Anna Bryson

Del. Jones wins Dem primary to run for Hashmi's Senate seat Del. Mike Jones won the special Democratic primary election on Sunday for the right to seek the state Senate seat of Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi.

Del. Mike Jones won the Democratic primary tonight to seek the Senate seat of Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi.
richmond.com/news/state-r...

Miyares ad tells Spanberger voters: 'Say no to Jay Jones' Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares is urging voters who are backing Democrat Abigail Spanberger for governor to reject Jay Jones and support him for attorney general.

Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares is urging voters who are backing Democrat Abigail Spanberger for governor to reject Jay Jones and support him for attorney general.

VDOE can’t substantiate Youngkin’s assertion SOLs were 30-40% harder In response to a public records request from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Virginia Department of Education said: “There are no records from Pearson saying the tests were 30-40% harder.”

Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Virginia’s Standards of Learning tests that students take each spring were 30%-40% harder this year, but his education department cannot provide any documentation that substantiates the claim. richmond.com/news/state-r...

Stoney points to predecessor as Richmond water crisis seeps into LG race Former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney says he wishes the prior city administration, led by Mayor Dwight Jones, had fixed the city’s water plant issues that led to the Jan. 6

Richmond’s water crisis is trickling into the lieutenant governor’s race.

Clean Virginia places six-figure attack ad against Shannon Taylor in AG race The ad faults the Henrico County commonwealth's attorney for accepting donations from utility Dominion. Taylor faces former Del. Jay Jones in the June 17 Democratic primary.

Looks like Virginia Attorney General primary is becoming classic Clean Virginia vs. Dominion Energy battle

Clean Virginia is backing Jay Jones

Dominion Energy is backing Shannon Taylor (and Jason Miyares too)

Lot of money could get spent in closing days of campaign

richmond.com/news/state-r...

Virginia education department violated procurement rules in extending $83M contract The state inspector general found that the former leadership at the Virginia Department of Education did not post a request for bids on the state’s online procurement system.

Former VDOE leadership failed to follow state procurement rules when it extended a major student assessment contract worth nearly $83M, OSIG found. The state’s contract with Pearson is one of the biggest and most politically sensitive in state government.

Most Virginia teachers are women, but most superintendents are men In Virginia, about 86% of classroom teachers are women, yet women make up only about 40% of school division superintendents — the top executives responsible for overseeing entire school districts.

In Virginia, about 82% of classroom teachers are women, but they make up only about 40% of school division superintendents — the top executives who oversee entire districts, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis.

Spanberger: ‘We will raise the minimum wage’ Virginia’s Democratic nominee for governor, Abigail Spanberger, said if she is elected governor, she would sign legislation to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Virginia’s Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger said today if she is elected governor, she would sign legislation to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Youngkin officially names Gullickson new Virginia schools superintendent A former middle school history teacher, Emily Anne Gullickson led the education reform organization A for Arizona before she joined the Youngkin administration in 2023.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week officially named former Deputy Secretary of Education Emily Anne Gullickson as the new state superintendent after naming her the acting superintendent following Lisa Coons’ abrupt resignation March 14.
richmond.com/news/state-r...

Democrats use legislative tactics to force Sears to vote on contraception bill Democrats in the state Senate pulled a political maneuver to force Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears to cast a tie-breaking vote on a bill involving a woman’s right to contraception. Sears, who voted ...

Democrats use legislative tactics to force Sears to vote on contraception bill

www.virginiascope.com/democrats-us...

Senate Democrats move to block two Youngkin appointees A Senate panel removed Meg Bryce, a member the state Board of Education, and Yesli Vega a member of the state Board of Health, from a list of Gov. Glenn

A Democrat-controlled Va. Senate panel today removed Meg Bryce, Youngkin’s latest appointment to the state Board of Ed, and Yesli Vega, a Youngkin appointee to the state Board of Health, from a list of appointees requiring General Assembly confirmation.

Friday morning RVA snow update 2-4 inches starting Friday evening

Friday morning snow update.
Timing still looks the same, just nudging up the totals a bit.
Additional notes at link below.

Final snow odds for Richmond:
• 30 percent: 4-6 inches
• 60 percent: 2-4 inches
• 10 percent: Less than 2 inches

It’s out now, check it out ~wherever you get your podcasts~ @vpm.org

Dem. legislators seek to delay Virginia's school accountability system Legislators in Virginia’s House and Senate will seek to delay the state’s new school accountability system that is set to go into effect next school year.

Democratic legislators in Virginia’s House and Senate will seek to delay implementation of the state’s new school accountability system that is set to go into effect next school year.

richmond.com/news/state-r...

Powhatan School Board sues special ed advocate Kandise Lucas, local father The Powhatan County School board is suing education advocate Kandise Lucas and Powhatan father Todd Skinger in federal court.

The Powhatan School Board is suing firebrand education advocate Kandise Lucas and a local father in federal court following a series of 10 special education complaints filed by Lucas, which the School Board claims are baseless and “harassing conduct.”

DOJ prosecutor running for Virginia Democratic lieutenant governor nomination Victor Salgado, an Arlington County attorney and law professor, is joining a crowded field of Democrats vying for the lieutenant governor nomination.

Salgado resigned from his job as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this month so he could run for lieutenant governor.

Outsider Luther Cifers wins GOP nomination for McGuire's Senate seat Cifers prevailed after 1 a.m. Saturday in the third round of voting at the Goochland Rec Center. The candidates included Louisa Supervisor Duane Adams and former state Sen. Amanda Chase.

Republicans in SD-10 nominated political outsider Luther Cifers early this morning to run in an upcoming special election.

Cifers’ victory on the 3rd round of voting after 1 a.m. capped a six-hour spectacle in which more than 1,000 Republicans gathered in Goochland for a mass meeting.

Registration ended at 6:30 but there are still about 300 people waiting in line outside, and the nomination process won’t start until everyone is inside and signed in.

I’m at the Senate District 10 mass meeting where Republicans will choose their nominee tonight to run for John McGuire’s state Senate seat in a special election. Registration ends 6:30 and people are still lined up outside waiting to register.

Virginia K-12 enrollment plateaus at 1.3M, still down 3% since pandemic Public school enrollment ticked up slightly over the last year in Chesterfield and Henrico counties and the city of Richmond, while dipping slightly in Hanover County.

Virginia's K-12 enrollment has plateaued again with 624 fewer students this year and is still about 37K students down compared with pre-pandemic figures, a 3% decrease. The federal government predicted that the state will continue to lose students.

Del. McQuinn announces reelection bid, faces primary challenge Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Henrico, announced her bid for reelection Tuesday evening.

Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Henrico, announced her bid for reelection standing alongside most of East End Henrico’s elected officials. She faces a primary challenge from Henrico School Board Chair Alicia Atkins.

VanValkenburg asks attorney general to weigh in on Henrico Rosie's The senator is asking Miyares for an advisory opinion to clarify whether or not the legislative history around historic horse racing should cover machines in Henrico County.

A favorable opinion from the AG would help fight against the incoming Rosie's, which the county says it doesn't want.

More than half of all school buildings in Virginia are over 50 years old. It would cost $25 billion to replace or rebuild all of those schools, the VDOE said in 2021.

Youngkin to propose $290M for school construction Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday that he will propose a $290 million budget amendment for school construction.

Youngkin announced today that he will propose a $290 million budget amendment for school construction — a preview into the budget proposal he will unveil Dec. 18 for lawmakers to consider when they amend the existing two-year spending plan.

Following a standoff over some of his predecessor’s appointees, Youngkin had an unusual stroke of luck — a majority of his own appointees on the board early in his tenure. But the admin spent much of its time and political capital on history standards and transgender policies.

Youngkin promised to raise cut scores by 2023. What happened? Gov. Glenn Youngkin promised to raise cut scores - the number of questions needed to get right to pass state tests - to the “highest in the nation” by spring

One of Youngkin's promises was to raise cut scores, the number of questions students needed to get right to pass state tests, to the “highest in the nation” by spring 2023.

But that never happened.

Jack Trammell named Democratic nominee for SD-10 special election No other Democrat filed to run for the Senate seat of Congressman-elect John McGuire. Republicans will pick their nominee in a Dec. 13 mass meeting.

Trammell, a Louisa County farmer, ran for Congress in 2014 against Republican Dave Brat in VA-07. He is a college professor and sociologist at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland and a former Hanover County Public Schools teacher.

Virginia to be one of 6 states to require exit exams for high school graduation Virginia will soon be one of only six states with mandatory exit exams for high school graduation, following decisions in Massachusetts and New York this month to remove the requirement.

Virginia will soon be one of only six states with mandatory exit exams for high school graduation, following decisions in Massachusetts and New York to remove the requirement.

Va. New environmental science standards called 'step in right direction' The Virginia Board of Education is set to approve new environmental science guidelines to the state standards early next year.

The standards say climate change is happening, will have negative impacts & there are steps to find solutions. But there's no explicit connection that humans are the primary cause of climate change because of increased fossil fuel usage & CO2 increases.

GOP to pick nominee for McGuire's Senate seat Dec. 13 in Goochland On Tuesday night the 10th Senate District Legislative Committee decided to hold the mass meeting at the Goochland Rec Center and changed the date to Friday, Dec. 13.

Tonight, Republican leaders in SD-10 picked a Goochland site & changed the date of the mass meeting to select their nominee for McGuire's Senate seat. The mass meeting will happen Dec. 13 at the Goochland Rec Center. McGuire hasn't resigned the seat yet, so a special election date hasn't been set.