is circumventing the law.

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Eight Commonwealth’s Attorneys Pledge to Not Enforce Pro-Life Laws

Eric Burk
Baby and Father

Eight Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorneys pledged that they will not enforce any laws criminalizing abortions. The pledge was signed by over 60 prosecutors and state attorneys general and expresses concern over attempts to pass laws limiting abortion. The Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) organization published the pledge on October 14, as Congress holds confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

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Henrico Withdraws Funding for Police Oversight Attorney

Eric Burk

Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas has withdrawn funding for a new position in the Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor’s office. The new deputy attorney would have be tasked with oversight of police-community relations as part of a general push in Henrico to make sure citizens’ concerns are being heard and shift towards a community-policing model. Taylor and Henrico County Human Resources had already offered the position to Misty Whitehead, who had accepted the role.

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Herring Quits Governor’s Race, Says He’ll Run for Attorney General Again

Eric Burk

Attorney General Mark Herring (D) will run for a third term, and is canceling his bid for the 2020 gubernatorial race, according to the Associated Press.

In December 2018, Herring told the Washington Post that he planned to run for the governor’s seat, but in February 2019, four days after censuring Governor Ralph Northam for his blackface scandal, Herring admitted to having worn blackface as an undergraduate, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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