Tag: Jason Miyares

Pollsters Find Virginia Republicans Prefer Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears over Attorney General Jason Miayres for Governor

Tom Pappert
Virginia A.G. Jason Miyares and Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears

A March poll of Virginia Republicans found Lt. Governor Winsome Sears is the current favorite candidate to succeed Governor Glenn Youngkin in 2025, with Attorney General Jason Miyares currently behind by more than 25 points.

The Cyngal pollsters claim Sears “holds an impressive 28-point advantages over Miyares on the governor’s ballot,” with 43.5 percent of support from Republicans. While Miyares had a distant 15.8 percent of support, a decisive 40.7 percent of those polled said they remain undecided.

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Virginia Attorney General Warns Biden ‘Refusing to Fix’ Illegal Immigrant Crisis After Foreign Nationals Arrested for Child Sex Crimes

Tom Pappert
Illegal Immigrants

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Wednesday blamed the Biden administration for “refusing to fix” the illegal immigration crisis after two illegal immigrants were arrested for sex crimes against children in the commonwealth.

The attorney general made remarks about the illegal immigration crisis following the arrest of Isauro Garcia Cruz and Renzo Mendoza Montes, who are both illegal immigrants accused of crimes against children.

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Commentary: Virginia AG Miyares and Marine Sergeant Major Exchange Roles

Virginia Star Staff

Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares and Sergeant Major Carlos Ruiz, the newest Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps basically changed jobs during recent events in Virginia and on the battlefield in the Middle East.

Known for their fearless service in combat and garrison advising senior officers, political presentations are not part of a Sergeant Major’s job description.

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Miyares’ PAC Targets 2024 Prosecutor Races Across the Country

The Center Square

A PAC founded by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares supported some winning prosecutorial candidates in the most recent elections, and plans to keep building momentum throughout 2024.

The mission of the Protecting Americans Action Fund is to help conservative, “enforce-the-law” prosecutors defeat liberal, “social justice” prosecutors – often backed by billionaire and Democratic financier George Soros – in elections to state offices across the country. 

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Virginia Attorney General Opens Investigation into Radical American Muslims for Palestine Nonprofit

Virginia Star Staff

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced on Tuesday that his office’s Consumer Protection Section has opened an investigation into the Hamas-linked American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) for potential violations of the state’s charitable solicitation laws.

“The Attorney General’s Office has reason to believe that the organization may be soliciting contributions in the Commonwealth without first having registered with the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture,” Miyares said in a statement. “In addition, the Attorney General will investigate allegations that the organization may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations.”

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Court Rules in Favor of Virginia AG Against Get-Out-the-Vote Group

The Center Square

A Virginia court has ruled in favor of Attorney General Jason Miyares against Look Ahead America, who had filed a lawsuit and a motion for an injunction and temporary restraining order against Miyares, alleging interference with the group’s First Amendment rights. 

The group, a get-out-the-vote organization, has been active in the weeks leading up to the General Assembly general election and received a cease-and-desist order from the attorney general’s office on Oct. 10 about some materials it had distributed as part of its efforts. 

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Miyares and Other Attorneys General Side with Parental Rights over School Board

The Center Square

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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Virginia Sheriff Departments Asked to Contribute Excess Gear to Israel

The Center Square

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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Miyares and 26 Other State AGs Request Federal Government End Catch-and-Release Policies

The Center Square

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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Parents File Lawsuit After Virginia School Board Shoots Down State’s Model Transgender Policies

Virginia Star Staff

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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Virginia AG Issues Opinion Backing Model Policies

The Center Square

Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares issued an opinion this week, arguing that the governor’s model policies comply with federal and state nondiscrimination laws and that “local school boards are required to adopt policies that are consistent with them.”

The opinion comes at the request of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has been advocating since the release of the latest version of the Virginia Department of Education’s “Model Policies on Ensuring Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools” for their adoption — to strong resistance from some districts in the commonwealth.

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Major Drug Trafficker in Virginia Sentenced

The Center Square

A man convicted of trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine from Mexico into Virginia was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison yesterday, Attorney General Jason Miyares announced today.

“Cantu-Cantu was the major source of supply for a drug conspiracy that distributed more than 33 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and six kilograms of cocaine into Southwest and Central Virginia through a multi-jurisdictional drug trafficking organization,” according to a press release from Miyares’ office.

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Virginia AG Miyares and Other AGs ‘Demand Answers’ from BlackRock

The Center Square

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is the latest to join a coalition of attorneys general “demanding answers” from global investment firm BlackRock Inc., questioning its ability to manage funds passively.

Since August 2022, three groups of attorneys general representing 24 states have banded together in actions challenging company practices at BlackRock – the largest asset manager in the world and the first to reach $10 trillion in assets – claiming that it has allowed political persuasions to interfere with the investment of its clients’ funds.

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Virginia AG Leads Coalition on Recommendations for Artificial Intelligence Governance

The Center Square

A bipartisan coalition of 23 attorneys general, co-led by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, submitted a letter advising the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on governance policies on artificial intelligence. 

As part of creating policy recommendations on AI, the NTIA invited policymakers and subject matter experts for expertise and commentary.

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Virginia to Receive over $2 Million in Suboxone Settlement

The Center Square

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced a $102.5 million settlement with the makers of Suboxone for alleged illegal monopoly tactics, for which the commonwealth will receive more than $2.3 million.

The settlement stems from a complaint filed against Indivior Inc., the maker of Suboxone, alleging the pharmaceutical company used “illegal means” to switch the Suboxone market from tablets to film. The suit says the company attempted to destroy the market for tablets in an effort to preserve its drug monopoly.

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Virginia and Other GOP States Sue Biden Admin over Recent Border Policy, Claim It’s ‘Encouraging More Border Crossings’

Virginia Star Staff

Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and more than a dozen other GOP-led states are suing the Biden administration over a recent policy to address an expected surge of illegal migrants at the southern border, according to a statement from his office.

The Biden administration rule Miyares is contesting was implemented to mitigate an expected surge of migrants at the southern border when Title 42, a Trump-era expulsion order, ended on May 11 which made migrants ineligible for asylum if they pass through another safe country before coming to the U.S. Miyares, however, argues that the rule has many exceptions that allow migrants to enter the country, including using a phone app to book entry appointments, claiming they face imminent danger in their home country and having their asylum request denied in another country, the lawsuit argues.

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Miyares Urges Biden Administration to Uphold Title IX

The Center Square

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has joined nearly two dozen state attorneys general imploring the Biden administration to protect female athletes by upholding Title IX.

The opposition from the coalition follows a proposal from the Department of Education to allow biological males to compete in female sports. 

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Miyares: Virginians to Receive More than $3.6 Million from Intuit Settlement

The Center Square

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has announced Virginians affected by the alleged “tricks” from TurboTax owner Intuit will receive more than $3.6 million as part of a nationwide settlement.

Miyares says more than 119,000 Virginia consumers were “tricked into paying to file their federal tax return.” The commonwealth’s restitution is part of a nationwide settlement of $141 million to be distributed to millions of lower-income Americans.

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Virginia Attorney General Gives Update on Operation Ceasefire

The Center Square

 Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares held a press conference in Lynchburg to provide an update on Operation Ceasefire, which was initiated late last year in an effort to reduce gun violence and violent crime through a “multifaced approach.”

Joining Miyares at the press conference were several prosecutors and law enforcement officers to discuss their ongoing plan for tackling rising crime.

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Administration Directs Top School to Break Ties with Chinese Communist Party

Susan Berry, PhD

Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera directed a top public high school in the United States to stop accepting financial contributions from entities with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Grassroots parental advocacy organization Parents Defending Education (PDE) reported that, on March 9, Guidera wrote to Dr. Michelle Reid, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), following PDE’s report that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) and the school’s Partnership Fund (Fund) had “received over $1,000,000 worth of donations from Chinese interests since 2014.”

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Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson High School Found Not Denoting Honors Class Designation on Student Transcripts

Susan Berry, PhD

Administrators at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology (TJ) in Fairfax County, Virginia, failed to make Honors classes notations on the official school transcripts of their students, Parents Defending Education (PDE) has discovered.

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Youngkin Rips Fairfax County Schools for Failing to Notify Students of National Merit Recognition: ‘Maniacal Focus on Equal Outcomes for All Students at All Costs’

Susan Berry, PhD

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) said the failure of high schools in Fairfax County to notify students of their National Merit Scholarship program recognition is due to the district’s “maniacal focus on equal outcomes for all students at all costs.”

In an interview Friday with ABC 7News, Youngkin commented on the acknowledgement by seven high schools in Fairfax County that they did not inform students of their recognition in time for their college scholarship and admission deadlines.

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Virginia Attorney General Announces Investigation into Public Schools

Admin

On Monday, Jason Miyares, the Attorney General of Virginia, announced that his office would conduct an investigation into all public schools in Fairfax County, over allegations that schools throughout the area have withheld merit awards from winners in the name of “equity.”

As Fox News reports, Miyares had already begun a civil rights investigation on Wednesday into Thomas Jefferson High School after parents complained that the school’s withholding of such awards negatively impacted their students’ college applications, with the awards not being announced until after most application deadlines had passed.

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Virginia’s Miyares Among the GOP Attorneys General Pressing NAAG to Return $280 Million

RealClearWire

A dozen Republican state attorneys general are fed up with what they view as the leftward drift and self-dealing of their nonpartisan national association and are asking the organization to change its ways and return roughly $280 million in assets to the states.

The National Association of Attorneys General was created in 1907 as a bipartisan forum for all state and territory attorneys general. Over the last year, several of the group’s Republican members have asserted that NAAG has become a partisan litigation machine that improperly benefits from the many tort settlements it helps to engineer.

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Ex-Virginia Election Official Charged with Corruption Related to 2020 Election

Just the News

The former registrar in one of Virginia’s most important electoral counties has been indicted for corruption and false statements related to the 2020 election, Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Wednesday.

Ex-Prince William County voter registrar Michele White is charged with two felony counts alleging corrupt conduct as an election official and making a false statement, and one misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty by an elected official, Miyares said.

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Virginia Senate Bill 1303 Complicates Roanoke County School Board Effort to Make Masks Optional After Youngkin Takes Office

Eric Burk

The Roanoke County School Board voted Tuesday to make masks optional once Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin takes office. On Thursday, they reversed that decision, citing potential legal complications.

“Upon Governor-elect Youngkin’s administration’s canceling of the current VDH public health order, Roanoke County Public Schools will immediately become mask optional and return to pre-COVID medical policies, leaving medical decisions such as testing, quarantining, contact tracing between the doctor and their student patient or the student’s parents and guardians,” Board Member Cheryl Facciani said in her motion.

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State Senator Hackworth Introduces Bill to Repeal Requirement that Virginia Schools Pass Transgender Policies

Eric Burk

Senator Travis Hackworth (R-Tazewell) is seeking to repeal a requirement that Virginia school districts pass policies consistent with the Virginia Department of Education’s (VDOE) Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students. Alongside policy debates about COVID-19, equity, and accelerated learning, the transgender policies were a major source of contention in 2021 as local school boards were forced to comply with state law — even when local officials didn’t agree with the policy.

“Senator Hackworth believes that education decisions are always best made when handled locally among those closest to the children and families served in those schools,” Hackworth Legislative Aide Tom Lester said in a statement to The Virginia Star.

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State Senator Reeves Supporting Lawsuit over Decision to Melt Charlottesville Lee Statue

Eric Burk

Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) is supporting a lawsuit against the City of Charlottesville over the decision to give the Lee statue to a museum that plans to melt it. The lawsuit argues that the city didn’t have a competitive or transparent process to consider offers to take the statue, and additionally argues that melting the statue violates the spirit of state law governing monument removals. According to the lawsuit, the statue has already been delivered to a foundry and broken up, although not yet melted down.

“The City can legally remove, relocate, contextualize or cover the Lee monument, but the General Assembly denied the City authority to alter or destroy it,” the Trevillian Station Battlefield Foundation and the Ratcliffe Foundation state in the lawsuit.

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Republicans Head to Mountain Resort to Celebrate Victories, Plan Governance: ‘No Battle Will Go Unfought by Virginia Republicans’

Eric Burk

Elected officials, activists, and operatives from the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) are meeting in the mountains of Bath County to celebrate their major wins in the 2021 elections and to plan the rejuvenated party’s future.

“Every state party across the country has its signature event,” former RPV Chair John Whitbeck said. “Virginia GOP’s signature event has always been this weekend.”

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Virginia Attorney General-Elect Commits to Investigating Sexual Assaults in Loudoun Schools

Virginia Star Staff

Virginia’s Republican Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares said during a press conference Thursday that he plans to investigate Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) and the recent sexual assaults that took place on its campuses.

“Do you plan to investigate Loudoun County Public Schools and the recent sexual assaults that have happened there?” a journalist asked during the press conference.

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Former President Trump Calls In to Bannon-Headlined ‘Take Back Virginia’ Rally

Eric Burk

Steve Bannon headlined a get-out-the-vote rally for the MAGA base in Henrico on Wednesday evening, where speakers included Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) and Arizona State House Representative Mark Finchem, who is using 2020 election audits in that state in his campaign for Arizona Secretary of State. But the biggest reaction from the crowd came when former President Donald Trump called in for about five minutes.

“Glenn Youngkin is a great gentleman,” Trump said. “You have a chance to get one of the most successful businessmen in the country, and he did it in a quiet professional way, in Glenn Youngkin. I hope — he and others by the way — but I hope Glenn gets in there  and he’ll straighten out Virginia, and he’ll lower taxes, all of the things that we want a governor to do, and I really believe that Virginia is very, very, winnable.”

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Virginia Gubernatorial Update: Youngkin Spends on More Down-Ballot Races, Competing Ads on Crime, Two New Polls Released

Eric Burk

Glenn Youngkin is touting third wave of funding from his down-ballot-focused Virginia Wins PAC, which has supported 73 candidates and disbursed almost $250,000, according to a Youngkin press release. The funding has gone to candidates for General Assembly, local boards of supervisors, city councils, and Commonwealth’s attorney.

“With Virginia Wins, we will bring an entire crop of leaders to take back our Commonwealth and support conservative solutions so that when I’m governor we can deliver strong results for the people of Virginia,” Youngkin said in the release. “Republicans in my beloved home state have been overwhelmed by outside money from George Soros and others backing left-liberal candidates. So now we’re fighting back and investing in building our team for the long haul. Together, we can elect a wave of Republicans, bring common-sense values back to our school boards and city councils, and begin the work of making Virginia the best place in America to live, work, and raise a family.”

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Twitter Temporarily Locks Winsome Sears’ Account; More Gubernatorial Debates and Ads

Eric Burk

Twitter locked the account for GOP nominee for lieutenant governor Winsome Sears over the weekend. Staff said they were unable to log in for a 72-hour period starting Friday, and visitors to her page received a warning message before being given a link to visit the page.

“We didn’t tweet anything controversial, we haven’t said or done anything, except go to bat for the people of Virginia,” Sears spokesperson Michael Allers told The Virginia Star. “I tried to log in, I was blocked. Another person tried to log in, they were blocked. And we lost access to the account for 72 hours.”

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Roundup: Democratic Lieutenant Governor Candidates Debate, Gubernatorial Candidates Spent Nearly $5.6 Million on TV/Radio

Eric Burk

The last day of voting in the Democratic primary is June 8, a week and a half away, but 53,562 people have already voted, exceeding total 2017 turnout of 35,390, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. As the final days of the campaigns approach, gubernatorial and attorney general candidates have had plenty of opportunities to define their public image. However, the six remaining candidates for the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination haven’t had as much time in the spotlight. On Tuesday, the candidates met for a debat

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Youngkin, Miyares, and Sears Call on Northam to End State of Emergency, Relax COVID-19 Business Requirements

Eric Burk

Governor Ralph Northam has rescinded most mask requirements for fully-vaccinated people and is expected to end all social distancing and capacity restrictions on Friday, but Virginia’s GOP candidates for governor, attorney general, and lieutenant governor are calling for an end to the state of emergency and COVID-19 workplace safety regulations.

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Jason Miyares Wins Republican Attorney General Nomination by Narrow Margin

Matthew Hall

Delegate Jason Miyares (R-Virginia Beach) secured the Republican nomination for Attorney General of Virginia late Sunday evening. Miyares narrowly defeated Virginia Beach attorney Chuck Smith in a convention ballot that went for three rounds. Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors Member Leslie Haley was eliminated in the first round, followed by Northern Virginia attorney Jack White in the second round.

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John Fredericks Commentary: Analysis and Predictions for the GOP for Saturday’s Nominating Convention

John Fredericks
American flag flying above a large crowd.

On Saturday, May 8, up to 53,000 Virginia Republicans who pre-registered as delegates will nominate candidates for state-wide offices in November, including governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

It’s been a long time coming.

The nominating process for Republicans, an unassembled convention with about 40 voting locations across the Commonwealth – open for voting from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM – is a convoluted and confusing affair that took months to negotiate and consummate after numerous marathon and agonizing Zoom calls by the Party’s State Central Committee.

It’s been a long time coming.  

The nominating process for Republicans, an unassembled convention with about 40 voting locations across the Commonwealth–open for voting from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM–is a convoluted and confusing affair that took months to negotiate and consummate after numerous marathon and agonizing Zoom calls by the Party’s State Central Committee. 

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Virginia GOP Attorney General Candidate Jack White Gave More Than $5k to Biden in 2020 – Including $2,800 Days Before Election

Matthew Hall
Jack White

FEC records show that Jack White, a Fairfax County attorney who had a solid Q1 finance report, donated to Biden for President twice and the Biden Victory Fund PAC twice during the 2020 presidential election, just months before he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination for Attorney General.

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Middle Resolution PAC Announces Which Republican Candidates It Is Supporting

Zachery Schmidt
Middle Resolution PAC

  The Middle Resolution PAC announced Friday that it is supporting Glenn Youngkin for governor, Winsome Sears for lieutenant governor, and Jason Miyares for attorney general in the Virginia elections in November. “Republicans in Virginia have excellent choices for statewide office this year. As Virginians, we can be proud of…

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Delegate Mullin Introduces HB 2263 to End Virginia’s Death Penalty

Eric Burk

Delegate Mike Mullin (D-Newport News) has introduced HB 2263, which would abolish the death penalty in Virginia. The bill has attracted support from leading Democratic policy makers; co-patrons of the bill are House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria), attorney general candidate Delegate Jay Jones (D-Norfolk), gubernatorial candidate Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas), and 40-year House member Delegate Ken Plum (D-Fairfax). In his 2021 State of the Commonwealth address, Governor Ralph Northam also advocated ending the death penalty.

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Republican Party of Virginia Chooses Convention for 2021 Nominations

Eric Burk

It was a “Motion from hell,” Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) Chair Richard Anderson said during the hours-long discussion of the RPV’s nomination method for 2021. 

Eventually, the RPV State Central Committee voted in favor of holding a convention instead of a primary to nominate the party’s 2021 Virginia candidates.

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Campbell County Passes First Amendment Sanctuary Resolution

Eric Burk

Campbell County is a First Amendment Sanctuary, according to a resolution the Board of Supervisors (BOS) unanimously passed at a regular meeting on Tuesday.

“No Campbell County funds will be used to restrict the First Amendment,” the resolution states. “[No] County funds shall be expended to aid federal or state agencies in the restriction of said rights,” the resolution adds.

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Hundreds of ‘Adorable Deplorables, Chumps, and Uglies’ Show Up to Virginia Beach Trump Rally

Corinne Murdock

Well over 200 people showed up on a rainy, gray Sunday to a Trump Rally supporting their Republican candidates: Scott Taylor for Congress and Daniel Gade for Senate. The rally took place inside the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. 

Virginia Beach attorney Tim Anderson hosted the rally, with The Star editor-in-chief and Trump Virginia Delegation Chairman John Fredericks emceeing.

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Democratic Party of Virginia Invests Heavily in Virginia Beach Mayor’s Race

Eric Burk

Virginia Beach mayoral candidate Jody Wagner out-raised incumbent Bob Dyer in September; Wagner received $321,799, while Dyer received $72,240, according to The Virginia Public Access Project. Furthermore, $167,349 of Wagner’s receipts were in-kind donations from the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA).

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Gov. Northam Fights to Keep Virginia in Perpetual Shutdown

Eric Burk

Only 22 percent of ventilators in Virginia hospitals were in use as of Wednesday. Fifty-two percent of ICU beds were available, according to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. Only 1,003 potential COVID-19 patients were currently hospitalized. However, Governor Ralph Northam’s executive orders surrounding social distancing and mask wearing remain in effect.

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