Virginia was the eighth-most popular state to move to in the U.S. – and the sixth-most popular to leave – in 2022.
The commonwealth was not alone in this trend. Almost all of the top 10 states that gained the most new residents last year are among the most populous, while eight of those lost the most residents.
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Republicans, who have generally preferred so-called “Game Day” voting on Election Day, have begun to embrace early voting either in-person or by mail—and they are outpacing where they were in 2022 and 2021, according to analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project.
Sixteen days before the November 7 Election Day, Republicans were responsible for 39 percent of early voting ballots and 26 percent of mail-in ballots.
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The 1990s and early 2000s weren’t particularly kind to Southside Virginia’s Pittsylvania County, but some sustained, concerted efforts to turn things around may be paying off.
For much of those decades, the county’s unemployment rate exceeded the nation and Virginia. But in recent years, that has changed. Now, Pittsylvania County’s unemployment rate of 3.1% is significantly better than the national average, though it still lags the state (Virginia has the eighth-lowest rate in the country).
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With less than two weeks before Virginia’s November 7 legislative elections, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin continues to get high marks from commonwealth voters, as the voters are split evenly between Republicans and Democrats on a generic legislative ballot.
Respondents were asked: “Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s job performance?” Fifty-seven percent approve of the commonwealth’s helmsman, with 43 percent disapproving, according to a poll conducted by Founders Insight with 969 likely voters October 14 through October 17. The poll carries a 3.91 percentage point margin of error.
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StopAntiSemitism.org activists confronted a young man after the man tore down flyers the activists had posted around the campus depicting the names and pictures of Israelis held hostage by Hamas after their Oct. 7 raid on the Jewish State.
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Control of the commonwealth’s General Assembly is up for grabs, with 42 percent of voters choosing Democrats, 41 percent choosing Republicans, according to a poll conducted by the Wason Center for Civic Leadership September 28 through October 11 of 800 likely voters.
The poll carries a 4-percentage point margin of error, putting the battle for the state house at a virtual tie.
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Recent advances in quantum computing have caused industry experts to believe it’s becoming viable, and Virginia wants in on the action, according to the latest edition of the Virginia Economic Review.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the state’s economic development authority, used the most recent issue of its quarterly magazine to dive into the field of quantum computing – what it is and potential ways to bring it to Virginia.
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Leading a group of 23 attorneys general, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares filed an amicus brief on Wednesday on behalf of the plaintiffs in Mahmoud v. McKnight, a lawsuit involving Maryland parents and the Montgomery County School Board.
Along with over 30 other states, Maryland law includes an opt-out provision that allows parents to excuse their children from sex education courses or lectures. About half the states require parents to be notified when their children will receive sex education, including Maryland.
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Attorney General Jason Miyares has enlisted the help of the commonwealth’s 123 sheriff’s departments by asking for expired or surplus gear that can be donated to the Israeli military.
“I am shocked and grieved by the senseless terrorist attacks on Israel by the Hamas terrorist organization. The loss of innocent life and disregard for human rights is painfully tragic to see,” Miyares wrote in the letter.
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The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission published an October study that shows Virginia’s self-sufficiency programs largely aren’t producing the desired results and existing child care programs aren’t meeting the needs of many Virginians in more ways than one.
“Self-sufficiency,” as it pertains to the studied programs, is defined as achieving a standard of living for which basic living expenses are provided.
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The Washington-based Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), the Democratic Party’s political operation focused on state legislative races, announced Monday a new six-figure investment in Virginia’s off-cycle state house contests—part of the DLCC’s attempt to nationalize the Old Dominion hustings.
“Republican dysfunction has become a hallmark of national politics,” said DLCC Campaign Communications Director Abhi Rahman. “Their refusal to do the basic requirements of government, including choosing a speaker, shows us that this is all a game to them and they don’t care about the people they were elected to represent.
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The Republican Goochland County commonwealth’s attorney running for another four-year term told The Virginia Star his feud with Sheriff Steven N. Creasey has political significance but has not hindered his ability to prosecute crimes in the county.
The trouble started in the 2019 election, said D. Michael Caudill, who faces Creasey’s endorsed candidate, attorney John Lumpkins, in the general election.
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In a chilling reminder that the integrity of our voting process is under constant attack, there is a serious violation of electoral law under way right now in the Elections Office of Fairfax County, Virginia. The Fairfax County Registrar, Eric Spicer, has allowed a candidate for school board to appear on the ballot although she failed to submit proper petitions with sufficient signatures. Immediate action is required by the county Electoral Board to disqualify her.
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Universal license recognition became law in Virginia on July 1 for 85 different occupations, but some legislators believe ULR should be expanded to apply to more professions in the commonwealth.
ULR helps licensed professionals in approved occupations who are moving to Virginia or live near the border and want to pursue work in the commonwealth. Now, barbers, estheticians and home inspectors, for example, who have held their license for at least three years and are in good standing can easily find work in Virginia without becoming relicensed and potentially going without work for the duration of that process.
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The Spirit of Virginia political action committee run by Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin kicked off a $1.4 million ad buy defending the Republican position on abortion—marking the first serious effort to counter Democrats by any Republican politician since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned both the 1973 Roe v. Wade and the 1992 Casey decisions the created the so-called right to an abortion.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch captured the reluctance of Republicans to mention abortion in its article about the ad.
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The Virginia Beach School Board approved Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s gender transition notification policy Tuesday after being hit with a lawsuit from parents, according to The Virginia Pilot.
In August, the board voted on the policy but was deadlocked with five votes in favor and five against, effectively stalling the proposal, which prompted several parents to file a lawsuit in September demanding the district protect parental rights. The board took up the issue again this week, however, and voted 9 to 1 in favor of adopting Youngkin’s policy, with one member abstaining, according to The Virginia Pilot.
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Twenty-seven attorneys general, led by Florida’s Ashley Moody, are demanding Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “fix the problem you created” and close the catch-and-release loophole DHS is “currently exploiting to implement its mass release policy at the Southwest Border.”
The coalition filed a Petition for Rulemaking demanding that Mayorkas amend DHS’s catch-and-release policies. In their 6-page letter, they point to how “DHS is releasing aliens at a rate of over one million per year, and that does not include the aliens being released on parole under § 1182(d)(5).”
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by Shaun Kenney When Hamas fires rockets, they target Israeli citizens indiscriminately. When the IDF responds, they warn their targets, clear the buildings of civilians by contacting them via cell and warning others… and then fire their rockets. Over the next few weeks, this will be the very real distinction between the good guys and the bad guys in Gaza — and don’t ever forget it. Yet there is a wider question at play here. How long would any American tolerate living as Israelis must from day to day? Why should any Israeli be expected to tolerate that? How many Jewish lives is that worth? Apparently to Democratic State Senator Scott Surovell, about 800. Maybe more. Scott Surovell: RESIGN. There is nothing more despicable than arguing that 800 dead Jews deserved what was coming to them. Yet State Senator Scott Surovell didn’t shy away from precisely that sentiment in the wake of the Hamas attack on civilians yesterday: The division and distraction created by Netanyahu's judicial power grab created created an opportunity for these attacks in the same way House Republicans' civil war creates opportunities for other country's to take advantage American disorganization https://t.co/H7iIEHUtKn — Senator Scott Surovell (@ssurovell) October 8,…
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In the key battleground state of Virginia, legislative elections appear to be in a dead-heat ahead of November, with Democrats leading Republicans by just one point, according to a Monday survey.
For a generic General Assembly ballot, 45 poll of likely voters supported the Democrats and 44 percent supported the Republicans, with 11 percent of respondents undecided, according to a Founders Insight poll. All of Virginia’s 140 state legislative seats are up for reelection on Nov. 7, and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin hopes to hold the House of Delegates and flip the Senate red.
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The Virginia Republican congressman and House Freedom Caucus member, who was one of the eight House Republicans voting to oust Speaker Kevin O. McCarthy (R.-CA-20) Wednesday told radio show host John Fredericks McCarthy lost his gavel because he trusted Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-CA.-11).
“We found out the speaker had a deal all along with Nancy Pelosi to save him,” said U.S. Representative Bob Good, one of the diehard Republicans who did not vote for McCarthy for speaker in January.
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A former female student, who was sexually assaulted by a male student claiming to be transgender, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) for allegedly covering up the attack, according to court documents.
The assault was first reported in 2021 by the Daily Wire after the student’s father, Scott Smith, was arrested for disorderly conduct at a board meeting after he demanded that the board admit they covered up his daughter’s attack. Now the student and her parents, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, Jane Roe and John Doe respectively, are suing the district for $30 million for its “indifference to sexual assault” and failure to protect Jane Doe from harm, according to court documents.
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Virginia’s Roanoke College women’s swimming team held a press conference on Thursday to call upon the NCAA, USA Swimming and state lawmakers to develop policies that organize competitive sports according to biological sex, after a transgender student temporarily joined the swim team this season.
Ten team members spoke at the conference, along with women’s sports activists, former college swimmers Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan, several women’s organizations and the girls’ parents.
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When the votes are counted in Virginia after the November 7 off-cycle legislative elections, in a big way, it is a referendum on the political effectiveness of a mega-wealthy money manager who has devoted himself to Old Dominion politics—and who is not Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Instead, that man is Micheal Bills, who has given more than $15 million in direct contributions to Democratic candidates.
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Despite drought conditions, Virginia crops are likely to produce average yields this harvest season.
Broilers (chickens raised for meat production), cattle and turkeys are the commonwealth’s top farm commodities, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2021. Still, “miscellaneous” crops, including vegetables, barley, mushrooms, sunflowers and other field crops, are the state’s next highest-grossing commodity.
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Nearly a year before the 2024 presidential election, former President Donald J. Trump is running neck-and-neck with the man who replaced him in the White House, Joseph R. Biden Jr., with each with the support of 37 percent of Virginians, according to a poll by the University of Mary Washington’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies of 1,000 of the commonwealth’s adults conducted September 5 through September 11.
“Virginia looks a lot like America as a whole in this survey,” said Professor Stephen J. Farnsworth, the center’s director.
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Old Dominion residents go into the commonwealth’s Nov. 7 legislative elections equally split between Democrats and Republicans, with 42 percent of voters telling the University of Mary Washington’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies poll of 1,000 Virginia adults conducted Sept. 5 through Sept. 11.
“Virginia has rapidly returned to its purple state status,” said Stephen J. Farnsworth, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington, and the center’s director. The poll included 833 registered voters, 771 likely voters, and carries a 3-percentage point margin of error.
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The Republican House Delegate running to represent the State Senate’s 17th District told radio host John Fredericks she counters the Democrats’ pro-abortion messaging with her own adoption story during her Thursday “The John Fredericks Show” appearance.
“I was adopted. It’s something that ever since I’ve been in the House of Delegates in the past six years, I’ve worked on adoption and foster care reform because that’s not just the issue,” said Delegate Emily Brewer, who currently represents the chamber’s 64th District.
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Republicans currently hold a 49-46 majority in the Virginia House, and the Nov. 7, 2023, election will determine control of the state legislature and Virginia’s trifecta status. Virginia’s trifecta status changed from Democratic to divided as a result of the 2021 elections. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) was elected to succeed term-limited incumbent Ralph Northam (D). Democrats also lost control of the Virginia House. If Republicans maintain control of the House and win the Senate, Virginia would become a Republican trifecta. If Democrats win control of the House or maintain control of the Senate, Virginia would remain a divided government.
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A Virginia Republican congressman and member of the House Freedom Caucus told “Meet the Press” hostess Kristen Welker he supports passing a seven-day continuing resolution to keep the federal government operating past the Saturday expiration of Fiscal Year 2023.
“I would support a one-week continuing resolution to keep the government open while we were passing those bills,” said U.S. Representative Bob Good (R.-VA-05), who was one of 71 Republicans who voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the debt ceiling deal the GOP leadership cut with President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
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The host of “War Room” blasted Senate Republicans for going along with a 47-day continuing resolution that will fund the federal government until November 17 because he said it was part of a behind-the-scenes plot to foist Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin upon voters as the establishment alternative to former President Donald J. Trump.
“I told you this 47 days in the Senate is McConnell and the big money donors exactly linked to Youngkin’s bid to flip the Senate in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Stephen K. Bannon to his audience.
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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has recently touted rising employment rates and general fund surpluses, causing some to wonder how much influence governors have over a state’s economy.
A regional economist from the University of Virginia argues that governors have less impact than people might think.
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The Democratic House of Delegates candidate and former cam-girl running to represent the 57th District, which includes Henrico County outside of Richmond, facing Republican David Owen, saw her poll numbers collapse after voters learned she posted sex videos online.
“Susanna Gibson is now viewed very unfavorably by voters, 27 percent favorable and 45 percent unfavorable, and is upside down with most demographic groups,” according to the memorandum accompanying the poll of 325 likely general election voters conducted Sept. 19 through Sept. 21 by the polling and predictive analytics firm Cygnal. The poll carries a 5.41 percentage point margin of error.
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The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority is set to receive $100 million in federal funding for another transportation project designed to improve travel in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Drivers traveling from Fredericksburg into the district should be enjoying reduced commute times due to the installation of the long-awaited express lanes along the I-95 corridor. Soon, construction will begin on the Franconia-Springfield Bypass. This rail bridge will allow Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains to “seamlessly cross over two freight rail tracks, preventing delays and expanding capacity for additional service,” according to a press release from U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine’s office.
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Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin appears poised to overturn his state’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate if his party fares well in upcoming statewide elections.
Virginia is one of 17 states that adhere to some or all of California’s vehicle emissions standards, after former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam enacted legislation binding Virginia to California’s standards prior to Youngkin’s election in 2021. Virginia is one of only two states, along with Nevada, that has a Republican governor in office and is also tied to California’s standards, which dictate that all new car sales in Virginia must be EVs starting in 2035.
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On the Blue Virginia campaign blog, Gibson posted a reminiscence, “Susanna Gibson: Stalking Has Been Referred to as Murder in Slow Motion, Which I Can Personally Attest Is True,” recounting how in 2015, the cam-girl was the victim of a stalker.
I caught the interest of a man who I had never met. He began to watch me. Watching my house and observing my schedule as I worked making house calls as a Nurse Practitioner for VCU.
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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has issued an Executive Directive requiring the state’s Office of Regulatory Management to develop protocol and guidance for the use of artificial intelligence in the commonwealth, both by the state government and educational institutions.
While lawmakers nationwide are eager to understand AI and respond with appropriate legislation governing its use, Youngkin wants Virginia to move faster.
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Two parents filed a lawsuit against the Virginia Beach School Board this week for voting down proposed policies that pertain to keeping parents informed about their child’s identity.
The state’s Department of Education released the model policies in July and claimed that this step would “safeguard parent’s rights.” The school board opted out of adopting the policies in August, resulting in the parents, represented by the Cooper and Kirk law firm, suing to try and force the district to adopt them, according to court documents.
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Most likely voters say that Susanna Gibson, the Virginia Democrat who live-streamed sex acts with her husband online while asking for tips, should drop out of the House of Delegates race in a highly competitive suburban Richmond district, according to a new survey.
While 56% likely general election voters say Gibson, a nurse practitioner and mother of two young children, should drop out of the race, just 30% say she should continue and 14% say they are unsure, according to a survey released Wednesday by the political research groups Founders Insight and co/efficient.
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A diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at a leading university in southeastern Virginia may have violated her school’s policy by using work email to forward a message slamming conservative school board candidates as “hateful” and urging readers to canvass for the candidates’ opponents shortly before early voting begins.
One school board member targeted in the forwarded email told The Daily Signal that she is considering a lawsuit.
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Virginia is 2023’s best state for teachers, according to a study conducted by personal finance website WalletHub.
WalletHub ranked states by 24 weighted metrics in two major categories: Opportunity and competition and academic and work environment. Virginia placed first for the former and eleventh for the latter, but opportunity and competition was weighted more than twice as heavily as academic and work environment because “competitive salaries and job security are integral to a well-balanced personal and professional life,” according to the study.
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Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin executed an orderly retreat in his battle to preserve Arlington National Cemetery’s Confederate Memorial, dedicated by President T. Woodrow Wilson in 1914, and the final resting place of nearly 500 Confederate veterans and their loved ones.
The Washington Post reported that the governor found a home for the bronze statue:
The Board of Visitors at VMI unanimously approved a motion Wednesday to accept the statue for placement at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War at New Market Battlefield State Historical Park — owned and operated by the college — north of VMI’s campus in Lexington. The battlefield is a focal point of the school’s history — it was there in 1864 that its cadets joined Confederate forces to successfully push back Union troops. An enormous mural mounted inside the college’s chapel depicts the VMI corps of cadets’ charge across the New Market battlefield.
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Virginia Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton said Monday she will not be seeking reelection, citing health concerns.
The third-term Democrat previously announced she was battling Parkinson’s Disease and receiving treatments. After further testing amid unresponsive treatment, Wexton disclosed she had been diagnosed with Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy, type-p. The congresswoman said the disease is characterized as “’Parkinson’s on steroids.’”
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Twenty-three attorneys general, most recently including Virginia’s Jason Miyares, have banded together to challenge the Net Zero Financial Service Providers Alliance’s (NZFSPA) commitment to a net-zero future by 2050, saying that the alliance may violate state and federal antitrust and consumer protection laws.
The alliance is a global group of 21 heavy-hitting financial services corporations, including BDO, Bloomberg, the Big Four and S&P Global, that have jointly committed to operating by the terms of the Paris Agreement and achieving its goals.
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The Memorial Day Weekend debt deal Speaker Kevin O. McCarthy negotiated with President Joseph R. Biden Jr. may turn out to be his political Katrina, as House Freedom Caucus member and Virginia Republican congressman told radio host John Fredericks McCarthy had driven House conservatives to begin preparations for forcing a vote on the California Republican’s job security.
“The next two weeks, the next three weeks will be more intense,” Rep. Bob Good said. “More challenging, I believe, than the speaker battle. The stakes are extremely high; the pressure’s going to be tremendous.”
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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the overdue state budget passed in the General Assembly special session on Sept. 6.
After much back and forth over fiscal priorities, budget negotiators landed on a bipartisan agreement with elements for both parties to like and dislike.
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Ophelia has given herself to Hamlet. Yet having placed her trust totally in men — her father, her brother, her lover — she is told by her beloved to remove herself to a nunnery. Or in the context of the Elizabethan age? A brothel — thus exchanging the ideas of nobility and love for pure utility and momentary pleasure.
Realizing the world for what it is — or at least, the world of Hamlet, Laertes, and Polonius — drives Ophelia insane. Having relied upon a branch made of willow, she drowns in a shallow pool, able yet unwilling to save herself and face such a world.
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The Virginia Democratic General Assembly candidate, who starred as a cam-girl with her husband, performing sex acts and soliciting viewers to send her money, was a religious studies major at the University of Virginia.
Susanna Gibson, who uses her maiden name professionally, is described here as a member of Glen Allen’s Virginia Weight & Wellness:
Susanna Payne grew up in Charlottesville, VA, and attended the University of Virginia, where she completed her undergraduate degree in Religious Studies. She then went on to complete her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at Columbia University in New York, before receiving her Master’s Degree in Nursing from the University of Virginia.
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Virginia has given out $817.3 million in improper unemployment benefits over a three-year period.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that 43.8% of the unemployment benefits paid out by the state from July 2019 through June 2022 were improper. Department of Labor reported a 21.52% national improper payment rate over the three-year period. Improper payments are payments that should not have been made or were made in the incorrect amount.
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The Republican state senator, who calls herself “Trump in heels” and lost the June 20 primary for Virginia’s 12th Senate District, told The Virginia Star her reasons for not launching a write-in campaign in the general election.
“Many of you have asked if I’m organizing a write-in campaign this year in Senate District 12. I’m currently not organizing a write-in campaign,” said State Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield County), whose district changed since her reelection in 2019. Chase lost to former State Senator Glen Sturtevant.
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The LENOWISCO Planning Commission is deep into the research phase investigating the possibility of Southwest Virginia becoming the home of one – or several – small modular nuclear reactors, a venture catalyzed by the governor’s energy plan.
Former Gov. Ralph Northam is known for some sweeping reforms he initiated in office, and his energy policies were no exception. Northam’s administration established policies that, like California, outlaw the sale of gas-powered cars in the commonwealth starting in 2035 and demand 100% zero-carbon, renewable energy generation by 2050—five years after California.
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