Tag Archives: Virginia

Axios reports: Virginia has become the first state in the South to ban child marriage. Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill this week that closes a loophole in state law allowing minors to marry if they’re emancipated. Only 11 other states in the U.S. have made it illegal for children to marry without exceptions, according to Unchained at Last, an …

The Associated Press reports: Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed two top Democratic legislative priorities on Thursday: bills that would have allowed the recreational retail sales of marijuana to begin next year and measures mandating a minimum wage increase. In 2021, Virginia became the first Southern state to legalize marijuana, adopting a policy change that allowed adults age 21 and …

Courthouse News reports: Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin broke the record for most vetoes in one term by a Virginia governor, nixing 30 gun control bills Tuesday. “Guns for everybody, no redemption for anyone, suppress the vote and voters and tax cuts for millionaires,” chair of the state Senate Democratic caucus Mamie Locke wrote in a tweet. “Who’s backwards?” Youngkin is …

The Virginia Mercury reports: In the first signals of how he’ll act on legislation approved by Virginia’s Democratic General Assembly, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a largely symbolic bill protecting same-sex marriage but took a more adversarial stance to bills dealing with gun control, reproductive rights and marijuana. Youngkin had until Friday night to take action on 84 bills the legislature …

The Virginia Scope reports: Rep. Bob Good, R-VA05, was forced to leave an event in his district over the weekend where Republicans gathered to support Donald Trump. Good supporters believe the event was doubling as a campaign event for state Sen. John McGuire, who is primarying him for the Republican nomination this year. The event occurred in Farmville at a …

Richmond’s ABC affiliate reports: A former pastor of an independent Baptist church in the town of Warsaw in Richmond County is facing 30 felony charges relating to multiple incidents the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office alleges occurred at the church between 1981 and 1997. Albert Benjamin Wharton, 86, of South Carolina, was arrested in South Carolina at 8:42 a.m. on Friday, …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order barring removal of a memorial to Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. A group called Defend Arlington, affiliated with a group called Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed a lawsuit Sunday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, seeking the restraining order. A hearing has been scheduled for …

The Associated Press reports: The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for felony child neglect by a judge who chastised her for abdicating her responsibilities as a parent. The sentence given to Deja Taylor by Circuit Court Judge Christopher Papile was much harsher than the maximum six-month …

The Lynchburg News reports: The Lynchburg City School Board has voted not to accept a $10,000 grant from an LGBTQ-focused nonprofit, a possible temperature gauge for the board’s upcoming consideration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s model policies on the treatment of transgender students. At its meeting Tuesday, the board voted 7-2 against accepting the grant from the nonprofit It Gets Better …

Axios reports: Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, who along with his twin brother Alexander drew former President Trump’s ire during his first impeachment, is running for Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s seat. If he wins the primary, Vindman could help the Democratic party’s broader attempt to make the 2024 election a referendum on the former president and GOP presidential frontrunner. He is the …

“You are never going to find a right way to do the wrong thing and Governor Youngkin’s policies are wrong. Never in history have the good guys been the segregationist group pushing to legislate identity. “Never in history have the good guys been closely connected with and supported by hate groups like the Proud Boys. And the good guys don’t …

The Washington Post reports: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) will not seek reelection in Virginia’s 7th District next year so she can run for Virginia governor in 2025, according to two people familiar with the Democrat’s plans. Spanberger, who won a third term last year in one of the state’s most competitive swing districts, will announce her gubernatorial bid very soon, …

First, a reminder about this nutjob: A Spotsylvania County school board member accused of increasing pay for the former interim superintendent pleaded not guilty Friday morning. Former school board chair and current member Kirk Twigg is being charged with one felony count of forging a public record and one misdemeanor count of tampering with a county record. School board member …

The Washington Blade reports: Virginia state Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) on Tuesday won her race for the state Senate. The Manassas Democrat defeated Republican Bill Woolf by a 51.5-48.2 margin. Roem is among the many LGBTQ candidates who won their respective races on Tuesday. State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) defeated Republican Sophia Moshasha in Senate District 39 by a 78-21.7 …

Via press release from Alliance Defending Freedom: Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis, an Alliance Defending Freedom case that affirmed free speech for all Americans, ADF attorneys have successfully settled a lawsuit on behalf of a Virginia photographer. As part of the settlement, Virginia officials agreed that Bob Updegrove is free to create wedding …

ABC News has the transcript: STEPHANOPOULOS: You got a lot of Republicans around the country want you to run for president, as you know. You just saw the poll we had that showed both Joe Biden and Donald Trump unpopular. Now, I know you say you’re not going to address this until after the Tuesday election, but I just want …

Richmond’s NBC affiliate reports: Election Day in Virginia is two weeks away and Virginia’s Republican Party is now taking further steps to warn voters of the online sex scandal surrounding 57th District House Candidate Susanna Gibson. Gibson is running as a Democrat against Republican David Owen. The Republican Party of Virginia says it mailed out several thousand explicit political fliers …

The Washington Post reports: Democratic Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia are urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate whether the Youngkin administration violated the Voting Rights Act when it wiped at least 270 fully qualified Virginia voters off the state’s rolls. In a letter dated Friday and released to the media Tuesday, Warner, Kaine and the …

The Daily Beast reports: A die-hard MAGA sheriff in Virginia charged with accepting bribes for deputy badges allegedly sold one to a controversial Iraqi fixer linked to Kurdistan prime minister and accused kleptocrat Masrour Barzani. That’s according to an FBI search warrant affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast, which reveals Virginia-based businessman Haval Dosky was swept up in a federal …

NBC News reports: When Republicans forced a government shutdown in October 2013 in a fruitless quest to defund Obamacare, their Virginia gubernatorial candidate, Ken Cuccinelli, lost by fewer than 3 points. At the time, Cuccinelli’s top strategist lamented that “more than anything,” the shutdown “is what cost us the race.” Ten years later, a new generation of House Republicans is …