The U.S. Capitol on Tuesday began displaying a statue of a teenaged Barbara Rose Johns as she protested poor conditions at her segregated Virginia high school, a pointed replacement for a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was removed several years ago.
An unveiling ceremony of the statue representing Virginia in the Capitol took place in Emancipation Hall, featuring Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Virginia’s congressional delegation and Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger.
Johnson said more than 200 members of Johns’ family were on hand, listening on as the ceremony included renditions of “How Great Thou Art,” “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round” and “Total Praise” performed by the Eastern Senior High School choir from Washington.
“We are here to honor one of America’s true trailblazers, a woman who embodied the essence of the American spirit in her fight for liberty and justice and equal treatment under the law, the indomitable Barbara Rose Johns,” Johnson said.
Johns was 16 years old in 1951 when she led a student strike for equal education at the segregated R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia. The protest, led by Johns and hundreds of her classmates, sought to draw attention to the crowded, rundown conditions of their school — especially when compared to all-White schools in the same area.
The students’ cause gained the support of NAACP lawyers, who filed a lawsuit that would become one of the five cases that the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed in Brown v. Board of Education. The high court’s landmark 1954 decision declared “separate but equal” public schools unconstitutional, finding segregated schools to be “inherently unequal.”
Johns later married the Rev. William Powell and became Barbara Rose Johns Powell, raised five children and was a librarian in the Philadelphia Public Schools. She died at 56 in 1991.
“She put God first in her life. She was brave, bold, determined, strong, wise, unselfish, warm and loving,” said Terry Harrison, one of her daughters.
The statue shows the young Johns standing to the side of a lectern, holding a tattered book over her head. Its pedestal is engraved with the words, “Are we going to just accept these conditions, or are we going to do something about it?” It also features a quote from the Book of Isaiah, “And a little child shall lead them.”
The statue replaces one of Lee that was removed in December 2020 from the Capitol, where it had represented Virginia for 111 years. The removal occurred during a time of renewed national attention over Confederate monuments after the death of George Floyd and was relocated to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
“The Commonwealth of Virginia will now be properly represented by an actual patriot who embodied the principle of liberty and justice for all, and not a traitor who took up arms against the United States to preserve the brutal institution of chattel slavery,” Jeffries said at the ceremony.
Johns’ sister, Joan Johns Cobbs, read from a journal entry by Johns: “And then there were times I just prayed, ‘God, please grant us a new school, please let us have a warm place to stay where we won’t have to keep our coats on all day to stay warm. God, please help us. We are your children too.’”
The Johns piece is part of the National Statuary Hall Collection at the Capitol, in which each state can contribute two statues. The other statue representing Virginia is of George Washington.
National Statuary Hall displays 35 of the statues. Others are in the Crypt, the Hall of Columns and the Capitol Visitor Center. Johnson said the Johns statue will be placed in the Crypt.
Former Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam had requested the removal of the Lee statue. In December 2020, a state commission recommended replacing Lee’s statue with a statue of Johns.
The Johns statue, sculpted by Steven Weitzman of Maryland, received final approval from the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library in July.
Johns is also featured in a sculpture at the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial outside the state Capitol in Richmond. The former high school is now a National Historic Landmark and museum.
“It’s an incredibly profound moment, a moment to stand in a tar shack classroom with a hot potbelly stove as a heater, tar paper walls, shabby desks, right where 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns courageously organized her schoolmates and stood up to the lie — the lie was separate but equal,” Youngkin said of the museum.
Despite saying he is not looking ahead to post-governorship, Youngkin headlined annual party dinners in Iowa and South Carolina, early primary states that would be natural launchpads for a presidential campaign.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin gestures during an interview in his office at the Capitol Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)(AP/Steve Helber)
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin gestures during an interview in his office at the Capitol Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)(AP/Steve Helber)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Almost from the moment that Glenn Youngkin became Virginia’s governor four years ago, the political world has wondered what’s next for a Republican who seemed to keep one foot in the MAGA movement and the other in the party’s traditional country club establishment.
He’s still not ready to say.
Does he want to be president? “I’m focused on Virginia,” he said.
Does he want to lead the Department of Homeland Security? “I don’t play that game.”
What about another role in President Donald Trump’s administration? “I have been incredibly focused every day on what we need to do to transform Virginia.”
During an interview with The Associated Press, Youngkin insisted that he’s not looking ahead to after he’s replaced by Democrat Abigail Spanberger next month. But there’s little doubt that he’s been preparing for a post-Trump future that has not yet arrived, leaving someone long considered to be a potential Republican star without a clear next move.
This past summer, Youngkin headlined annual party dinners in Iowa and South Carolina, early primary states that would be natural launchpads for a presidential campaign. The ex-Carlyle Group executive has a personal fortune that could fuel a candidacy, if he chose to pursue one.
“If Glenn Youngkin runs for president, I’m 100% in,” said Republican Delegate Israel O’Quinn, a longtime Virginia lawmaker. “I think he would make a fantastic president — if that’s what he wants to do.”
Others say he missed his opportunity.
“You can probably find some red sweater vests” — a sartorial signature of Youngkin — “on sale down at the thrift store for $1, and that’s on the record,” Democratic Virginia Sen. Scott Surovell said.
A politician who could energize the MAGA base and court swing voters in a purple state seemed like a promising possibility.
But by the time 2024 rolled around, Youngkin passed on jumping into the race. Trump steamrolled the competition on the way to the Republican nomination, then won a second term.
With Trump back in the White House, Youngkin has been a stalwart supporter. He embraced the administration’s cuts to the federal workforce and other programs, despite its unpopularity among many Virginians who rely on neighboring Washington for their livelihoods.
Richmond-based political strategist Bob Holsworth described Youngkin as someone who went from “MAGA lite to full MAGA” in four years.
“He’s made this calculation: That’s where the Republican Party is, and that’s where it’s going,” Holsworth said. He added, “But at the same time, whether he can actually connect to the MAGA base, I think, is an open question.”
Alex Conant, a Republican strategist, was more confident about Youngkin’s ability to straddle party factions in the future.
“If Trump’s political stock falls, the MAGA movement will still be important,” he said. “Youngkin has shown an ability to appeal to both Trump supporters and Republicans who are the first to fall away from Trump.”
Youngkin faced political promise and peril
Virginia governors aren’t allowed to serve consecutive terms, giving them only four years to make their mark before it’s time to decide what’s next.
Youngkin tried to demonstrate political finesse as governor. He charmed donors with his private equity background and suburban-dad polish. In his office at a Virginia government building, Youngkin had Legos on the coffee table and a basketball prominently on display. Shovels from business groundbreakings lined the wall.
“Virginia is as strong as she’s ever been,” Youngkin said in the interview, nearly identically repeating what he had said to lawmakers this year. “Financially, she’s stronger than she’s ever been. Economically, there’s more opportunity than we’ve ever had, and we’re growing.”
But there were challenges along the way, including legislative stalemate with Democrats who expanded their control of the state legislature during Youngkin’s term. The governor vetoed roughly 400 bills passed by the legislature, and Democratic lawmakers doomed many of his initiatives, such as building a new arena for the Washington Wizards and Capitals in Virginia.
Youngkin’s relationship with Trump ebbed and flowed, too. In 2022, Trump mocked the governor’s name on social media by saying it “sounds Chinese” and accused Youngkin of not appreciating MAGA support. They later appeared to reconcile, and this year the president described Youngkin as “a great governor, one of the great governors in our country.”
Youngkin returned the favor, saying Trump was “making America great again, and along with that, making Virginia great as well.”
But the embrace did not pay off politically. Youngkin’s chosen successor, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, lost by 15 points to Spanberger last month. Republicans also lost 13 seats in the House of Delegates.
Democrats notched similar victories in New Jersey, demonstrating momentum they hope will carry them to a blue wave in the midterms.
Democrats have been gaining ground in Virginia
Youngkin pushed back on the idea that Trump’s agenda — and his support of it — contributed to the losses, arguing that the 43-day federal government shutdown “became a cacophony around everything” for voters.
He also rebuffed the idea that Trump’s absence on the campaign trail contributed to Virginia Republicans’ defeat. The president did not campaign in the state and didn’t endorse Earle-Sears by name.
“He described her as an excellent candidate,” Youngkin said of Trump’s endorsement. “He described her opponent as a bad candidate. He did two tele-town halls, which is one more than he did for me when I was running.”
Youngkin may not blame Trump for Virginia’s losses, but some of Trump’s most loyal allies have faulted the governor.
“Glenn Youngkin, you just ended your political career last night,” Steve Bannon’s WarRoom posted on X following the November election. “You destroyed the Republican Party in Virginia for a GENERATION.”
He said Youngkin shouldn’t have backed Earle-Sears, who once described Trump as a liability to the party.
Meanwhile, Virginia Democrats also credit Youngkin for their November victories, arguing he leaned too hard to the right while leading a purple state.
“I think he’s gonna look in the mirror and, and regret his embrace of all the MAGA nonsense,” said Surovell, the state Senate majority leader.
The Virginia Supreme Court has refused to take up a case that suspended multiple appointees by Gov. Glenn Youngkin from serving on three Virginia university governing boards.
This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury.
The Virginia Supreme Court has refused to take up a case that suspended multiple appointees by Gov. Glenn Youngkin from serving on three Virginia university governing boards.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares appealed to the court after the Fairfax County Circuit Court suspended eight governing board appointments from serving at George Mason University, Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia. The 15-member Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections rejected 22 appointments in the past year and the issue has been one of several that rocked Virginia’s higher education landscape in 2025.
The court heard arguments from the attorney general’s office, representing the three governing board rectors, asking for a temporary injunction be lifted in order for appointees to serve less than three weeks ago. Attorneys representing the nine Democratic state senators who requested the temporary injunction also made arguments asking for the lower court’s order to be upheld.
In its order on Monday, the high court said the case must be allowed to continue and that it will not review the temporary decision, but the rectors can appeal the overall final outcome later.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, posted on social media that the Supreme Court of Virginia “affirmed the Senate P&E Committees authority to reject gubernatorial nominations because MAGA rules don’t work in Virginia where we still have a rule of law that Youngkin and Miyares have to follow.”
In Virginia, when the governor nominates a candidate to a board or commission to a seat, they need the General Assembly’s approval. During each legislative session, it is common practice for the General Assembly to vote on the list of gubernatorial candidates in both chambers.
However, senators rejected the appointees outside of the regular session, a move they said would protect Virginia’s institutions of higher learning from partisan attacks but that Youngkin and Miyares said flouted the law.
The attorney general’s office did not immediately comment or respond to what its next step will be following the Supreme Court’s decision.
The attorney general’s office had previously argued that the circuit court’s decision was incorrect, asserting that the court lacked jurisdiction and that the vote by the senate committee did not meet the requirement for a final refusal because there were other ways for appointments to be confirmed.
However, the senators, some of whom serve on the committee, argued that said the committee’s decision to block the board nominees was a “definitive” refusal.
No trial date has been set yet in Fairfax County. It’s uncertain when the case will continue, as Youngkin’s administration prepares to transition out of power and with Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger’s team being sworn in mid-January.
The Mercury contacted Attorney General-elect Jay Jones for comment on if his office would continue to pursue the case once he is in office, but has not received a response.
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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin responded directly to Abigail Spanberger with a letter saying her request to pause U.Va.’s search for a president is possibly damaging to the university.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin responded directly to Abigail Spanberger in a letter, calling her request to pause the University of Virginia’s search for a president “meritless,” precipitous and possibly damaging to the university.
The Republican governor wrote that when he spoke with Spanberger, Virginia’s Democratic governor-elect, earlier in the week, she had briefly mentioned sending a letter about the school, “but moved to a different topic so quickly that it seemed unimportant at the time.”
In his response to Spanberger, Youngkin wrote that “by acting precipitously, you may have inflicted significant damage on the university you profess to love.”
Former university President Jim Ryan resigned during the summer over pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration and conservative critics over the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Spanberger said federal overreach that led to Ryan’s departure went unchallenged by the University of Virginia board.
Youngkin, however, wrote that no Trump administration officials nor current board leadership made Ryan resign.
In the months following his resignation, the university struck a deal with the White House to abide by guidance forbidding discrimination in admissions and hiring in order to end the Justice Department’s investigations into the school.
“Over the past six months, the actions of the Board of Visitors have severely undermined the public’s and the University community’s confidence in the Board’s ability to govern productively, transparently, and in the best interests of the University,” Spanberger wrote in her letter Wednesday.
In his letter to Spanberger, Youngkin questioned whether she knew the details of the settlement.
“Had you waited until your transition team had the opportunity to learn all the facts behind this settlement, I believe you would agree with the many national experts who view it as extraordinarily fair and favorable to the University and Commonwealth,” he wrote.
Youngkin also wrote that Spanberger’s assertion that the composition of the board is not in statutory compliance is “meritless” and has been rejected by the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Spanberger had written to the board that five of its members have not been confirmed by the General Assembly, and questioned the legitimacy of its search.
“It’s dangerous to wrongfully disparage committed individuals who volunteer to serve on university boards and the serious work they do. Further, the Governor of the Commonwealth should speak thoughtfully and honor the service of those individuals,” Youngkin wrote.
In her letter to UVA’s board, Spanberger said she’ll be ready to select appointees soon after her inauguration on Jan. 17. They are likely to be pushed through quickly by the General Assembly, as both chambers are controlled by Democrats.
But Youngkin reminded her there’s a transition period for a reason.
“There is just one Governor of Virginia at any time. This ensures that the Commonwealth’s operations can continue unimpeded. Communicating with state agencies or boards of visitors is confusing and is inconsistent with proven, professional protocols. And certainly, efforts to bully or micromanage are inappropriate,” Youngkin wrote to Spanberger. “It’s regretful that I must communicate to you in this manner, but your correspondence left no other choice.”
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — As the polls closed on Tuesday across Virginia, it quickly became clear it was a night of firsts: Voters overwhelmingly elected a slate of candidates who broke race and gender barriers in contests considered among the most consequential nationally.
Republicans in Virginia also fielded a historically diverse statewide ticket that would have set records.
The results come as President Donald Trump has made his opposition to diversity initiatives a cornerstone of his platform, dismantling federal civil rights programs that sought to rectify a complicated history of racial discrimination. He has justified those moves by saying that race and gender equity programs overcorrect for past wrongs and foment anti-American sentiment — a position shared among many conservatives across the country.
Still, Virginia’s election results — in tandem with high-profile Democratic victories across the U.S. — call into question whether Trump’s staunch positions on race, gender and gender identity are resonating with voters.
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Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday, giving Democrats a key victory heading into the 2026 midterm elections and making history as the first woman ever to lead the Commonwealth. Her victory was decisive, with about 57% of the vote.
The race was bound to make history regardless of who came out on top: Spanberger was running against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, marking the first time two women were the front-runners in a general election for governor.
In her acceptance speech, Spanberger recalled how her husband said to their three daughters, “Your mom is going to be the governor of Virginia.”
“And I can guarantee you those words have never been spoken in Virginia, ever before,” she said, beaming.
Spanberger said her victory meant Virginians were choosing “pragmatism over partisanship” and “leadership that will focus on problem solving and not stoking division.”
First Muslim woman elected statewide
Democrat Ghazala Hashmi defeated Republican John Reid in the race for lieutenant governor, becoming the first Indian American woman to win statewide office in Virginia. She is also the first Muslim woman to be elected statewide in the U.S.
Firsts are not new to Hashmi. She was the first Muslim woman elected to the Virginia Senate five years ago. Hashmi, a former English professor born in India, said at the time that her opposition to Trump’s Muslim ban motivated her to break into politics.
This time around, her campaign for lieutenant governor focused less on her identity and more on key issues, such as health and education. Still, some said her identity was a prominent factor in the race. Reid recently took to social media to tie Hashmi to Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim elected mayor of New York City, despite marked differences in their platforms, nationalities and ages — a comparison critics said was Islamophobic.
Like the governor’s race, the battle for lieutenant governor would have been historic either way: Reid was the first openly gay man nominated to statewide office in Virginia, and he faced hurdles on the trail in connection to his sexuality. GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked him to leave the ticket after opposition research linked him to a social media account with sexually explicit photos of men. At the time, Reid said he felt betrayed.
In her victory speech, Hashmi said her candidacy reflected progress in the state and nation.
“My own journey — from a young child landing at the airport in Savannah, Georgia, to now being elected as the first Muslim woman to achieve statewide office in Virginia and in the entire country — is only possible because of the depth and breadth of opportunities made available in this country and in this commonwealth.”
Son of civil rights pioneers to be attorney general
Democrat Jay Jones defeated Republican incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares, becoming the first Black person elected as top prosecutor in the former capital of the Confederacy.
Jones, a former Virginia delegate, comes from a long line of racial-justice trailblazers — a fact he emphasized throughout his campaign and after his victory.
“My ancestors were slaves. My grandfather was a civil rights pioneer who braved Jim Crow,” Jones said Tuesday. “My mother, my uncles, my aunts endured segregation, all so that I could stand before you today.”
That said, Jones’ victory is as much a referendum on dissatisfaction with the government shutdown and Trump’s mass firings, which have hit Virginia especially hard due to its high concentration of federal workers.
Ever since Democrat Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, every time a new president has been elected, Virginia has voted in a governor the following year from the opposite party.
Jones’ win comes after Miyares, elected in 2021, became the first Latino to hold a Virginia statewide office.
Less than 12 hours after Democrats swept Virginia’s statewide offices and expanded their majority in the House of Delegates, Gov. Glenn Youngkin addressed reporters.
This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks at a post-election news conference in Richmond, Va., on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)(AP/Allen G. Breed)
Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks at a post-election news conference in Richmond, Va., on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)(AP/Allen G. Breed)
Less than 12 hours after Democrats swept Virginia’s three statewide offices and expanded their majority in the House of Delegates to at least 64 of 100 seats, Gov. Glenn Youngkin addressed reporters and administration officials in a packed meeting room at the Patrick Henry Building in Richmond’s Capitol Square Wednesday morning.
He used the appearance to reflect on his four-year term and begin publicly shaping how he wants his legacy to be viewed.
Youngkin began by congratulating Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and offering practical cooperation.
“She will build her team, she will run her transition. And we will support her in that process, so that she and her team can hit the ground running,” he said.
Legacy claims and record setting
Youngkin emphasized what he described as his administration’s achievements.
“We came in four years ago with an incredibly ambitious agenda. And we have worked diligently, tirelessly, and we’ve accomplished an extraordinary amount.”
He hailed a Virginia with “record job growth, record investment, and record opportunity,” a safer state, and major business commitments.
“There’s $143 billion of commitments from companies to expand in the commonwealth. That’s as much as the last five administrations combined. That underpins another 85,000 jobs and 40,000 construction jobs. At the end of the day, that’s what we have to focus on,” Youngkin said.
The governor also reiterated his signature belief that economic growth is Virginia’s mechanism for opportunity.
“And if I have one great piece of advice for anyone who is serving as governor, whether it’s Gov.-elect Spanberger, or 10 governors from now, it’s we must continue to drive economic prosperity through job creation. ”
Reading the election results
Spanberger’s win and the capture of lieutenant governor and attorney general offices by state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, and former delegate Jay Jones, alongside the House gains, triggered numerous interpretations of the public’s message.
Youngkin declined to assign his party’s losses to his own performance, instead citing external factors. At Wednesday’s briefing, a reporter asked the governor whether the outcome in Virginia was a repudiation of President Donald Trump’s policies, especially around federal workforce issues.
“There are going to be pundit after pundit after pundit who will un-pick the results,” Youngkin pushed back. “I, as a governor, will today do exactly what I knew I would be doing today, and that is preparing to finish strong.”
He pointed directly to the federal government shutdown and its accompanying economic concerns.
“It is a big, big challenge, I have been vocal about it,” he said. “I think that we have 330,000 federal workers in the commonwealth of Virginia, and to have this shutdown extending as the longest shutdown ever, has been extraordinary for so many Virginians. People are going without paychecks, they’re worried about mortgages and rents. They’re worried about how they’re going to feed their families.”
On whether Republicans lost because his administration was viewed differently than he believes, Youngkin insisted he believes that “Virginians thoroughly support what we’ve been doing.”
He cited the surpluses and tax relief: “We’ve run $10 billion of surpluses, and we’ve had $9 billion of tax relief.”
Scandal and future prospects
Youngkin didn’t shy from commenting on the controversy surrounding Jones, the incoming attorney general, whose 2022 text exchange with a Republican lawmaker in which he fantasized about shooting then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert and the death of his children became a campaign issue.
“They were abhorrent, and I think that they once again reiterate that you can’t come into this job if you are espousing death on a political enemy, the death of children, and the death of law enforcement. And I believe… that disqualifies him for the job,” Youngkin said.
He added that the next administration “will have to figure out how to deal with that, because they have law enforcement that they’re going to need to make sure feel good about doing the job… and that parents, with children, feel safe.”
When asked how the election results might influence his own political trajectory, Youngkin remained focused on the job at hand and did not offer any clarity on plans beyond his term.
“My focus has been, will be, and will continue to be on the commonwealth of Virginia up until the last second.”
The Democratic rally cry
Also on Wednesday, the Democratic House majority held a news conference at the nearby General Assembly Building.
Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, declared the pickup of 13 seats “is what a mandate looks like.”
“We even ran ahead of the top of the ticket and a number of seats, demonstrating the strength of our campaigns. This is the largest democratic majority we’ve won in more than three decades,” Scott said.
He blamed the GOP’s’ widespread defeat on the party’s failure to push back against the president’s policies.
“Until Republicans decide to stand up to Donald Trump and to MAGA extremism, this will continue to happen,” Scott said.
David Richards, a political-science professor at University of Lynchburg, described the results as “pretty eye-opening,” which set the stage for the 2026 midterm elections.
“I give a lot of credit to Spanberger for staying on point with the pocket-book issues that voters seemed concerned about,” Richards said, adding that the GOP’s emphasis on culture-war themes “did not work as well, so they will have to find another angle.”
He noted Youngkin could face headwinds in his future political ambitions: “Youngkin may have some trouble ahead, if he is blamed for the Virginia loss.”
House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, stands with Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, chair of the House Privileges and Elections Committee, during a Democratic news conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, celebrating the party’s sweep of statewide races and its newly expanded majority in the House of Delegates. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
National ripple effects
The Democratic thrust in Virginia is part of a broader wave.
Trump remained largely silent on social media following defeats in Virginia, New Jersey and New York, but addressed Republican senators Wednesday morning at a breakfast in Washington, D.C.
“Last night, it was, you know, not expected to be a victory… it was very Democrat areas. But I don’t think it was good for Republicans,” he said.
“I’m not sure it was good for anybody… I thought we’d have a discussion after the press leaves about what last night represented and what we should do about it. And also about the shutdown and how that relates to last night. I think if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans, and that was a big factor.”
And on X, formerly Twitter, longtime Virginia GOP strategist and Trump’s 2024 campaign manager Chris LaCivita blamed the Republican defeat on Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican gubernatorial nominee who lost to Spanberger by nearly 15 points.
“A Bad candidate and Bad campaign have consequences — the Virginia Governors race is example number 1,” LaCivita wrote late Tuesday.
Advocacy voices join the chorus
Major national and state advocacy groups weighed in as well.
The Democratic National Committee’s Ken Martin said in a statement that “across Virginia, commonwealth voters made it clear what they were looking for from their next governor: lower costs, good jobs, affordable health care, and strong schools. … Those same voters made it clear who they want to lead: Abigail Spanberger.”
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee’s Heather Williams called the outcome “an earthquake election in Virginia … Democrats ran winning campaigns across every corner of the state, clinching nearly every target race and netting the biggest House majority in nearly 40 years.”
From the civil-rights side, the ACLU of Virginia’s Mary Bauer emphasized that the election was “a critical step to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of everyone in Virginia … Voters delivered decisive wins to pro-civil-rights candidates up and down the ballot.”
Meanwhile, the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund’s April Greene emphasized that abortion care – one of the key issues in the 2025 election cycle — is “a divine, human right. This victory is proof that our communities believe it too.”
And from gun-safety advocates, the Giffords PAC described the sweep as “a major victory for public safety in Virginia. With last night’s wins and the election of a gun-safety champion in Governor-elect Spanberger, we know a safer future is coming to the commonwealth.”
As Youngkin winds down his term, his tone Wednesday was firm, forward-looking and intent on defining his legacy — even in the face of a partisan shift in Richmond.
The outgoing governor framed his remaining months as an opportunity to “finish strong” and hand off a stronger commonwealth.
“We have worked together in order to meet extraordinary moments,” he said.
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Abigail Spanberger on the campaign trail. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Virginia’s off-year elections have predictably lined up as a negative referendum on Donald Trump’s fractious second-term agenda. But while the Democrats’ gubernatorial candidate, the centrist congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, looks to be cruising toward a comfortable win over Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, there’s trouble two spots downballot. A scandal involving newly unearthed 2022 text messages from attorney general nominee Jay Jones has roiled his close race against incumbent Republican Jason Miyares and discomfited his ticket-mates (statewide candidates in Virginia run separately but often campaign together). While Spanberger and the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, Ghazala Hamshi, have denounced the texts, which wished terrible deaths for a Republican legislative leader and his family, they haven’t asked Jones to withdraw from the race as the GOP and its allied media have predictably demanded.
So Virginia Democrats have been thrown off-balance, and limited polling shows Jones in serious trouble. Hamshi’s race against Republican John Reid for the LG position is also very close. But Republican hopes that the scandal would derail Spanberger’s campaign don’t look to be realistic at all. For one thing, Jones’s troubles are mostly just convincing voters to skip the AG race rather than voting Republican, which mitigates the damage to his own candidacy and isolates the fallout. For another, Donald Trump is just a lodestone for the GOP that’s too difficult to throw off, as veteran Virginia political reporter Jeff Schapiro recently observed:
The ongoing federal government shutdown, triggered Oct. 1 by a partisan standoff in Congress, and preceded by a wave of DOGE-induced layoffs and retirements of government workers that, starting this past winter, fueled a steady increase in joblessness into the final months of the Virginia campaign. These spikes are most evident in Washington’s Northern Virginia suburbs but they are flaring elsewhere in the state.
Further, Trump’s tariffs are eroding by nearly 10% cargo traffic through the state’s gateway to the world, the Port of Virginia, a pillar of the coastal Virginia economy along with surrounding military bases and related federal civilian employment.
Add in unhappiness with Trump’s mass-deportation overreach among Virginia’s sizable population of immigrant citizens, and it’s clear the usual swing against the party controlling the White House (which gave the commonwealth Republican governor Glenn Youngkin four years ago) has been intensified this year. Spanberger has also run a highly disciplined campaign, fueled by a big funding advantage over Sears-Earle. So while Virginia experienced a significant swing toward the GOP in 2024 (Kamala Harris won it by just under six points; Joe Biden won it by ten in 2020), it’s still a blue state in a blue mood over a Republican presidency.
Aside from the Jones brouhaha, there’s one other late development that some Republicans think might help them: a surprise decision by Democratic legislative leaders to undertake a long-shot effort to get a constitutional amendment enacted so they can draw up a favorable congressional map prior to next year’s midterms. But since over a million Virginians have already voted early, and the gerrymandering process is extremely tentative and complex, it seems unlikely to have an impact other than on the margins.
Gubernatorial polls show no late Republican trend. The most recent publicly released survey, from Roanoke College, showed Spanberger with a ten-point lead over Earle-Sears (51 percent to 41 percent). The RealClearPolitics polling averages have the Democrat leading by 7.2 percent. The only poll indicating a really close race was a mid-October finding from the decidedly pro-GOP combine of Trafalgar and Insider Advantage, and even they gave Spanberger a three-point advantage. Jay Jones may or may not go down, but barring a shocker, Virginia will be governed by Democrats, almost certainly in a trifecta, next year.
One historical note worth mentioning: no matter who wins the race, Spanberger will be the first woman to serve as governor or senator of Virginia. That will leave Pennsylvania as the only state that has never broken the male monopoly on these positions.
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger faced off for the first and only time on the debate stage Thursday night in Virginia’s high-stakes gubernatorial race.
It was a fiery affair in which Earle-Sears, who is trailing in the race, went on the offensive from the very beginning, repeatedly interrupting Spanberger and asking her several direct questions.
Spanberger, who largely avoided addressing her Republican opponent directly, sought to cast a bipartisan tone at times. Over the course of the hourlong affair, the candidates sparred over violent rhetoric, the federal shutdown and transgender children. The economy was largely an afterthought.
This combo image shows Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, left, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, right.
AP
Virginia is one of just two states choosing governors this November, and its election is often seen as a bellwether for the party in power across the Potomac River ahead of midterm elections next year.
Washington politics are especially relevant this year in Virginia, as President Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce and Congress’ current government shutdown have an outsize impact in a state filled with federal employees and military personnel.
Here are some takeaways from the debate at Norfolk State University:
Perhaps even more than policy differences, the candidates’ personal styles shaped the hourlong debate.
Earle-Sears, with her only chance to confront Spanberger before Election Day, was far more aggressive. She repeatedly turned toward Spanberger and addressed her by her first name, interrupting almost every answer, despite being admonished by the moderators over and over.
The approach put the Democrat on the defensive after months of running the race largely on her own terms as the perceived frontrunner.
Spanberger, while she criticized her opponent at times, faced forward throughout, avoided eye contact, and only rarely addressed Earle-Sears directly. She did not speak during Earle-Sears’ answers, even when her opponent asked direct questions, which happened often.
Earle-Sears also told Spanberger she “should have stayed in Congress” and frequently questioned her truthfulness.
“Don’t lie like that, Abigail!” she shouted at one point.
The interruptions lasted up until the very final moments of the debate when the moderators cut off the microphones.
A scandal shaped the very beginning of the debate, although it was not a scandal directly involving either candidate onstage.
Instead, it was the Democratic candidate for attorney general, Jay Jones. He has been heavily criticized in recent days following last week’s publication of text messages from 2022 in which he suggested that Virginia’s former Republican House speaker get “two bullets in the head.”
While Spanberger had previously shared “disgust” about Jones’s words, heading into Thursday night’s debate she had not called for him to drop out of the race, while Mr. Trump and Earle-Sears publicly pressed Jones to do so. Over and over again Thursday night, Earle-Sears pushed Spanberger on whether she would do the same.
Earle-Sears, in her first comment of the debate, took an unrelated question about the state’s vehicle tax and questioned Spanberger over the Jones issue. When asked by a moderator about Jones, Spanberger quickly denounced the text messages, as she had soon after they became public last week. But she was evasive when asked whether she continued to endorse Jones. After being pressed about the topic, Spanberger tried to distance herself from Jones and said it was up to voters to make an individual decision.
“Abigail, what if he said it about your three children? Is that when you would say it’s time to get out of the race?” Earle-Sears asked. She later added of Spanberger, “She has no courage.”
Spanberger had largely avoided the issue in the days leading up to the debate, aside from issuing a public statement condemning the texts. But facing repeated questions from the moderators and her opponent, she was forced to weigh in. The Democratic congresswoman declined to say whether Jones should leave the race, saying it’s up to voters to make their own decision.
“Are you saying political murder is OK?” Earle-Sears charged.
“Once again, I have denounced political violence, political rhetoric, no matter who is leading the charge,” Spanberger responded, pointing to violent rhetoric from Mr. Trump that Earle-Sears declined to denounce and trying to sound a bipartisan tone.
“You routinely refer to me as your enemy. I’m not your enemy. You are not my enemy. We are political opponents,” Spanberger said.
In the race to succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who under state law cannot run for another term this year, Spanberger has been viewed as having a sizable advantage. But statewide races in Virginia can become surprisingly close by election day, and Jones’ words have been met with bipartisan backlash and helped galvanize Republican momentum.
The clash comes as threats of political violence have escalated across the country following the shooting deaths of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
The showdown over the shutdown flared Thursday night.
The federal shutdown, which has been underway for more than a week, is especially prevalent in Virginia, home to roughly 315,000 federal workers. Even before much of the federal government closed its doors last week, many Virginians were already affected by Mr. Trump’s spring push to slash federal jobs and his ongoing threats to impose more mass firings.
Earle-Sears, a vocal Trump supporter, had perhaps the more difficult challenge during the debate. She argued that she is best positioned to strengthen the state’s economy, even as she was reluctant to criticize the Republican president’s job cuts in the state.
She declined to criticize Mr. Trump or call on him to end the shutdown when asked directly by the moderators Thursday.
Instead, she blamed Democrats for the mess and called on Spanberger to push Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, to vote in favor of a spending bill that would end the impasse with the Republican-controlled Congress.
Spanberger complied.
“I would encourage everyone, our Democratic senators, our Democratic House members, our Republican House members, to work and come back to the table,” she said.
Many voters say they’re most concerned about the direction of the economy, but some of the most pointed moments of the debate were focused on cultural issues.
In particular, Earle-Sears pressed Spanberger on whether she would keep transgender youths out of high school sports and bathrooms.
The Republican lieutenant governor has flooded the airwaves with ads focused on the cultural divide that helped Mr. Trump win the presidency last fall, casting Spanberger as unwilling to protect Virginia’s children from sexual predators.
“My answer is that each local community decision should be made between parents and educators and teachers in each community,” Spanberger said, pointing to her background in law enforcement and role as a mother.
“Nothing is more important to me than the safety of all children,” she said.
Spanberger declined to say whether she would rescind the measure signed by Youngkin that would require students to go only to the restrooms of their birth gender.
That did not satisfy Earle-Sears, who pressed Spanberger on what she would say if her own children were forced to undress in a bathroom with biological males. The Republican also implied that transgender students are a safety threat when asked.
“We know that biological men are larger in strength than women,” she said. “This is biology.”
Two women stood on the debate stage as the Democratic and Republican nominees for the first time in state history, a reminder that Virginia is poised to elect its first female governor, no matter who wins on Nov. 4.
Spanberger, 46, is a mother of three school-age children. She has represented a congressional district in northern Virginia since 2019. Her background is in law enforcement as a former CIA agent.
In one of the few warm exchanges of the night, Earle-Sears pointed to her role as a mother when asked what qualities she likes about her opponent.
“I believe she is a devoted mom. I truly believe that,” Earle-Sears said. “And I do believe that she cares.”
Earle-Sears, a Marine veteran, may be better known statewide, having served as lieutenant governor for the last four years. A native of Jamaica, the 61-year-old mother of two, is the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Virginia.
Spanberger complimented parts of her record.
“I admire her faith,” Spanberger said, “and her service to this country.”
A new crisis center in Prince William County, Virginia, hopes to relieve the strain on hospitals and first responders and provide “understanding instead of judgment” to those seeking help for mental health.
A new crisis center in Prince William County, Virginia, hopes to take the stigma out of mental health problems.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Thursday for the new facility that’s located just beyond the parking lot of Potomac Mills mall.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair Deshundra Jefferson said the center is about taking the stigma out of mental health problems. The 64-bed center is open 24/7 and is for anyone 12 or older, regardless of ability to pay.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
People who experience a mental health crisis sometimes end up in the emergency room, where they may have to wait a long time for help, or in jail after a clash with police. Prince William County, Virginia, is hoping to take pressure off hospitals and law enforcement with the opening of a new crisis receiving center.
Vice Chair of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors Andrea Bailey has pushed for the center for five years.
“The crisis receiving center will reduce the strain on our emergency rooms, provide critical relief to our first responders, and most importantly, offer residents a space where they are met with understanding instead of judgment, with treatment instead of trauma,” Bailey said.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Thursday for the new facility that’s located just beyond the parking lot of Potomac Mills mall.
Board Chair Deshundra Jefferson said the center is about taking the stigma out of mental health problems.
“If we’re going to care for our community and about our community, it is incumbent of us to care for the most vulnerable among us,” Jefferson said.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was on hand for the ribbon-cutting.
“If you are in crisis, come here to get the right help right now,” Youngkin said.
Jones is the Democratic nominee for attorney general in Virginia. And many are horrified over his private musings about political assassinations. However, not a single Democrat has called for Jones to pull out of the race.
Earle-Sears wrote on X Friday that the texts “should be wholly disqualifying of someone running for an office that protects the people of Virginia.”
“Jay Jones’ horrific comments are a symptom of the entire Democratic Party and his running mate, Abigail Spanberger, needs to call on him to drop out,” she said.
Current Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin also blasted Democrats.
“There is no ‘gosh, I’m sorry’ here,” Youngkin said in a post Saturday. “Jones doesn’t have the morality or character to drop out of this race, and his running mates Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi, and every elected Democrat in Virginia don’t have the courage to call on him to step away from this campaign in disgrace.”
Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, told the Washington Post the texts will shake the contest.
“Just the messages on their face: Those were really horrible things to communicate about a political opponent,” Rozell said. “There’s no explanation in this world that would excuse it, that could justify it. Republicans are going to have a day with it, as they should.”
President Trump issued a statement through Truth. Social calling for Jones to step aside in the race.
It has just come out that the Radical Left Lunatic, Jay Jones, who is running against Jason Miyares, the GREAT Attorney General in Virginia, made SICK and DEMENTED jokes, if they were jokes at all, which were not funny, and that he wrote down and sent around to people, concerning the murdering of a Republican Legislator, his wife, and their children. Abigail Spanberger, who is running for Governor, is weak and ineffective, and refuses to acknowledge what this Lunatic has done. Even Democrats are saying it is “RESIGNATION FROM CAMPAIGN” TERRITORY. Democrat Jay Jones should drop out of the Race, IMMEDIATELY, and the People of Virginia must continue to have a GREAT Attorney General in Jason Miyares who, by the way, has my Complete and Total Endorsement — JASON WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!
But over the weekend Democrat lawmaker stood in the pulpit of a black church and justified the vile threats made in text messages written by Jones. It was reprehensible. Why won’t Democrats condemn political violence?
The reason why the DNC has not called on Jay Jones to withdraw from the race is very simple. They, too, wish they could kill Republicans, piss on their graves and then force Republican mothers to watch as their children are slaughtered.
The cancel culture movement has given way to the assassination culture movement. That’s why so many Democrats across the country celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk and why so many were disappointed when President Trump survived not one, but two attempts on his life.
Syndicated with permission from ToddStarnes.com– founded by best-selling author and journalist Todd Starnes. Starnes is the recipient of an RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award and the Associated Press Mark Twain Award for Storytelling.
Glenn Youngkin has ordered the Va. Board of Health to issue regulations barring biological males from using locker rooms for female athletes, and from participating in organized women’s sports.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered the state’s Board of Health to issue regulations that would prevent biological males from using locker rooms for female athletes, and from participating in organized women’s sports.
In a statement, Youngkin said the regulations under Executive Directive 14 would protect women’s and girls’ health and safety in sex-separated spaces and activities.
“The health and safety of women and girls in sex separated spaces and participating in athletic competitions is in serious jeopardy due to irresponsible policies, including those that allow known sex offenders to hunt little girls in public locker rooms,” he wrote.
Youngkin said his directive is a common-sense approach to protecting them.
In August, the Board of Health accepted a petition from three female athletes in Virginia who said they were “directly harmed by males competing in female collegiate sports.” Their petition formally requested that the agency add the regulations outlined in the governor’s current directive.
The board will now consider publishing notice of the intended regulation, which is the next step in the process under Virginia law.
If the state board follows through with the directive, Virginia will join 27 other states, including North Carolina and West Virginia, that ban transgender students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.
Youngkin thanked President Donald Trump in his statement, who has put increasing pressure on other states and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to enact policy changes around transgender athletes.
WTOP’s Sarah Jacobs, Linh Bui and Ciara Wells contributed to this article.
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Turning Point USA’s college tour will return to Utah on Tuesday for its first event in the state since its founder, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated on a college campus earlier this month.The stop, at Utah State University in Logan, is about two hours north of Utah Valley University, where Kirk was killed Sept. 10 by a gunman who fired a single shot through the crowd while Kirk was speaking.The assassination of a top ally of President Donald Trump and one of the most significant figures in his Make America Great Again movement has galvanized conservatives, who have vowed to carry on Kirk’s mission of encouraging young voters to embrace conservatism and moving American politics further right. Kirk himself has been celebrated as a “martyr” by many on the right, and Turning Point USA, the youth organization he founded, has seen a surge of interest across the nation, with tens of thousands of requests to launch new chapters in high schools and on college campuses.Tuesday’s event, which was scheduled before Kirk’s death, will showcase how Turning Point is finding its path forward without its charismatic leader, who headlined many of its events and was instrumental in drawing crowds and attention.The college tour is now being headlined by some of the biggest conservative names, including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Glenn Beck. Tuesday’s event will feature conservative podcast host Alex Clark and a panel with Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Andy Biggs, former Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Gov. Spencer Cox.And it will further a pledge his widow, Erika Kirk, made to continue the campus tour and the work of the organization he founded. She now oversees Turning Point along with a stable of her late husband’s former aides and friends.‘Nothing is changing’Erika Kirk has sought to assure her husband’s followers that she intends to continue to run the operation as her late husband intended, closely following plans he laid out to her and to staff.“We’re not going anywhere. We have the blueprints. We have our marching orders,” she said during an appearance on his podcast last week.That will include, she said, continuing to tape the daily podcast.“My husband’s voice will live on. The show will go on,” she said, announcing plans for a rotating cast of hosts. She said they intended to lean heavily on old clips of her husband, including answering callers’ questions.“We have decades’ worth of my husband’s voice. We have unused material from speeches that he’s had that no one has heard yet,” she said.Erika Kirk, however, made clear that she does not intend to appear on the podcast often, and so far seems to be assuming a more behind-the-scenes role than her husband.Mikey McCoy, Kirk’s former chief of staff, said Erika Kirk is in daily contact with members of the Trump administration, and has described her as “very strategic” and different from her husband.The events have served as tributes to KirkThe events so far have served as tributes to the late Kirk, with a focus on prayer, as well as the question-and-answer sessions that he was known for.At Virginia Tech last week, the state’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, urged the crowd to carry Kirk’s legacy forward.“The question that has been asked over and over again is: Who will be the next Charlie? And as I look out in this room and I see thousands of you, I want to repeat the best answer that I have heard: You will be the next Charlie,” he said. “All of you.”He also praised Erika Kirk as an “extraordinary” leader.“Over the course of the last two weeks, Erika Kirk has demonstrated that she not only has the courage of a lion, but she has the heart of a saint. We have grieved with her and her family. We have prayed for her and her family,” he said. “Is there anyone better to lead Turning Point going forward than Erika Kirk?”He then turned the stage over to Kelly, who said Charlie Kirk had asked her to join the tour several months ago. She said she knew appearing onstage carried risk, but felt it was important to be there “to send a message that we will not be silenced by an assassin’s bullet, by a heckler’s veto, by a left-wing, woke professor or anyone who tries to silence us from saying what we really believe,” she said to loud cheers.At another event at the University of Minnesota last week, conservative commentator Michael Knowles gave a solo speech in lieu of the two-man conversation with Kirk that was originally planned. Then he continued Kirk’s tradition of responding to questions from the audience, which ranged from one man quibbling about Catholic doctrine to another arguing that the root of societal problems stems from letting women vote. (To the latter, he responded that women aren’t to blame because “men need to lead women.”)As Knowles spoke, a spotlight shined on a chair left empty for Kirk.Knowles said Kirk was instrumental in keeping together disparate conservative factions, and he worries about the MAGA movement fracturing without Kirk doing the day-to-day work to build bridges between warring groups.“Charlie was the unifying figure for the movement. It’s simply a fact,” he said. “There is no replacing him in that regard.”“The biggest threat right now is that without that single figure that we were all friends with, who could really hold it together, things could spin off in different directions,” Knowles said. “We have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The stop, at Utah State University in Logan, is about two hours north of Utah Valley University, where Kirk was killed Sept. 10 by a gunman who fired a single shot through the crowd while Kirk was speaking.
The assassination of a top ally of President Donald Trump and one of the most significant figures in his Make America Great Again movement has galvanized conservatives, who have vowed to carry on Kirk’s mission of encouraging young voters to embrace conservatism and moving American politics further right. Kirk himself has been celebrated as a “martyr” by many on the right, and Turning Point USA, the youth organization he founded, has seen a surge of interest across the nation, with tens of thousands of requests to launch new chapters in high schools and on college campuses.
Tuesday’s event, which was scheduled before Kirk’s death, will showcase how Turning Point is finding its path forward without its charismatic leader, who headlined many of its events and was instrumental in drawing crowds and attention.
The college tour is now being headlined by some of the biggest conservative names, including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Glenn Beck. Tuesday’s event will feature conservative podcast host Alex Clark and a panel with Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Andy Biggs, former Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Gov. Spencer Cox.
And it will further a pledge his widow, Erika Kirk, made to continue the campus tour and the work of the organization he founded. She now oversees Turning Point along with a stable of her late husband’s former aides and friends.
‘Nothing is changing’
Erika Kirk has sought to assure her husband’s followers that she intends to continue to run the operation as her late husband intended, closely following plans he laid out to her and to staff.
“We’re not going anywhere. We have the blueprints. We have our marching orders,” she said during an appearance on his podcast last week.
That will include, she said, continuing to tape the daily podcast.
“My husband’s voice will live on. The show will go on,” she said, announcing plans for a rotating cast of hosts. She said they intended to lean heavily on old clips of her husband, including answering callers’ questions.
“We have decades’ worth of my husband’s voice. We have unused material from speeches that he’s had that no one has heard yet,” she said.
Erika Kirk, however, made clear that she does not intend to appear on the podcast often, and so far seems to be assuming a more behind-the-scenes role than her husband.
Mikey McCoy, Kirk’s former chief of staff, said Erika Kirk is in daily contact with members of the Trump administration, and has described her as “very strategic” and different from her husband.
The events have served as tributes to Kirk
The events so far have served as tributes to the late Kirk, with a focus on prayer, as well as the question-and-answer sessions that he was known for.
At Virginia Tech last week, the state’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, urged the crowd to carry Kirk’s legacy forward.
“The question that has been asked over and over again is: Who will be the next Charlie? And as I look out in this room and I see thousands of you, I want to repeat the best answer that I have heard: You will be the next Charlie,” he said. “All of you.”
He also praised Erika Kirk as an “extraordinary” leader.
“Over the course of the last two weeks, Erika Kirk has demonstrated that she not only has the courage of a lion, but she has the heart of a saint. We have grieved with her and her family. We have prayed for her and her family,” he said. “Is there anyone better to lead Turning Point going forward than Erika Kirk?”
He then turned the stage over to Kelly, who said Charlie Kirk had asked her to join the tour several months ago. She said she knew appearing onstage carried risk, but felt it was important to be there “to send a message that we will not be silenced by an assassin’s bullet, by a heckler’s veto, by a left-wing, woke professor or anyone who tries to silence us from saying what we really believe,” she said to loud cheers.
At another event at the University of Minnesota last week, conservative commentator Michael Knowles gave a solo speech in lieu of the two-man conversation with Kirk that was originally planned. Then he continued Kirk’s tradition of responding to questions from the audience, which ranged from one man quibbling about Catholic doctrine to another arguing that the root of societal problems stems from letting women vote. (To the latter, he responded that women aren’t to blame because “men need to lead women.”)
As Knowles spoke, a spotlight shined on a chair left empty for Kirk.
Knowles said Kirk was instrumental in keeping together disparate conservative factions, and he worries about the MAGA movement fracturing without Kirk doing the day-to-day work to build bridges between warring groups.
“Charlie was the unifying figure for the movement. It’s simply a fact,” he said. “There is no replacing him in that regard.”
“The biggest threat right now is that without that single figure that we were all friends with, who could really hold it together, things could spin off in different directions,” Knowles said. “We have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
On Wednesday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who is barred from seeking a second consecutive term, attacked the Democratic frontrunner in the race to replace him, Abigail Spanberger. His accusation centered on Fairfax County’s protections for transgender students and the former congresswoman’s support for LGBTQ+ people.
“These radical gender policies are not just some abstract fight over politics — they are hurting real children in Fairfax County schools every day. We are working with the U.S. Department of Education to reverse these policies and protect girls in our schools but every Virginia parent needs to understand this: @winwithwinsome will fight with you, and @SpanbergerforVA will fight against you,” Youngkin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The post promoting his lieutenant governor, Winsom Earle-Sears, the Republican candidate, echoed Earle-Sears’s recent complaints about Spanberger, a former CIA officer and three-term congresswoman who leads in early polling. Virginia is the only state in the country where governors are prohibited from serving consecutive terms.
Youngkin’s remarks included claims from the Defense of Freedom Institute, a conservative group staffed by former Trump officials that recently filed a Title IX complaint against Fairfax County Public Schools. Title IX is a federal law passed in 1972 that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding. It has long been credited with expanding opportunities for women and girls in sports and academics. Republicans have claimed that protecting trans students under Title IX harms cisgender women in education and sports.
The complaint centers on a transgender girl at West Springfield High School in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., who used the girls’ locker room. It alleges that administrators violated Title IX by allowing her access, despite objections from some parents.
Fairfax officials, however, say their policies comply with anti-discrimination law and ensure all students are treated with dignity.
Youngkin’s attack coincided with a broader move by the Trump administration. On Thursday, the Education Department announced it would cancel more than $65 million in magnet school grants for New York City, Chicago, and Fairfax County after the districts refused to change policies protecting transgender and nonbinary students or to roll back diversity and equity programs, the New York Timesreports. Magnet schools are specialized public schools designed to promote integration and offer advanced curricula, leaving thousands of students at risk of losing access to resources.
Federal officials justified the cuts as a defense of civil rights, arguing that gender-inclusive policies discriminate against cisgender girls. Advocates counter that the administration is weaponizing civil rights law to roll back protections for LGBTQ+ youth and undermine racial equity initiatives.
For Republicans, the fight is also campaign messaging. Earle-Sears has leaned heavily on cultural issues, airing an ad that depicted transgender girls as threats to their peers, which LGBTQ+ advocates condemned as “fearmongering.” Another Republican spot mocked they/them pronouns, repeating an attack President Donald Trump used in his 2024 campaign against former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Spanberger has taken the opposite tack, centering her campaign on affordability, safety, and education quality. Asked recently about her position on transgender girls in sports and bathrooms, Spanberger told ABC affiliate WSET that Virginia had for years relied on a local, case-by-case process in which principals, parents, and coaches weighed factors like age, competitiveness, and safety. “It was one that took individual circumstances and individual communities into account, and I think that is the process that Virginia should continue to utilize,” she said, adding that she recognized concerns from parents as the mother of three daughters in public schools.
A conservative lawyer who has said she was falsely accused of being at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been named to serve as the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to a copy of an email she sent to staff obtained by CBS News. The Virginia office was thrown into turmoil when its acting U.S. attorney was abruptly left on Friday.
Mary “Maggie” Cleary said in an email to staff on Saturday that she had been named the new acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to her email.
She replaces Erik Siebert, who resigned amid pressure from Trump administration officials to bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James in a mortgage fraud investigation.
“While this appointment was unexpected, I am humbled to be joining your ranks,” Cleary told employees in the email. “The Eastern District of Virginia has a distinguished legacy upon which we will build.”
Cleary will take over an office in tumult over political pressure by administration officials to criminally charge James, a longtime foe of President Trump. The investigation stems from allegations that James provided false information on mortgage applications to get better loan rates for a home in Virginia.
The Justice Department has spent months conducting the investigation but has yet to bring charges, and there’s been no indication that prosecutors have managed to uncover any degree of incriminating evidence necessary to secure an indictment. James’ lawyers have vigorously denied any allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.
While Siebert said in an email to colleagues Friday evening that he had submitted his resignation, Trump said in a social media post: “He didn’t quit, I fired him!”
Cleary recently rejoined the Justice Department as a senior counsel in the criminal division after working as a prosecutor in the Culpepper Commonwealth’s Attorneys Office. She also worked as deputy secretary of public safety in Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration and later served in Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ office.
Cleary wrote in an article for The Spectator World earlier this year about being wrongly identified in a photo which allegedly placed her on Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 riot. Cleary, who at the time was working as a federal prosecutor in the Western District of Virginia, wrote: “Everyone knew I was a conservative. It was all over my resume. I was in leadership in my local Republican Committee. But I had not gone to the Capitol that day.”
She described being placed on administrative leave and interviewed by agents before later being cleared to return to work.
“In the last four years, I’ve been somewhat cautious about sharing my experience, but now, while Donald Trump is president, I feel emboldened to finally tell how, I, too, was targeted politically,” Cleary wrote.
At the time the article was published in May, she was interviewing to serve as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Cleary said she wanted that job “to end this type of treatment.”
Eli Lilly announced plans on Tuesday to build a $5 billion drug manufacturing facility in Virginia. The announcement comes amid pressure from President Donald Trump to bring more drug manufacturing to the U.S. and threats to slap heavy tariffs on pharmaceuticals coming from overseas.
The new manufacturing plant will be built west of Richmond, Virginia, in Goochland County, according to a press release from the company. Eli Lilly says it expects the project to be completed in five years and claims it will bring “more than 650 new high-paying jobs to Virginia, including highly skilled engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians.”
Eli Lilly’s press release included a statement from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who also noted the number of construction jobs that would be brought to the state.
“Lilly is one of the world’s great innovators, and I want to thank them for this significant commitment to Virginia,” said Youngkin. “This new facility in Goochland County will create 650 great jobs, along with 1,800 construction jobs, and deliver some of the most advanced medicines in Lilly’s portfolio, powered by the unmatched talent of our Virginia workforce.”
Youngkin, a Republican, touted the benefits to the U.S. supply chain, something that was severely disrupted during the covid-19 pandemic, leading to calls to bring more drug manufacturing to the U.S.
“By expanding manufacturing capacity here in the United States, we are strengthening our economy, securing America’s critical pharmaceutical supply chain, and positioning Virginia to lead in the industries that will drive innovation for generations to come,” said Yougkin.
Lilly first announced back in February that it would be investing over $27 billion into new manufacturing facilities, bringing its total investments to $50 billion since 2020. The company said Tuesday that three other U.S. manufacturing sites would be announced soon. All four sites are expected to be making pharmaceuticals within five years, according to the company.
“This isn’t just another manufacturing site—it represents a significant milestone for Lilly, as we begin building our first bioconjugate facility,” said Edgardo Hernandez, executive vice president and president of Lilly Manufacturing Operations, in a press release.
“With this cutting-edge site, Lilly is setting a new benchmark in bioconjugate innovation, advancing technologies that will expand what’s possible for patients,” Hernandez continued. “This investment reflects our bold vision, our commitment to transformative technologies and our dedication to being a good neighbor through sustainability efforts and support of local education and community partnerships.”
Trump initially threatened in July to impose tariffs of 200% on prescription drugs coming from overseas, though the number floated in August jumped around from between 150% to 250%, according to CNBC. At the time, Trump said he would start to impose that tariff in a year or a year and a half, though the president is known to move deadlines forward and backward on a whim.
Aside from trying to bring drug manufacturing to the U.S., President Trump has also attempted to press drug companies into lowering prices, though he seems to have had less luck with trying to make that happen simply by decree.
A local tech and analytics firm is expanding, and Virginia leaders are celebrating the news as a major win for the region’s economy.
An area tech and analytics firm is expanding, and Virginia leaders are celebrating the news as a major win for the region’s economy.
Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc., or SPA, announced plans to double its workforce by hiring 1,200 new employees over the next five years.
The jobs will be based at its Alexandria and Fairfax County locations, and the company will invest nearly $50 million to upgrade those sites.
“We are as large as we’ve ever been, but we’re as small as we’re ever going to be,” SPA CEO Richard Sawchak said.
The announcement on Thursday came at a time when many federal workers have lost their jobs. Sawchak noted that SPA, which works in national security, has a long history of hiring former federal employees and military personnel.
“We’ve had a great partnership with our federal customers over the decades that we’ve been there. … Retired military personnel, as well as retiring or early-departure federal employees, have come in and worked for SPA afterward,” Sawchak told WTOP.
The company also plans to expand its partnerships with local schools, offering STEM lessons and mentoring opportunities for students.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin called the expansion a sign of confidence in the future of the state.
For those seeking employment, Youngkin added, “I firmly believe the most powerful words in the English language are ‘I love you,’ but right behind them are ‘you are hired.’”
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said the hiring expansion comes at a much-needed time for the region.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of strife and challenges in our local economy because of what’s happening in Washington, D.C.,” McKay said.
He added that the announcement is not only good for Northern Virginia, it’s good for the entire D.C. region.
“Jobs are not Democratic or Republican. These are real people whose lives are being affected,” McKay said. “When we grow jobs in Northern Virginia, that’s good for all of us.”
Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins said the city celebrates both the retention of existing jobs and the arrival of new ones.
“We celebrate the new investments that are going to happen in this building to make it a state-of-the-art facility for national security, collaboration and connection,” Gaskins said.
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Robert Johnson, the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), has donated $500,000 to Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears’ gubernatorial campaign after she was targeted by a racist sign at an Arlington County school board meeting.
Newsweek reached out via email to Johnson through his hotel investment company, RLJ Lodging Trust, and the Earle-Sears campaign for comment.
“Virginia Democrats unanimously, forcefully and unequivocally condemned the racist sign in Arlington—period,” Lamont Bagby, a Black state senator and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, told Newsweek in part via email on Friday.
Why It Matters
Johnson’s hefty donation, first reported by Politico, comes after Republican candidate Earle-Sears was greeted with a sign targeting her last week at an Arlington County, Virginia, school board meeting.
The incident has since garnered millions of views on social media due to what was scribed on the sign: “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then blacks can’t share my water fountain.”
Earle-Sears, who has served in her current role since 2022, called the display “a shame,” telling local ABC affiliate 7News that Democrats are “spewing hate.” Some Virginia Democrats, in remarks to Newsweek and on social media, have condemned the sign.
What to Know
The sign was held by a Democratic volunteer who, according to 7News, has been canvassing for Democrats for years.
Johnson, in a statement provided to Politico, said he was “so appalled by that racist diatribe … that I choose to show the voters of Virginia how Black Brothers stand up to defend and support their Black Sisters.”
President-elect Donald Trump (C) greets Robert Johnson (R), the founder of Black Entertainment Television, and his wife Lauren Wooden (L) as they arrive for a meeting with president-elect Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club,… President-elect Donald Trump (C) greets Robert Johnson (R), the founder of Black Entertainment Television, and his wife Lauren Wooden (L) as they arrive for a meeting with president-elect Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club, November 20, 2016 in Bedminster Township, New Jersey.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Virginia Democrats, including Lamont Bagby, a Black state senator and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, refuted claims from Earle-Sears and Republicans that members of his party supported the sign’s message.
“Virginia Democrats unanimously, forcefully and unequivocally condemned the racist sign in Arlington—period,” Bagby told Newsweek via email on Friday. “Winsome Sears’ actions and rhetoric mirror Donald Trump and his attacks on Black institutions and leaders, undermining the very progress our communities have fought for.
“It is no surprise she’s even cast doubt on the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, invoked slavery to attack diversity programs, and supported defunding public schools in Black communities and cutting community health centers that all Virginians rely on for care. We’ve come too far, and we won’t allow Virginia to go backwards.”
Bagby, nor the Virginia Democrats, remarked on Johnson’s half-million-dollar donation.
Virginia Representative Abigail Spanberger, who is running as the Democratic nominee for governor, wrote in an X post on August 22 that the sign was “racist and abhorrent.”
“Many Virginians remember the segregated water fountains (and buses and schools and neighborhoods) of Virginia’s recent history,” Spanberger said. “And no matter the intended purpose or tone and no matter how much one might find someone else’s beliefs objectionable, to threaten a return of Jim Crow and segregation to a Black woman is unacceptable. Full stop.”
The Arlington Democratic Committee, which helped organize the rally to protest Earle-Sears, stated that the woman holding the sign is not affiliated with them and that they are not familiar with her, according to 7News.
“What happened in Arlington wasn’t just about a meeting,” Virginia Democrats’ Vice Chair Marc Broklawski wrote on X last weekend. “It was about the climate Winsome Sears is creating, one where contempt is currency and neighbors are turned against each other.”
In 2008, Johnson supported Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama and was even described as a “HillRaiser” at the time. A joke he made then about Obama believed to reference the eventual president’s past marijuana use was downplayed by the Clinton campaign, and it later led to Johnson issuing an apology to Obama—who he wanted to pick Clinton as his running mate.
Johnson, however, later made a remark that Obama would not be the Democratic Party‘s nominee if he were not Black. Johnson said at the time: “I make a joke about Obama doing drugs [and it’s] ‘Oh my God, a black man tearing down another black man.’”
Johnson also attempted to urge Black Americans to give Donald Trump a chance following his 2016 victory, noting how he personally knew Trump for years. That included meeting Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
What People Are Saying
Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears to 7News: “Remember who I am. I’m an immigrant to this wonderful country, and not only that, but I’m a Black woman, and so I’m second in command in the former capital of the Confederate States. For her to talk about a water fountain that Blacks—she started with me and then she went to Black people in general—can’t be at her water fountain. When did you start owning the water fountains, my good friend? And I thought the water fountains belong to everybody. Are we going back to Klan days now?”
A poll published by Roanoke College last week showed Spanberger leading Earle-Sears, 46-39 percent. She has led her Republican counterpart in every major poll released in the past two months, including a Virginia Commonwealth University poll in July showing her with a 12-point lead. The Decision Desk HQ average in early August showed Spanberger leading with an average of 45.2 percent compared to 36 percent for Earle-Sears.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered state police to investigate explosive allegations from a conservative blog that Fairfax County Public Schools officials helped multiple underage girls obtain abortions in 2021.
This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered state police to investigate explosive allegations from a conservative blog that Fairfax County Public Schools officials helped multiple underage girls obtain abortions in 2021 — a probe whose findings may not surface before Election Day but could still sway voters in the court of public opinion.
Virginia law requires minors to obtain either parental consent or a successful court petition to undergo the procedure. Such records are also exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Mercury asked the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court whether any petitions were filed at all in 2021 and how many have been filed in subsequent years, which they did not provide.
Still, the possibility that a public school broke state law and bypassed parents’ consent rights is quickly becoming a political talking point for Republican candidates this year.
‘Gift that keeps on giving’
Against the backdrop of an ongoing effort to enshrine reproductive rights into Virginia’s constitution, Republican gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears has seized on the allegations.
At a recent campaign event in Chesterfield County, she welcomed the story’s circulation in the news cycle.
“I don’t know if you also saw what’s happening in Northern Virginia — it’s just a gift that keeps on giving,” Earle-Sears said as the crowd laughed.
It cheered after she added: “Parents. Still. Matter.”
Political analyst Bob Holsworth said the controversy echoes of Youngkin’s successful 2021 campaign, when allegations of a sexual assault in a Loudoun County school bathroom sparked national furor over transgender students’ use of restrooms.
Investigations and legal proceedings extended well beyond the campaign, but by then “Parents for Youngkin” signs and “parents matter” chants had become staples of his rallies. Youngkin went on to win the governorship, and Republicans flipped the House of Delegates for a term.
“Interestingly, the target audience is not voters in Fairfax and Loudoun,” Holsworth said of the Democratic strongholds, “but Republicans elsewhere in the commonwealth.”
The allegations first surfaced in WC Dispatch, an Ohio-based conservative blog run by independent investigative journalist Walter Curt Jr. His father, Walter Curt Sr., is a Youngkin appointee to the Virginia State Council of Higher Education and has donated thousands of dollars to both Youngkin and Earle-Sears. Curt Jr. told Virginia Scope that his familiar ties don’t affect his reporting.
Holsworth suggested that GOP campaigns are aiming to “get these issues aired on Fox News so they can deliver a message across Virginia in a way that Democrats can’t.”
That’s because the claim itself — whether ultimately proven or false — is already enough to stoke concerns among some voters about public schools encroaching on parental rights. Defending parental oversight in K-12 education been a consistent Republican theme in Virginia politics.
If the allegation proves true, Earle-Sears has vowed accountability.
“Your underage daughter can’t get an aspirin without your permission,” she wrote on X on Aug. 19. “Yet a Virginia school may have taken a young girl for an abortion, in secret, using your tax dollars. If true, it’s monstrous, and there will be consequences.”
The legal wait-and-see
Pending the outcome of the state police investigation, any responsibility to prosecute would fall to Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who has declined to comment.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, noted that the timeline for an investigation is uncertain. While the number of people involved doesn’t appear large he said, the allegation dates back four years —a factor that could complicate evidence gathering and examination.
Tobias added that Republicans could “make a lot of political hay of it” heading into the elections, especially since Fairfax’s commonwealth’s attorney has been a frequent target of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Miyares, who is up for reelection this year, has long pushed for changes in state law that would allow the state to intervene in local prosecutions and has repeatedly attacked Descano as being too lenient.
A potential prosecution arising from the Fairfax abortion allegation could even spill into the next gubernatorial term.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger is also watching closely. Her campaign said in an email to The Mercury that she “will be monitoring the status of the Virginia State Police’s investigation and will support appropriate action to uphold Virginia law.”
The campaign also highlighted Spanberger’s perspective as a mother of three young girls who attend public school, adding: “She believes that decisions about a child’s health and safety should always be made between them and their parents.”
Fairfax vs. everyone else
Beyond the locality’s prosecutor, Fairfax County Public Schools has become a lightning rod for criticism from parents as well as state and federal leaders.
Among the most polarizing decisions: overhauling admissions at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology to promote greater diversity, and resisting statewide transgender policies that would have required schools to out transgender students or restrict pronoun use.
The division is also arranging a security detail for Superintendent Michelle Reid.
After the abortion allegations surfaced, Reid wrote to the school community that the conduct described “would be unacceptable” in the district.
“I want to stress that at no time would the situation as described in these allegations be acceptable in Fairfax County Public Schools,” Reid said.
The school district has also stated that it will “fully cooperate” with the investigation but cannot comment further while it is ongoing.
Reproductive laws in campaigns
Beyond Earle-Sears’ bid for governor and the lieutenant governor and attorney general races, all 100 House of Delegates seats are up for election this year.
Looming over those contests is an ongoing effort to enshrine reproductive rights — including abortion — into the state’s constitution. The measure must pass the legislature again next year before appearing on a statewide ballot for voter approval or rejection.
While every Republican in the General Assembly voted against the proposal this year, they first attempted to add language reflecting existing state law on minors’ access to abortion. Democrats rejected that effort, pointing out that a U.S. Supreme Court case also affirms parental consent under the 14th Amendment.
Even so, the possibility that someone may have broken the law in Fairfax is “alarming,” said Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, who is carrying the Senate version of the reproductive rights amendment.
“We should all be deeply concerned anytime anyone says they have been forced, misled or coerced into life-changing decisions about their reproductive health,” she said.
While Boysko did not specifically address the amendment in her comments, she added that she is confident the investigation will “shed light on the facts of the case.”
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Virginia to resume its purge of voter registrations that the state says is aimed at stopping people who are not U.S. citizens from voting.
The high court, over the dissents of the three liberal justices, granted an emergency appeal from Virginia’s Republican administration led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The court provided no rationale for its action, which is typical in emergency appeals.
The justices acted on Virginia’s appeal after a federal judge found that the state illegally purged more than 1,600 voter registrations in the past two months. A federal appeals court had previously allowed the judge’s order to remain in effect.
Trump had criticized the earlier ruling, calling it “a totally unacceptable travesty” on social media. “Only U.S. Citizens should be allowed to vote,” Trump wrote.
The Justice Department and a coalition of private groups sued the state earlier in October, arguing that Virginia election officials, acting on an executive order issued in August by Youngkin were striking names from voter rolls in violation of federal election law.
Youngkin issued his order on Aug. 7, the 90th day before the Nov. 5 election. It required daily checks of data from the state Department of Motor Vehicles against voter rolls to identify people who are not U.S. citizens.
Protect Democracy, one of the groups that brought the lawsuit, cited media interviews with voters as showing that the Youngkin administration’s purge has removed U.S. citizens from the voter rolls.
One example is Nadra Wilson, who lives in Lynchburg, Virginia, and told NPR she got swept up in the purge. “I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. I’m a citizen,” Wilson said, before showing her American passport as proof of her citizenship.
Project Democracy said in a statement that “this program removes eligible voters. Virginia has not presented any evidence of noncitizens participating in elections. Because there is none. And it’s actually eligible VA voters that have been caught in the middle of this election-subversion scheme.”
People can still register to vote in Virginia’s early-voting period or on Election Day, and cast provisional ballots, voting advocates said.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles said elections officials still could remove names on an individualized basis, but not through a systematic purge.
Giles had ordered the state to notify affected voters and local registrars by Wednesday that the registrations have been restored.
Youngkin said the Supreme Court’s action was “a victory for commonsense and election fairness.”
“Clean voter rolls are one important part of a comprehensive approach we are taking to ensure the fairness of our elections,” he said in a written statement.
Nearly 6 million Virginians are registered to vote.
In a similar lawsuit in Alabama, a federal judge this month ordered the state to restore eligibility for more than 3,200 voters who had been deemed ineligible noncitizens. Testimony from state officials in that case showed that roughly 2,000 of the 3,251 voters who were made inactive were actually legally registered citizens.
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Associated Press writers Matthew Barakat in Alexandria, Virginia, Denise Lavoie in Richmond and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report.
(CNN) — A federal appeals court refused to reinstate a Virginia purge program aimed at culling suspected noncitizens from the…
(CNN) — A federal appeals court refused to reinstate a Virginia purge program aimed at culling suspected noncitizens from the voter rolls, leaving in place a lower court ruling that found the program likely violated a federal prohibition on “systematic” removals in the 90 days before an election.
The Sunday decision by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals sets up a Supreme Court fight over the purge program with early voting already underway in Virginia. Republicans all the way up to former President Donald Trump have seized on the case — a consolidation of lawsuits brought by the Biden administration and private groups — as they have pushed the narrative that voting by noncitizens poses a major threat to the election. It is in fact a very rare occurrence.
The new order from the 4th Circuit noted that Virginia officials are still allowed to prevent noncitizen voting “by canceling registrations on an individualized basis or prosecuting any noncitizen who votes.”
US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles, a Biden appointee, on Friday halted the program andordered election officials to restore the registrations of the roughly 1,600 people who had been removed under the program during the so-called 90-day quiet period. Six hundred of those individuals were removed because they checked a box during a Department of Motor Vehicles interaction declaring them noncitizen and the other 1,000 were removed because of records in government databases that indicated noncitizenship.
Former President Donald Trump railed against the Friday ruling on Truth Social, claiming that a “Weaponized Department of ‘Injustice,’ and a Judge (appointed by Joe), have ORDERED the Great Commonwealth of Virginia to PUT NON-CITIZEN VOTERS BACK ON THE ROLLS.”
State officials immediately appealed the ruling to the 4th Circuit, and Trump, in his Truth Social post, said the “U.S. Supreme Court will hopefully fix it!”
At the heart of the dispute is whether that approach is the sort of “systematic” purge program Congress sought to freeze with the 90-day provision in the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, because of the tendency of those programs to remove eligible voters as well. Those suing Virginia say that within 36 hours of receiving a list of the purged voters from the state, they were able to confirm that at least 18 were in fact citizens who were eligible to vote.
In court filings with the 4th Circuit on Saturday, the voting rights groups and immigrant activists pointed to evidence that citizens will mistakenly check the noncitizen box on the DMV form because of its confusing design.
Virginia state officials countered that the National Voter Registration Act’s 90-day quiet period doesn’t apply to their purge program because it’s targeted at noncitizens, and they told the 4th Circuit that the judge’s order to reinstate the people to the rolls “will create confusion and make even-handed administration of the election much more difficult.”
The 4th Circuit order was handed down by appellate panel made up of two Obama appointees and a Biden appointee.
