‘A generational shift’
Updated June 29 Politicians like to suggest every new election is the most important of our lifetimes, but Virginia’s off-off-year state legislative elections in 2023 might actually live up to the billing for once. In November, voters will elect representatives to all 140 seats in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, in the first […]
Regent University founder Pat Robertson dies at 93
Christian Broadcasting Network founder M.G. “Pat” Robertson, a one-time GOP presidential hopeful and also chancellor, founder and CEO of Regent University in Virginia Beach, died Thursday at age 93, Regent and CBN announced. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved founder,” Regent University Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs William L. Hathaway […]
Is ESG another CRT?
In January, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares joined a group of 24 other state attorneys general in challenging a U.S. Department of Labor rule allowing fiduciaries to consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria such as climate change in making investment decisions for retirement funds. The AGs argued that ESG practices work against investment […]
Tax cuts are the way to grow
Virginia’s finances are in excellent shape, paving the way for the General Assembly to agree with Gov. Glenn Youngkin that it’s time to cut taxes in the commonwealth. It’s your money, not the government’s, and the government has collected too much of it over the last few years. In a snapshot, Virginia’s coffers are full. […]
Democrats call out Youngkin on Ford plant decision
Democratic state delegates excoriated Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday for taking Virginia out of the running for a $3.5 billion Ford Motor Co. battery manufacturing plant that would have created at least 2,500 jobs in Southern Virginia. The governor said last week that although Virginia was a finalist for the economic development project, he […]
The main event
Updated Jan. 4, 2023 Like the quote from a possibly apocryphal Harvard Law professor, Virginia legislators can look to their left and then to their right, and one of their peers probably won’t be seated there next year, thanks to a supercharged primary field created by a late 2021 redistricting. And now, 61 of Virginia’s […]
Crowded out
Election years are not the time to make waves in Virginia’s legislature, says Greg Habeeb, a former Roanoke delegate who now advises clients pursuing legislation in the General Assembly. Big changes — the kind the state saw during the Democrats‘ two years of full legislative control in 2020 and 2021 — are expected to be […]
2022 Political Roundtable: Red wave? Maybe a puddle
On balance, Democrats came out winners in the 2022 midterm elections, having staved off a widely forecast “red wave” of Republican victories, according to panelists at Virginia Business’ annual Political Roundtable, held Nov. 9 in Richmond. The idea of a red wave or “red tsunami” was “perhaps … a bit of a myth … largely […]
2022 Political Roundtable: Red wave? Maybe a puddle
On balance, Democrats came out winners in the 2022 midterm elections, having staved off a widely forecast “red wave” of Republican victories, according to panelists at Virginia Business’ annual Political Roundtable, held Wednesday, Nov. 9, in Richmond. The idea of a red wave or “red tsunami” was “perhaps … a bit of a myth … […]
Vested interest
Eleven months into his first term in elected office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin can boast of several economic development successes and a few legislative wins, but one thing a lot of observers are discussing is his national profile and what it could mean in 2024. Youngkin — and his careful campaign to win over not only […]
On the cusp
Once again, Virginia is a significant factor in this year’s national electoral playing field, in which Democrats are jockeying to stay in power and Republicans are anticipated to make midterm gains. Three congressional districts in the commonwealth — all held by Democratic female incumbents — are considered vulnerable to the GOP by differing degrees. The competitive races […]
Balancing act
The Virginia General Assembly returned to a familiar configuration in 2022, legislating with a Republican-majority House of Delegates and Democratic-controlled Virginia Senate for the seventh time since 2000. But while the partisan split was old hat, much else about the session was new, taking place two years into the global COVID-19 pandemic and occurring after […]