Category: Politics
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The Louise Lucas Recall Attempt
by Kerry Dougherty This may come as a shock, but I don’t like what’s happening to State Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth. No, this isn’t a coded message to signal that I’m being held somewhere against my will. I honestly believe that attempts to get the courts to remove her from office are misguided. Make that…
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Same Politicians Who Legalized Weed and Casino Gambling Killed Skill Games
by Kerry Dougherty For more than 30 years Virginia’s been breathlessly legalizing vices. It began when voters approved a state-run numbers racket – the lottery – in 1987. Since then, all manner of wagering has been approved for our gambling pleasure. Virginia now has horse racing, off-track betting, sports betting and soon, casinos. But in…
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Virginia Ratifies!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore On this date, 233 years ago, June 25, 1788, Virginia ratified the United States Constitution. The stakes could not have been higher. Ratification by nine states was required for the Constitution to go into effect. When the delegates to the ratifying convention began their deliberations on June 2, they knew that eight…
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The Primary Results — Explaining the Obvious
by Chris Saxman There is no sense doing a deep dive on Tuesday’s elections results because there is not a lot of depth to explore. Somethings are just obvious. In the end: Money talks and bullshit walks. Challengers don’t win – incumbents lose. The leadership of the Democratic Party of Virginia is firmly in control.…
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No Surprises in Democratic Primary
Primary Day Prediction: Va Dems will nominate a ticket today less diverse than the @VA_GOP ticket then spend the next 5 months calling the more diverse ticket racists. — John Whitbeck (@JohnWhitbeck) June 8, 2021 by Kerry Dougherty Well, it looks like at least half of what the former chair of Virginia’s Republican Party predicted…
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Clean Virginia Dissed Again, Dem Takes Dom Cash
by Steve Haner Prince William Democrat Hala Ayala, who had pledged not to accept campaign contributions from Dominion Energy Virginia and took money instead from its opponents, has now accepted $100,000 from the regulated monopoly. Heads are exploding. The anti-Dominion activist group Clean Virginia had given her $25,000 in her bid for the Democratic nomination…
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The One-Sided Decision in the Reversion of Martinsville – the Start of a Trend?
by James C. Sherlock The Martinsville Bulletin, perhaps the best remaining newspaper in the state for local coverage, published a must-read article on the reversion of Martinsville from city to town and joining Henry County. Overview Martinsville’s current city logo, above, was perhaps prescient. Martinsville has been hemorrhaging population, losing more than 18% in the…
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John Warner’s Verse of Manner and Deed
by Chris Saxman It’s not so much what you do, but the manner in which you do it. John Warner has shown us, once again, that we really are better than we let on. The praise of Warner’s tenure as our United States Senator has been universal and consistent – John Warner was a great…
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Democrats Fight Back as Boss Bills Cracks Whip
by Steve Haner Two Virginia Democrats who have been loyal soldiers in the army to turn Virginia green as well as blue are under attack in the June 8 primary for the sin of accepting campaign donations from Dominion Energy. It doesn’t matter to the attacker – our old friend Clean Virginia — that Dominion…
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John Warner, Virginian
by Kerry Dougherty John Warner, who died Tuesday at the age of 94, was an accidental senator. Had it not been for the plane crash that killed Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Richard Obenshain in August of 1978, Warner would have simply been a former Secretary of the Navy who came in second in…
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Ranked Republicans Recapped: Round 2
by Chris Saxman Having recapped the gubernatorial contestants in the Republican Ranked Choice Unassembled Convention, let’s review what happened for the Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General nominations. These two contests, like the top of the ticket, seemed to pivot on the outsider vs. insider narrative. Whereas we saw two successful outsider businessmen plow millions of…
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Change Coming to Virginia Beach Politics
by Dick Hall-Sizemore A recent federal court decision could fundamentally change the politics of Virginia Beach, the Commonwealth’s largest city. Some background is needed first. Virginia Beach has an unusual method of electing its council. All 11 members of the council are elected by all the voters in the city. However, seven of the council…
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Ranked Choice Republican Recap
by Chris Saxman Well, the Republican Party of Virginia actually pulled it off. Their Ranked Choice Voting Unassembled Convention Through the Legs off the Backboard with Twist (which lasted lemme see…one… two…three…no, FOUR days) finally ended and ended well. Not only did RPV manage to pull it off, but their statewide ticket of Glenn Youngkin,…
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Do Not Discount the Anger Over School Shutdowns
by James A. Bacon Arlington County is one of the “bluest” localities in Virginia, exceeded in its propensity to vote Democratic (81% in the 2020 election) only by black-majority cities like Richmond and Petersburg and the Berkeley of the East Coast also known as Charlottesville. (The way things are heading, I soon may be compelled…
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Could Southlake Happen in Virginia?
by James A. Bacon If you ever doubted that school board politics can be a potent electoral issue, look no farther than what happened a few days ago in the Dallas suburb of Southlake. Voters delivered a “resounding victory” — about 70% of the vote — to a slate of school board and City Council…