Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney on Tuesday officially ended his gubernatorial campaign, instead declaring he will seek the Democratic Party’s nomination to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor.
Stoney will no longer challenge Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) to become Virginia’s next Democratic candidate for governor, and switched races on the same day State Senator Aaron Rouse (D-Virginia Beach) announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor.
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House Republicans appear to be in a better position to capitalize off of a wave of congressional retirements, as there are more Democratic-held open seats in swing districts that pose an opportunity for the GOP to flip in 2024.
There are currently 31 House members who are not seeking another term in the lower chamber, including 20 Democrats and 11 Republicans — nearly all of whom hold seats that are considered safe for the GOP. Four Democratic-held open seats in battleground districts in Michigan, Virginia and California are most likely to flip red, while several other seats are also up for grabs by the GOP in 2024, according to political analysts and electoral rankings.
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With an early declaration from Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger that she will be running for governor in 2025 and Virginia’s one-term policy preventing Gov. Glenn Youngkin from running consecutively, Republicans can only speculate who their candidates will be.
Spanberger has said she declared early due to next year’s congressional races in which her seat will be reelected. She wanted to give interested parties time to prepare a strong campaign to keep District 7 blue.
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Virginia Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Rob Wittman are leading a bipartisan effort to diversify how college savings accounts can be used.
The Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act would increase the number of eligible expenses for 529 savings accounts. Like Roth IRAs, 529 plans are investment accounts allowing individuals to use their after-tax contributions to pay for educational expenses. The earnings from the plans generally aren’t subject to federal or state income tax when used for qualified expenses.
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The Republican field in the race to challenge incumbent U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger for Virginia’s 7th Congressional seat is a crowded one.
Former Green Beret Derrick Anderson, State Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania-SD17), Spotsylvania County Supervisor David Ross, Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chair Crystal Vanuch, Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega, teacher Gina Ciarcia, and Gary Adkins are among the candidates running in the Republican primary.
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The Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the final version of congressional and legislative maps that will enact political boundaries for the next decade.
The process allowed for the judicial branch to determine the districts after the Virginia Redistricting Commission failed to produce any maps.
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The Virginia Supreme Court’s Special Masters released their first redistricting map proposals Tuesday, receiving mixed reactions over what will be a major shakeup for Virginia incumbents if final drafts are similar to the proposals.
The Court chose Republican-nominated Sean Trende and Democratic-nominated Bernard Grofman to draw the maps.
“These maps reflect a true joint effort on our part. We agreed on almost all issues initially, and the few issues on which we initially disagreed were resolved by amicable discussion,” the Special Masters wrote in a memo. “[W]e took seriously the Court’s command that, although we were nominated by the political parties, we would behave in ‘an apolitical and nonpartisan manner.’ Our duty is owed not to the parties that nominated us, but rather to the Court that appointed us and to the residents of the Commonwealth that it serves.”
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Three additional candidates announced their run for Congress in the recently, and all of them are military veterans. Former Alabama congressional candidate John Castorani, newcomer Derrick Anderson, and State Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) each announced their runs for the 7th Congressional District seat against incumbent Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07).
John Castorani is a former Army special operations soldier. Castorani deployed multiple times to the Middle East, where he worked in Army intelligence. Castorani continued his service as an intelligence officer after his military career. On his campaign site, he lists his support for border security, the sanctity of human life, and gun rights as his priorities.
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Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) was one of just five House of Representative Democrats who did not vote for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) to continue as Speaker of the House in the 117th Congress.
“In a time marked by historically low trust in our government, new voices are necessary to moving forward and achieving real progress,” Spanberger said in a press release. “Last Congress, I kept my promise to vote for new leadership upon my swearing-in – and in this Congress, I remain consistent in my commitment to ushering in new leadership. Accordingly, I did not vote for Speaker Pelosi.”
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Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) was one of just five House of Representative Democrats who did not vote for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) to continue as Speaker of the House in the 117th Congress.
“In a time marked by historically low trust in our government, new voices are necessary to moving forward and achieving real progress,” Spanberger said in a press release. “Last Congress, I kept my promise to vote for new leadership upon my swearing-in – and in this Congress, I remain consistent in my commitment to ushering in new leadership. Accordingly, I did not vote for Speaker Pelosi.”
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Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas) isn’t shy about his liberal ideologies. “Ask me about Socialism,” his Twitter bio states. The former Marine hinted that he’s considering a run for Governor in 2021 in a recent Twitter comment. If he does run, he will be a hard-core leftist running in a primary packed with other Democrats, likely including former Governor Terry McAuliffe, Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond), Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and Delegate Jennifer Carrol Foy (D-Prince William).
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The Chesterfield GOP and Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) have filed a court complaint alleging that the Chesterfield Registrar Constance Hargrove prevented a Republican representative from being present at a Friday meeting to evaluate provisional ballots. However, in a Tuesday hearing, Chesterfield Circuit Court Judge David Johnson dismissed the complaint, stating that he has no legal authority in the case, since it involves elected officials, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
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Incumbent Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Republican challenger state Del. Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper) took part in their first debate Tuesday night, discussing a wide array of ongoing issues on the national and state levels.
The forum was moderated by Washington Week Managing Editor and a national political reporter for The Washington Post, Robert Costa, lasting a little less than an hour.
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Friday morning on The John Fredericks Show, host Fredricks welcomed President of Club for Growth David McIntosh to the show to discuss the race in Virginia’s Seventh District between Nick Freitas and Abigail Spanberger.
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Anti-Trump conservative political action committee Defending Democracy Together (DDT) has given over $2 million to the Biden campaign in Virginia, placing them second-highest on a list of outside spending in Virginia.
“They’re just another bunch of loser never-Republicans frozen out of the greatest movement in America,” said Trump Virginia Delegation Chairman John Fredericks. “They want their old Republican party back.”
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Donald Trump’s Senior Campaign Advisor John Pence, nephew to Vice President Mike Pence, visited Virginia last Saturday for two events encouraging citizens to vote.
The “Get Out and Vote” trail made stops in Amelia County and Fluvanna County, following President Trump’s Friday night rally in Newport News.
At a small rally on the lawn of a local courthouse, Del. Nicholas Freitas (R-Culpeper County) exuded confidence in his ability to win Virginia’s seventh congressional district and reclaim the seat for Republicans.
Freitas is squaring up against incumbent Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), who recently became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019.
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by Evie Fordham Virginia Republican Rep. Dave Brat’s Democratic challenger apologized Monday after her canvassers reportedly wrote “Rot in hell Dave” on a Spanberger flier and left it on Brat’s door this past weekend. Four high school students who were volunteer canvassers for Democrat Abigail Spanberger were responsible, her…
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