Southeast
Victorious Virginia Democrats morph from pretend moderates into liberal extremists over night
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A new year typically brings growth and opportunities. But not in Virginia.
Since last November, the winds in the commonwealth have carried a heavy weight. Elections have consequences, and just a few days into Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s reign, Virginians are reaping the fruit of their ballot-box decisions. This is no longer a warning.
Now that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s watch has ended, that progress is under attack. In just weeks, a newly emboldened Democrat majority has moved to drain the budget surplus by expanding costly social programs while imposing unnecessary tax hikes on middle- and lower-class Virginians. Virginians are experiencing a swift, calculated wave of anti-business, anti-family and un-American policies that will irreparably decimate everything that makes Virginia great.
We Virginians were spoiled under Youngkin’s administration. Over the past four years, Youngkin’s watchful eye prevented the Democrat majority in the Virginia legislature from leading the commonwealth down a destructive path.
VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS SEEK DOZENS OF NEW TAX HIKES, INCLUDING ON DOG WALKING AND DRY CLEANING
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger pauses as House Speaker, Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, looks on during inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Steve Helber/AP Photo)
Thanks to his leadership, Virginia is stronger than ever. Our state is experiencing record revenues, record tax relief and record investment. Virginia’s general revenue has grown by 5.2% in the past year, with $9 billion in tax relief, $156 billion in capital investments and a $2.7 billion budget surplus. Youngkin left Virginia better than he found it, bringing our state to new heights. But the higher you climb, the harder you fall.
Now that Youngkin’s watch has ended, that progress is under attack. In just weeks, a newly emboldened Democrat majority has moved to drain the budget surplus by expanding costly social programs while imposing unnecessary tax hikes on middle- and lower-class Virginians.
These policies will only make life less affordable while creating new barriers to entry for businesses, forcing Virginians to absorb the rising cost of living or leave the commonwealth behind.
Democrats are advancing a sweeping tax agenda that will make everyday life more expensive for working Virginians. For Virginia Democrats, “affordability” means imposing new taxes on dog grooming, counseling, vehicle and home repairs, dry cleaning, hosting events and even owning electric leaf blowers and landscaping equipment. Their proposals would also authorize new local sales taxes and impose a delivery tax on services like Amazon, Uber Eats, FedEx and UPS, raising costs for families while offering nothing but a larger, more intrusive government.
VMI CADETS FIGHT BACK AS VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS THREATEN TO CLOSE HISTORIC MILITARY COLLEGE
While families are working day and night to make ends meet, Virginia Democrats are rewarding themselves. Their budget proposal includes an average 209% pay raise for state legislators, insulating politicians from economic reality as they repeal Virginia’s right-to-work law and mandate a $15 minimum wage. Together, these policies will drive up labor costs, eliminate jobs and leave workers with fewer opportunities.
At the same time, Democrats are pursuing an aggressive assault on Virginians’ Second Amendment rights. Their bills would impose an unprecedented tax on firearms and ammunition, layer on burdensome storage mandates and enact sweeping bans on both open and concealed carry in wide swaths of the commonwealth. These policies will not deter criminals. They will make it harder for law-abiding Virginians to protect themselves and their families.
Their transgressions do not stop there. Virginia Democrats are actively working to rewrite Virginia’s constitution.
VIRGINIA JUDGE VOIDS REDISTRICTING PUSH, RULES LAWMAKERS OVERSTEPPED AUTHORITY
Both the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, despite Republicans’ vociferous opposition, voted to approve constitutional amendments that allow abortion on demand up to birth and gerrymander Virginia’s congressional districts to cheat their way to Democrat dominance for years to come. Despite recent defeats in lower courts, Democrats vow to continue disregarding procedural restraints in their pursuit of power at the expense of Virginia’s values.
In just weeks, a newly emboldened Democrat majority has moved to drain the budget surplus by expanding costly social programs while imposing unnecessary tax hikes on middle- and lower-class Virginians.
Nationwide, we’ve witnessed an exodus from California and New York City caused by radical left-wing policies, the same model that Spanberger seeks to emulate. She looks to California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani for inspiration but refuses to accept the repercussions of their policies, because she will never have to experience them.
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It is the people of our great commonwealth who will carry that burden.
Spanberger and Virginia Democrats do not seek to implement commonsense policies that improve Virginians’ lives. As we have already seen in California and New York, their agenda will increase costs, undermine job growth, force families to relocate, dissuade businesses and protect criminals.
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Through constitutional amendments, they will consolidate political control until the Californication of Virginia is complete.
The choices being made today will shape Virginia’s economy, freedoms and competitiveness for decades to come. The consequences are not theoretical; they are real, unfolding now, and will be felt by families, workers, and businesses across the commonwealth.
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A Florida high school teacher is accused of engaging in repeated sexual encounters with a student who had moved into her home, and plying the teen with alcohol, according to an arrest affidavit.
Mackenzie McLean, a 49-year-old economics teacher at Crooms Academy in Sanford, was arrested Tuesday on two counts of sex offense by an authority figure and one count of distribution of a controlled substance.
The male student, a senior who was friends with McLean’s daughter, moved into the teacher’s home around March 2024 after he was kicked out of his own home, according to the affidavit.
The victim said that on one occasion when he was playing video games with McLean and her daughter in a bedroom, McLean gave him 12 shots of gin, causing him to become severely intoxicated, according to the affidavit. She then allegedly told her daughter to leave the room before engaging him in sexual activity.
LOUISIANA SCHOOL’S TEACHER OF THE YEAR ACCUSED OF INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT WITH FORMER STUDENT
Mackenzie McLean, 49, is an economics teacher at Crooms Academy in Sanford, Florida. The school district said she was placed on administrative leave following her arrest on Tuesday. (Seminole County Sheriff’s Office)
It “went on for a very short time,” the student told authorities, alleging that he “pushed McLean off him and told her it was wrong.”
The student lived with McLean for nine months, though he estimated that he was sexually abused “approximately five to ten times” in the two months when she was still his teacher.
McLean taught the male student at Crooms Academy of Information Technology, a magnet school in Sanford, Florida. (Google Maps)
As the student told authorities about the alleged sexual encounters, detectives noted in the affidavit that he appeared “quite emotional” and started crying with visible tears.
NEW JERSEY TEACHER WHO SLEPT WITH STUDENTS AT FAMILY BAGEL SHOP LEARNS PRISON SENTENCE
The student said he allowed the sex to continue because he was afraid that if he stopped, he would no longer have a place to live or food to eat.
The student also brought a friend to speak with detectives who said she had also spent time at McLean’s home, sometimes sleeping over. The teen girl alleged that McLean provided her with alcohol and Adderall, a schedule two controlled substance.
The friend said that she witnessed McLean ask the student to sleep in bed with him, though she did not have direct knowledge of any sexual activity until sometime later, according to the affidavit.
McLean was arrested on Tuesday and is being held on $35,000 bond. (iStock)
Text messages between McLean and the teen girl show that McLean claimed she knew the sexual relationship with the student was wrong, though she alleged that the student initiated the sex.
“I’m well aware that I’m the adultier adult and so I intentionally never initiated anything because I didn’t want to make him feel any kind of way,” reads one alleged message from McLean.
McLean was placed on administrative leave Tuesday morning after spending nearly 25 years working in the district, a Seminole County Public Schools spokesperson told FOX35 Orlando in a statement.
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“Any allegations of misconduct by our staff will be taken seriously and handled quickly,” the statement said. “The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority, and any type of behavior that jeopardizes that safety will not be tolerated in Seminole County Public Schools.”
McLean is being held on a $35,000 bond. Her next court date is scheduled for March 31.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday blamed what he called “venom” from the political left following a deadly incident at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
“Two would-be assassins dead, one in jail for life, and this venom coming from the other side…” Bessent said during “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“They are normalizing this violence. It’s got to stop.”
ERIC TRUMP ANGERED BY LACK OF ANSWERS ON BUTLER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, SAYS WE STILL ‘KNOW NOTHING’
Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to members of the media outside the White House on Nov. 5, 2025. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Bessent pointed to a campaign commercial from an Illinois Democratic Senate candidate in which Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton showcased people declaring, “F— Trump, vote Juliana,” urging that the “profane” video be taken down.
“We don’t know whether this person was a mastermind, unhinged or what, but they are normalizing this… violence,” he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Stratton’s office for comment and did not immediately hear back.
Bessent’s comments came as authorities investigate a security incident at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, where a young male suspect was shot and killed early Sunday.
SECRET SERVICE THWARTS POTENTIAL THREAT NEAR TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS WITH RAPID RESPONSE
An aerial view shows the Mar-a-Lago estate and the north gate in Palm Beach, Florida, following reports of a shooting incident on Feb. 22. (Fox News)
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw confirmed to Fox News that the suspect was 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina.
The president was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the incident. No Secret Service agents or law enforcement personnel were injured.
“I want to congratulate Sean Curran and the Secret Service for protecting the president and his family,” Bessent said, adding that Trump and his family are safe.
The Treasury secretary declined to discuss potential changes to the president’s security posture at Mar-a-Lago following the incident but insisted that protections around Trump are “as strong as it’s ever been.”
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Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Largest measles outbreak in recent history reported on southwestern Florida college campus
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More than 40 measles cases have been reported at Ave Maria University in southwest Florida, marking the largest outbreak on an American college campus in recent history.
The situation at the private Catholic college comes amid a broader national increase in measles cases, with 2,280 confirmed infections nationwide in 2025 and more than 900 cases reported so far in 2026.
“Since the start of the semester, 48 nurse-assessed students have progressed beyond the contagious period and now have natural immunity,” Ave Maria University posted in an online update on Feb. 10.
MEASLES OUTBREAK POSES RISK OF ‘IRREVERSIBLE’ BRAIN DAMAGE, HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN
Several universities have reported measles activity this year. Clemson University and Anderson University in South Carolina each reported single cases that led to the quarantine of a larger group of students.
The University of Florida also reported exposure in two specific classes at its Gainesville campus.
Several universities have reported measles activity this year, but the scale at Ave Maria sets it apart from the others. (iStock)
The Florida Department of Health (DOH) recently updated its data to show 46 confirmed measles cases across Collier County from Jan. 1 through Feb. 7, with the university serving as the primary site of the cluster.
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The contagious period for measles includes the four days before and after a rash appears, according to the DOH.
More than 40 measles cases have been reported at Ave Maria University in southwest Florida, marking the largest outbreak on an American college campus in recent history. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“All nurse-assessed students on campus within the four-day contagious period following the onset of a rash are in quarantine,” the university stated in the latest update.
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Ave Maria University requires proof of vaccination but, in accordance with Florida law, allows students to opt out by signing a waiver for religious or personal reasons.
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The “vast majority” of the campus community is vaccinated, according to university health updates. The school remains open for normal operations, including in-person classes and Mass.
The “vast majority” of the campus community is vaccinated, and the school remains open for normal operations, including in-person classes and Mass. (iStock)
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People with a history of infection or who have received the full series of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) immunization are 98% protected and are unlikely to contract measles, according to the DOH.
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