Virginia

As Va. Democrats head into crowded primary Tuesday, fractures remain for Republicans – WTOP News

Published

11 months ago

on

June 16, 2025

By

Press Room

$As Va. Democrats head into crowded primary Tuesday, fractures remain for Republicans – WTOP News$

Tuesday is primary day in Virginia, and Democrats are facing a crowded field. Six Democrats are competing for lieutenant governor and two for attorney general.

John Reid, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, talks about the election with WTOP’s Nick Iannelli

Tuesday is primary day in Virginia, and Democrats are facing a crowded field.

While Abigail Spanberger is already the party’s nominee for governor, six Democrats are competing for lieutenant governor and two for attorney general.

Republicans, meanwhile, do not have any statewide primaries this year. Their nominees have already been set: Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears for governor, John Reid for lieutenant governor and Jason Miyares for attorney general.

But even during a time when Republicans could be unified without competition, they’re not talking to each other.

They also haven’t been seen standing together as a united ticket.

“I would love to do an event with my ticket mates,” said John Reid, calling it “disappointing” that it hasn’t happened yet.

“I continue to invite them to do that,” Reid told WTOP’s Nick Iannelli. “I just assume that at some point here, hopefully in the near future, everybody will get together.”

It’s been awkward for Virginia Republicans since April, when Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin called on Reid to drop out of the lieutenant governor’s race after opposition researchers claimed they linked Reid to a blog featuring photographs of naked men.

Reid denied having anything to do with the account, called it “extortion” and said he was being targeted because he’s openly gay.

Since then, the state’s Republican Party has shown signs of fracture.

Reid said he hasn’t spoken with the Republican nominee for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, in seven weeks.

“They’ve all got my cellphone, and I would love to see them,” Reid said. “I hope that eventually we’ll all be together and they’ll embrace me, because I think we have a winning message.”

“Even in the midst of some really horrible stuff that’s swirled around me, I haven’t canceled anything,” added Reid. “I just keep on going every day, and I will welcome them when I get to see them.”

‘I don’t like being bullied’

Reid said he hasn’t heard from Youngkin since the governor called on him to exit the race, adding he’s “OK with that.”

“This is about ideology and not about the personalities involved,” Reid said. “I just have to stay focused on that.”

Still, Reid acknowledged that he thought Youngkin’s move “did damage” to the state’s Republican Party.

“I’m mad about what happened to me,” Reid said. “I don’t like being bullied. I don’t like being threatened. I don’t appreciate it at all, and I think it was wrong. But I’m a mature adult, so I’m capable of putting all of that aside.”

On the Democratic side, candidates for lieutenant governor include state Sens. Ghazala Hashmi of Richmond and Aaron Rouse of Virginia Beach, Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef, former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and former federal attorneys Alex Bastani and Victor Salgado.

In the race for attorney general, former state Del. Jay Jones and Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor are vying for the Democratic nomination.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Virginia

Virginia Supreme Court voids voter-approved redistricting referendum

Published

4 hours ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

Press Room

Virginia Supreme Court voids voter-approved redistricting referendum

On May 8, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the General Assembly violated the state constitution when it tried to redraw congressional districts, nullifying the results of the April election in which Virginians narrowly approved redistricting.

Electoral maps are usually redrawn once every 10 years, but multiple states began redrawing them early after President Donald Trump urged Republicans to redraw district lines to ensure more favorable results for the party in the November 2026 elections.

This started a nationwide political battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Texas was the first of several states to redraw districts favoring Republicans, and Virginia Democrats had proposed a constitutional amendment to allow redistricting in order to favor Democrats.

As of May 8, Republicans had initiated redistricting efforts in eight states; Democrats had led redistricting efforts in three states, including Virginia, the Washington Post reported.

In April, Virginia voters supported the redistricting amendment with 51.7% voting for it out of more than 3 million ballots cast. It could have given Democrats up to four extra seats in the U.S. House, according to the Washington Post (subscription required).

But the Virginia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 ruling, found that there were procedural errors in how the Democratic legislature handled the process, nullifying the election results.

The Virginia Constitution says that proposed constitutional amendments must pass in the General Assembly twice before the public can vote on them: once before an election of the House of Delegates, and again after an election. According to the Virginia Supreme Court majority opinion written by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, early voting for the general election had already been open for six weeks when the General Assembly cast its first vote on the amendment in October 2025, with more than 1.3 million voters having already cast their ballots.

“This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” the court majority opinion stated.

The court’s ruling means the state reverts to the old district maps adopted in 2021. Based on those maps, Virginia voters elected six Democrats and five Republicans to the U.S. House.

Following the court’s ruling, some Virginia Democrats who planned to run for the U.S. House told the New York Times that they have to abandon their campaigns, while others, such as Tom Perriello who is running for the 5th District, face much more difficult campaigns.

Virginia Democrats on Friday asked the court to pause the nullification of the referendum results while they prepare their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to VPM.

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