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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 […]
The Royals of Regent
Although Lynchburg’s Liberty University has grabbed plenty of headlines in recent years, Virginia Beach-based Regent University can more than hold its own as a politically influential private Christian institution. Founded and still run by the 92-year-old televangelist and culture warrior M.G. “Pat” Robertson, Regent now has 11,000 students, 80% of whom are enrolled online. The […]
Youngkin sworn in as Virginia’s 74th governor
RICHMOND, Va. — Republican Glenn Youngkin was sworn in Saturday as Virginia’s 74th governor on the steps of the state Capitol. The political newcomer and former private equity executive is the commonwealth’s first Republican governor since Bob McDonnell, who took office in 2010. The commonwealth also made history in electing Republicans Winsome Sears as lieutenant […]
Youngkin names labor secretary
Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday that former U.S. Labor Department Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management George “Bryan” Slater is his pick for Virginia’s secretary of labor. “Workforce development will play a crucial part of jumpstarting our economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Bryan’s experience and leadership will be critical to the […]
The great divide
Virginia’s business community faces a strangely familiar and yet uncertain state government headed into the 2022 General Assembly session, which begins Jan. 12. Republicans rolled to victories across the board in the November 2021 election as Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin led a GOP sweep of all three statewide offices, and Republicans also won a narrow 52-48 […]
The outsider
A former CEO who has never held political office, Glenn Youngkin will take the reins as Virginia’s next governor, having harnessed political tailwinds to a Republican sweep of statewide offices and GOP control of the House of Delegates. The electoral success ended eight years of Democratic victories, but Virginia’s 74th governor will have to contend […]
In memoriam: Va. Gov. Linwood Holton
The iconic fall 1970 photo of Virginia Gov. Linwood Holton escorting his daughter Tayloe to majority-Black John F. Kennedy High School is the enduring image of the Republican governor’s term. “He was fiercely independent,” says A.E. Dick Howard, the University of Virginia law professor who led the 1970 campaign to ratify a new state Constitution […]
