Virginia
Endangered pygmy hippopotamus born at a Virginia zoo and you can help name her
Move over, Moo Deng.
A Virginia zoo got a hippopotamus for Christmas because only a hippopotamus would do.
A female pygmy hippopotamus calf was born at the Metro Richmond Zoo in early December, marking the third calf of the endangered species to be born at the zoo in the last five years, officials said.
The mother hippo Iris gave birth to the yet-to-be-named calf on Dec. 9 and the zoo is currently holding a contest to name the new calf.
A whopping 14,000 people flocked to vote on a potential moniker, and the options have been narrowed down to Poppy, Juniper, Hammie Mae, and Omi.
The baby girl is the river horse’s third calf shared with her current mate, Corwin.
Iris keeps to a schedule. The new hippo is the second she has given birth to in December, according to the zoo. All three of her offspring have been female as well.
“Most people don’t get a hippopotamus for Christmas at all, so we feel lucky to have received two over the years,” zoo officials said in a news release Tuesday — in a nod to the famous holiday tune.
The new baby had a neonatal exam and weighed in at 15 pounds, a mere fraction of the 600 pounds officials say fully grown pygmy hippos can boast.
Hippos are usually a naturally polygamous species, but it’s been slim pickings for the pygmies over the last few decades.
When the hippo was declared endangered in 2015, there were only about 2,500 mature ones left, and even then officials were pulling that from a 1993 population estimate, according to the Zoological Society of London.
“This birth – like all of Iris’ births – plays an important role in helping protect this rare and elusive species. Unlike common hippos, pygmy hippos do not live in groups and are usually solitary or in pairs. For this reason, once Iris’ two previous calves grew up, they were moved to other zoological facilities to live with future mates and continue contributing to the conservation of their species,” the zoo wrote in the news release.
Earlier this year, another baby pygmy hippo took the internet by storm. Moo Deng, a newborn at a zoo in Thailand with a penchant for trying to bite people, captured the hearts of people far and wide and became one of the most prolific memes of the year.
Virginia election officials are still counting ballots, but so far, Jason Miyares has about 120,000 more votes than his Republican ticket-mate Winsome Earle-Sears.
While Miyares, the Republican incumbent attorney general, still lost his race by nearly 6 points, it shows at least some voters split their tickets. Miyares’ opponent, Democrat Jay Jones, overcame the scandal that became the focal point of the race, after old text messages from Jones surfaced that suggested a former Republican House speaker should get “two bullets to the head” and the lawmaker’s children should die in his wife’s arms.
NBC News exit polls showed 40% of voters felt those texts were disqualifying — but in the end, it didn’t seem to matter.
That same data shows that most of that 40% voted for Miyares.
But still, experts said Wednesday they feel that we’re witnessing a new age in Virginia politics, in which most voters are willing to excuse otherwise inexcusable behavior — as long as the bad actor is on your side of the aisle.
Jones earned nearly 170,000 fewer votes than Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, which could suggest the text message scandal had some effect but not enough to cost him the race, which he still won handily by nearly 6 points.
“We will use tonight as a springboard to reject the politics of divisiveness and division and we will build a brighter future for every single Virginian,” Jones said on Election Night.
This race was the most expensive attorney general’s race in American history, and ad spending really took off once the text message scandal emerged.
Stephen Farnsworth of the University of Mary Washington feels that party allegiance is too strong, and given the current environment, he thinks just about any Democrat could have won a statewide race this year.
“The last decade has been marked by a significant decline in what is acceptable behavior. We now have a very low bar in terms of anything that may be disqualifying,” Farnsworth said.
Outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin suggested Wednesday the text message scandal isn’t going to disappear.
“The next administration is going to 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,” Youngkin said.
But Jeremy Mayer, a political science professor at George Mason University, doesn’t believe this issue will matter much moving forward.
“With Donald Trump and his admission of sexual assault in the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape, I think we learned we’re in a different world,” Mayer said. “A lot of Republicans in that moment said, ‘Oh, he’s going to lose!’ and the speaker of the House withdrew his support and Trump won. And that tells you something about polarization, and Jay Jones rode that same horse of polarization to victory last night.”
When asked if he thinks the electorate spoke loudly enough Tuesday night or if he thinks the incoming administration will need to address the text messages, Mayer responded: “Did Donald Trump have to deal with the ‘Access Hollywood’ video after he was elected? He was washed clean in the water of the election, and that’s what happened to Jay Jones.”
By 10 p.m. on election night, just three hours after polls closed, Democrats had flipped nearly one dozen seats from Republican incumbents.
Want more election coverage?
Cardinal covered races across Southwest and Southside. For more election stories, click here.
By 11:30 p.m., they had picked up two more.
The party picked up seats from the city of Roanoke to Petersburg to Spotsylvania County and Northern Virginia and others, after they knocked out incumbents in 13 districts.
House of Delegates District 41 was among those that flipped from red to blue. Democratic challenger Lily Franklin had a 2.46 percentage point lead over incumbent Republican Del. Chris Obenshain, of Montgomery County, by 10:45 p.m.
This year’s race for the 41st District was a rematch between Obenshain and Franklin after the latter lost by 183 votes in 2023 once provisional ballots were counted. That race was not called until nearly one week after Election Day.
“Lily Franklin ran a spirited campaign. She earned a lot of votes, and she has earned my respect,” Obenshain said in his concession statement. “Tonight was a setback not just for me, but also for the causes I have championed and the people I have sought to represent. Ultimately though, the voters have the final word and while this result is disappointing, I respect their decision tonight.”
In a statement released Tuesday evening, Franklin said, “I’m deeply honored by the trust the people of the 41st District have placed in me. Folks are ready for new leadership.”
“Virginians turned out in force to support candidates who embody the very best of who we are – champions of fairness and truth over the forces of bigotry and deceit,” state Sen. Lamont Bagby, chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said in a statement.
Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger will enter office with a trifecta, with the governor’s seat, the state Senate and House of Delegates all under the same party. She will be the first Democratic governor to do so in nearly 40 years, according to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.
“Democrats, we’re back,” said House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott during a speech in Richmond on election night. “Tonight we shocked the world.”
The Portsmouth Democrat added that Virginia sent a message of love and unity over hate and division to the country.
“We just made history tonight. … Not only did we keep the majority in the House tonight, I think we’re at 57 seats. And we’re not done counting,” he said just before 10 p.m. on election night.
Here’s how the rest of Virginia’s Southwest and Southside House of Delegates races shook out
The political makeup of Southwest and Southside Virginia remained largely unchanged.
Most incumbents held onto their seats, and new Republican candidates for open seats in districts 46 and 49 won their elections: Mitchell Cornett won Del. Jed Arnold’s seat, and Madison Whittle won Del. Danny Marshall’s seat. Arnold, of Smyth County, did not seek reelection, citing his wife’s health concerns. Marshall, of Danville, declined to seek reelection to undergo lung transplant surgery. He is currently recovering from that surgery.
District 35 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Chris Runion, Rockingham County
District 36 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Ellen Campbell, Waynesboro
District 37 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Terry Austin, Botetourt County
District 38 winner: incumbent Democratic Del. Sam Rasoul, Roanoke
District 39 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Will Davis, Franklin County
District 40 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Joe McNamara, Roanoke County
District 41 winner: Democratic challenger Lily Franklin (seat flipped)
District 42 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Jason Ballard, Giles County
District 43 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Will Morefield, Tazewell County
District 44 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Israel O’Quinn, Washington County
District 45 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Terry Kilgore, Scott County
District 46 winner: Republican Mitchell D. Cornett
District 47 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Wren Williams, Patrick County
District 48 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Eric Phillips, Henry County
District 49 winner: Republican Madison Whittle
District 50 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Tommy Wright, Lunenburg County
District 51 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Eric Zehr, Campbell County
District 52 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Wendell Walker, Lynchburg
District 53 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Tim Griffin, Bedford County
District 56 winner: incumbent Republican Del. Tom Garrett, Louisa County
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Newsweek has rounded up what the latest polls are saying about the elections in New York, New Jersey and Virginia as Americans cast their votes.
Why It Matters
The 2025 races in the three states are drawing national attention as voters prepare to select leaders in three high-profile contests.
The results could set the tone for the 2026 midterms and provide insight into shifting political dynamics on the East Coast. The outcomes will also serve as a measure of support for the Democratic and Republican parties.
What To Know
New York City Mayor’s Race
Democrat Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani is favored to win the mayoral contest against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
According to the latest Marist Poll (conducted October 24-28), Mamdani leads Cuomo by 16 points among likely voters, 48 percent to 32 percent, with Sliwa at 16 percent. The poll sampled 792 likely voters and has a margin of error of =/-4.2 percent.
A separate AtlasIntel poll places Mamdani’s lead at 4.5 points over Cuomo (43.9 percent to Cuomo’s 39.4 percent). Some 2,404 people were surveyed between October 31 and November 2. The poll has a margin of error of =/- 2 percentage points.
In a Fox News poll, Mamdani has a 16-point lead with 47 percent on Cuomo (31 percent). These results are based on 971 likely voters questioned between October 24 and October 28—there is a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
New Jersey Governor’s Race
The New Jersey gubernatorial race between Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli is one of the closest in recent history.
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