We Hate Politics

Del. Danica Roem (D) talked to Virginia Scope for an audio interview Monday morning to talk about her newly-announced campaign for the Virginia state Senate.She is seeking the nomination in SD-30, an open district with no incumbent due to redistricting. Roem is the first Democrat to announce their intention for the nomination in this district. Ian Lovejoy, a former member of the Manassas city council, has already announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination.“I'm pursuing the Democratic nomination to continue my work of serving the people of my lifelong home community of western Prince William County and greater Manassas by building on my record of passing 32 bills into law during my 2.5 terms representing the 13th District of the Virginia House of Delegates, including 10 to feed hungry kids,” Roem said on Facebook Monday.As for the possibility that a lawsuit might force the House to run again under new lines this year, Roem says she would run for that seat first. “If a federal court rules for one-year special elections for the House of Delegates in 2022, then I will run for re-election to the House this fall in order to continue serving my constituents and maintaining my seniority, which is transferable to the state Senate.”She is running for the state Senate in 2023, either way.

Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, Jamie Lockhart, talked Wednesday about the recent news that the Supreme Court of the United States will likely be overturning Roe v. Wade.“All the emotions,” Lockhart said of the moments she learned the news. “We knew that this was likely coming - that anti-abortion activists have been planning for this for decades.” 

Virginia Scope journalist Brandon Jarvis, Henrico Democratic Committee chair Marques Jones, Democratic operative Nathan Kiker, and former Republican operative Andrew Hull talk about the redistricting proposals submitted by special masters last night. Specifically, they discussed Rep. Spanberger being drawn into Rep. Wittman's district, the wild new district in Prince William County that is seeing a huge amount of interest from Democrats in the area, and Rep. Elaine Luria is facing tougher prospects with her district's redraw in the second district.This is a Virginia Scope production. Support our work by subscribing to our daily newsletter. 

This is the latest episode of the Virginia Scope Podcast: 'In the Scope' featuring Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin and others for a wide-ranging discussion of Virginia politics. In addition to Youngkin, Henrico County Democratic Committee Chairman Marques Jones and Democratic operative Nathan Kiker discuss the DPVA Chair and other inner-party politics. Hosted by Brandon Jarvis, this is a Virginia Scope podcast. Support our work by subscribing to our daily newsletter. 

In this audio interview, Fairfax County's Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano (D) talks about everything happening in Virginia politics right now along with what is happening in the Republican recall movement against him and the status of that effort.Descano also talked about the recent statements from Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares when he expressed a desire to go into localities and intervene in cases when officials think a local prosecutor is mishandling a case. “My initial response was that it is silly,” Descano said. “It doesn't make any sense. Quite frankly what we have is Jason Miyares wants to cosplay as a prosecutor.” He also talks about what he would like to see from the Democratic Party moving forward. He believes one priority for the party should be to “focus on propelling our vision for the commonwealth, instead of presenting as counter to someone else.”  Descano finished by answering a question about whether or not he is considering running for attorney general in 2025. 

This conversation is with Danny Laub, a partner at POOLHOUSE, the Republican ad agency that created Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin's ads for his campaign. Laub talks about the Youngkin campaign and Virginia politics in general.

Henrico Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg (D) and Colonial Heights Delegate-elect Mike Cherry (R) talk about winning their races Tuesday and moving forward in a Virginia with Republican control in the Executive Branch and House of Delegates. This is a Virginia Scope podcast. 

Here is additional audio from a canvass rally for the Democratic House candidate in HD-66, Katie Sponsler. She is looking to replace Kirk Cox in the House of Delegates. (Background on the district)Del. Jay Jones (Norfolk) and Sponsler addressed a group of supporters ahead of a canvass launch, which can be heard in the audio.

With only Monday standing between Halloween and election day, Democrats are rallying across the commonwealth with a long list of events aimed at getting out the vote for Tuesday.Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe fired up a large crowd of people in Henrico County, a Richmond suburb that is crucial for Democrats in keeping Virginia blue for another four years.Listen to Mcauliffe, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney talk to a large crowd of Democrats in Henrico Sunday afternoon below:

Listen to the first episode of Virginia Scope's new weekly podcast series, In the Scope. Hosted by Brandon Jarvis, the show will focus specifically on one aspect of Virginia politics each week. With elections happening in just one week, of course, this episode is based on the final days of campaigning. Randolph Macon College professor provides specific analysis of the campaigns in the final days; plus Marques Jones, the chair of the Henrico County Democratic Committee, and Andrew Hull, a former Republican Party of Virginia staffer discuss and provide commentary on the race from their perspective. 

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe had more national figures show up for him in Charlottesville Sunday to help him encourage Democratic voters in the final days of this election.DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison, Dave Matthews, and Stacey Abrams fired up a crowd of more than a thousand people Sunday afternoon. Listen to the audio at the top of this newsletter to hear Abrams' speech and some of what Dave Matthews had to say about the race.

Former President Barack Obama came to Richmond on Saturday to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at VCU's Monroe Park Campus.Obama talked about the work he did with McAuliffe during his first term as governor, and mocked his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, as well.

This is an interview with David Toscano, the former state delegate for the 57 House district based in Charlottesville. Toscano was the House Democratic Leader during Terry McAuliffe's first term as governor and provides his analysis of this year's gubernatorial race. He also discusses redistricting, and his new book, Fighting Political Gridlock: How States Shape Our Nation And Our Lives.Listen at the link below as Brandon Jarvis and Henrico County Democratic Committee Chairman Marques Jones interview Toscano.This is a Virginia Scope production.

The difference in votes between Del. Roxann Robinson (R-HD27) and her Democratic opponent for the last two elections combined is 317 votes. But after losing by 189 votes in 2019, Democrats are hoping that their efforts this year will help them defeat Robinson, the Chesterfield district's representative in the House since 2010. Chesterfield has been trending left in recent years with a blue wave in 2017 and 2019 that resulted in 21 House seats flipping from Republican to Democrat. But while momentum was on their side with Donald Trump in office, Democrats were still unable to win in this district. Debra Gardner is the candidate looking to get them over the hump this year, even as strategists fear lower Democratic turnout across the commonwealth. Gardner began her career as a social worker and eventually worked at state agencies serving as a liaison to the General Assembly. “I have spent my 30-year career working to help marginalized communities, advocating for fair and equal rights for everybody and just trying to make the quality of life better for the people in my community,” Gardner said in an interview with Virginia Scope Tuesday. Her plan for making up the small margin of votes that Democrats have repeatedly lost by is to increase the number of voters participating in the next election. “I started out by trying to bring more voters into the fold because, in all honesty, this is a 50/50 district,” Gardner said. “So what we needed to do in my opinion was expand our voter base.”  She says her campaign has been assisted by the grassroots activists in Liberal Women of Chesterfield County (LWCC), a group that grew to prominence under the leadership of Kim Drew Wright when she began meetings after Trump's election. LWCC's membership expanded quickly and mobilized to help both the Democrats in 2017 and Abigail Spanberger in 2018 as she won a historically Republican congressional district. The group is still functioning today, knocking doors and writing postcards for Democrats across the area. “We have mobilized that contingency of LWCC and got them out knocking doors,” Gardner said. “We have one of the most extensive postcard writing organizations that is out here.”She also noted that the Texas abortion ban that went into effect last month really helped motivate Democrats and galvanize the grassroots. “Choice is a major issue in this area,” Gardner said of tracking polls from the district.Republicans are optimistic heading into the November statewide elections after losing the previous two governor races. Additionally, the Democrats have won every Senate race during the same time period, leaving Republicans in a statewide victory drought since 2009. But with two years of complete Democratic control in the state government and a Democratic White House, Republicans hope the enthusiasm on their side can help them make up for the 10 points that Biden defeated Trump by last year. The GOP ticket has narrowed its focus on education issues in the suburbs. “​​If this election is about the battle for the suburbs, Chesterfield county is Ground Zero,” said Richard Meagher, associate professor of political science at Randolph Macon College. “This race is really about the broader political environment. If the Republicans have any hope of winning in this state in the future, then this is exactly the kind of race they need to win.” 

Listen to what Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) and the Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Hala Ayala had to say during the rally Friday night.

Listen at the link above to audio from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and First Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden addressing a crowd in Henrico County Friday night.McAuliffe hit hard on his typical campaign talking points firing up the crowd, while Dr. Biden's speech was mostly interrupted by pipeline protesters (14 min mark).

 This is an interview from Henrico County Democratic Committee Chairman Marques Jones with Del. Lamont Bagby (D-HD74) and Brandon Jarvis covering redistricting and the November elections. Bagby is the chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and opposed the Redistricting Commission that was ultimately approved by the General Assembly and Virginia's voters. The Commission recently reached an impasse and was unable to agree on any set of General Assembly legislative maps. The task will now be up to the Virginia Supreme Court to draw state Senate and House of Delegates maps.

Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Rich Anderson says that he believes the energy on the ground for his party is greater than it was in 2009, the last time Virginia Republicans won a statewide race. Joe Biden won by 10-points in Virginia last year. “I do believe that we are going to have a clean sweep,” Anderson said in an interview Monday. “It feels very similar to 2009 and it was in 2009 that I was elected to the House of Delegates along with a substantially large freshman class. That was year one of the Obama presidency — Republicans were fired up and turned out.” The comparison is noteworthy due to Virginia's historical nature of electing a governor that is from the party that is opposite of the one in control of the White House. Terry McAuliffe broke that trend when he narrowly defeated Ken Cuccinelli in 2013 to earn his first term as governor. McAuliffe is now seeking to do the same thing eight years later. His Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, is trying to unite his party as one against McAuliffe and Democratic control in the General Assembly. Polling is showing a tight race this year and Republicans say they are seeing a swell of enthusiasm on the ground. “I am seeing this tremendous enthusiasm,” Anderson said noting that he has watched since the early summer as the crowd size, enthusiasm, energy, and engagement have grown to be “literally off the charts.”But a ten-point deficit from one year ago is quite the hill to climb for Republicans to win this November. “I am a state party chairman so I am not going to say it doesn't worry me - it is something to be considered and factored,” Anderson said about the climb. “What we can do is focus on the future. I am not too fixated on last year.” 

There was a bouncy house, carnival food, a line of porta-potties, and staffers directing traffic in a farm field where an excited crowd of hundreds of people whole gathered to see Glenn Youngkin in Chesterfield County Friday night. Alongside his ticket mates Winsome Sears and Jason Miyares, Youngkin fired up the Republican crowd by promising to ban Critical Race Theory, firing the parole board, and talking about the recent polls showing a tight race. He also talked in a grandiose fashion about topics without going into detail.“Do you want to be forced to join a union or do you want to have the choice to join a union? Do you want your taxes raised or do you want your taxes reduced? Do you want safe communities or do you want dangerous communities? Do you want to fund police or defund police?” Youngkin said to the crowd. Recognizing the moment in front of him, as often happens with Virginia gubernatorial elections, Youngkin explained how nationalized this race has become to represent a bellwether response to a new Biden White House.  “This race has got the full attention of the entire United States of America,” Youngkin said. “American needs Virginia to stand up and speak for her.” 

Democrats have made huge gains in Virginia during the last four years, but in an off-off election year while they hold the White House — seats that have been won by comfortable margins in recent years are giving incumbents anxiety.Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg D-Henrico is seeking reelection to his third term in the House of Delegates this November. He currently represents the 72 district and is facing a challenge from Republican Christopher Holmes. 

Nadarius Clark defeated a three-term incumbent in a Democratic primary earlier this year to set himself up to likely become the youngest member of the General Assembly next year. Clark upset the current representative for district 79, Del. Steve Heretick, earlier this year. Heretick was supported heavily by Dominion Energy, while Clark was supported nearly entirely by Michael Bills and Sonjia Smith, mega-donors from Charlottesville.  While he has a Republican opponent this year, Clark is the clear favorite as this is the first time the Democrats have faced any challenge for this seat since 2001. Clark, only 26-years-old, said Sunday that he will be the youngest Democrat elected to the General Assembly in the last 200 years. “He makes me feel really old I'll tell you guys that,” said Jay Jones, a 32-year-old, two-term member of the House of Delegates representing Norfolk. “I feel like the old man coming in, but I can't wait to see the wonderful things that he does.”Listen to speeches from former delegate and gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Carroll Foy, Del. Jay Jones, and Nadarius Clark on Sunday below. 

Brandon Jarvis from Virginia Scope and Richard Meagher, a political science professor at Randolph Macon College, discuss the gubernatorial debate Thursday night. The audio is at the top of this newsletter.Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin and Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe met in Grundy, Virginia at the Appalachian School of Law for the Thursday night debate.Both candidates continued the direct attacks that their campaigns have been waging throughout the summer. In this podcast that was recorded immediately after the debate, Meagher talks about who had the most to gain and whether he believes there was a winner. Plus much more analysis from the first of two televised gubernatorial debates.Polling as recent as Thursday shows McAuliffe with a slight lead in the race. “Statistically speaking, the poll isn't telling you that McAuliffe is going to win or Youngkin is going to lose. It is really saying it is a dead heat,” said Emerson College Polling Director Spencer Kimball. The Emerson poll showed McAuliffe with a four-point lead.

Hala Ayala was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2017 among a blue wave that helped 14 other Democrats flip seats that were formerly held by Republicans. Four years later, Ayala is looking to win big again, this time at the statewide level as she is running for lieutenant governor. In an interview with Virginia Scope, she said that years ago she never would have expected to be on the stage she is now. “If you told me two decades ago while I was working at a gas station making minimum wage…. Respectfully I would say you are nuts.” Ayala said. “Especially sharing the stage with the President of the United States…mind blown.”Ayala is looking to keep the lieutenant governor seat in Democratic control for a third straight term. Republicans haven't won statewide since 2009, but they are hopeful that they can turn the tides this year. Hosts: Brandon Jarvis and Marques Jones 

Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin announced new policy proposals Monday that he says would be funded with Virginia's surplus and revenue over the next year. Democrats responded to the announcement from Youngkin in their own press conference Tuesday.With plans to both spend more and cut taxes, his campaign stressed that local funding for things like public safety and education would not decrease. The initial cuts would total $1.8 billion with a recurring total of $1.4 billion a year. Virginia saw a $2.6 billion surplus this previous fiscal — approximately half of that is required by law to go into Virginia's rainy-day fund.Campaign aides for Youngkin provided several specific policy proposals in a press call Monday morning. Suspending the gas tax hike for one year, providing tax rebates of $300 for individuals and $600 for couples, eliminating taxes for veterans on the first $40,000 of their retirement pay, and cutting income taxes by doubling the standard deductions — $259 for individuals and $518 for couples, are some of the key ideas from Youngkin's new proposal. “It is absolutely too darn expensive to live in Virginia,” Youngkin said at a campaign rally in Northern Virginia Monday afternoon. “The liberal left keeps piling on costs.” Democratic leaders from the General Assembly held a press conference Tuesday to respond to the plan from Youngkin. “Youngkin's day 1 plan that he threw out yesterday, from my perspective, it's a carnival of bad ideas from the last two decades led by this guy who was one of Donald Trump's lead ring masters," said Senate Democratic Caucus Vice-Chair Scott Surovell. "Glenn Youngkin has said that Donald Trump represents so much of why he is running and nowhere, nowhere is that more clear than in this Trump-inspired plan to eliminate the Virginia income tax.”State Del. Jay Jones (D) also responded to the plan from Youngkin. “It's truly shocking to really think about and contemplate how much damage Glenn Youngkin's failed tax plan could do in just one community. [...] When Glenn talks about keeping our communities safe, it's very, very clear to me and so many others that he has absolutely no clue what he's talking about.”

Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield) was first elected to represent the 62 district in the House of Delegates two years ago. Now she is seeking reelection after having a promising two years of passing legislation as a Republican in a chamber that is ruled by the Democratic majority. Her district encompasses the southern parts of Chesterfield, all of Hopewell, and part of Prince George. Before winning her House race in 2019 she served on the Chesterfield school board for eight years. “My first passion is really service involving families and children,” she said in an interview while waiting in line to pick her kids up from school Friday. “My passion and desire to serve in the community really started from my mission work within my own church.” Coyner credits her time working with low-income families and single mothers and seeing their struggle of needing to work while also being a parent to their child as part of a reason she ran for office. “Seeing how much they loved their kids and wanted the best for them but could not be at work and be at home at the same time really led to me trying to become a voice for so many moms at the school level.” Follow us on: Facebook - Twitter - Youtube - Instagram

Rachel Levy is running as a Democrat in Virginia's 55th district for the House of Delegates. The 55th district encompasses parts of Hanover, Spotsylvania, and Caroline Counties.Republican Buddy Fowler has held this seat since 2014. Brandon Jarvis and Marques Jones interview Rachel as she describes her campaign and what inspired her to run for office. This podcast is a Virginia Scope production. 

After being elected Commonwealth Attorney of Virginia's largest locality, Steve Descano is facing a potential recall movement from Republicans who don't agree with the policies that he implemented after taking office in January of last year.Descano won in 2019 with 61% of the vote.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin stopped by a farm in Prince George County Thursday night with his ticket mates Winsome Sears and Jason Miyares. Youngkin talked to the crowd of supporters about the core issues of his campaign as well as his disappointment in what has taken place during the General Assembly's special session.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin announced plans Thursday morning on how he would want to spend Virginia's budget surplus and COVID-relief funding if elected governor. 

With the retirement of Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) from the House of Delegates, the race to fill the seat he is leaving behind this November is heating up. Either Mike Cherry (R-Colonial Heights) or Katie Sponsler (D-Colonial Heights) will be the next representative for the people of Colonial Heights and part of Chesterfield.  Cherry and Sponsler have similar professional backgrounds. Both served in the Air Force, Cherry works as a chaplain for the local police department and Sponsler was a police officer for the federal government. 

Shelly Wood is trying to be the first Democrat to become the commonwealth attorney for Chesapeake in decades. Born and bred in the city, as she says, Wood believes that growing up in the area gives her an advantage in knowing how to best serve her community.  

The legislators are convening next week to allocate the $4.3 billion in funds that Virginia received from the American Relief Plan.

Fresh out of college, Blakely Lockhart is challenging her state delegate Del. John McGuire for the 56 House of Delegates seat. (Parts of Henrico, Louisa, Spotsylvania, and Goochland)In this interview, Marques Jones (Henrico County Democratic Committee Chair) and Brandon Jarvis (journalist) talk to Lockhart about her candidacy and why she believes she will serve the district better than McGuire.

“This is not about one race,” said Glenn Youngkin, the Republican nominee for governor when speaking to a crowd of more than 300 people at the Dominion Country Club in Western Henrico. “We are all going to stand up and say no more. We are going to elect new leaders and we are going to get Virginia moving again.” 

Republican candidates stopped in Chester Saturday to rally supporters ahead of a long summer on the campaign trail. They used this as an opportunity to rail against Democratic control and rally their supporters in what they hope will be a competitive race for the Executive Mansion.“How many of yall are ready for a new governor,” Youngkin said to the crowd after taking the stage to ‘Start Me Up' by The Rolling Stones. “Republicans have come together like never before to recognize that we absolutely must and will win this fall. Today is all about recognizing that yes we have work to do and we can do it.”

Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D-Prince William) is facing a primary challenge in the 31 House of Delegates district from Rod Hall. In this episode, we talk to both of them about the race. Democratic voters are choosing the nominee in a primary on Tuesday, June 8. This is a Virginia Scope production. 

Del. Dawn Adams flipped the 68 House of Delegates district in 2017 when she defeated the Republican incumbent Manoli Loupassi. She won reelection in 2019 but now is facing a primary challenger who has concerns over her voting record and treatment of staff. “Del. Adams and I probably share a number of similarities because we are both Democrats — because we do both share a vision of the Democratic party but I think I am more progressive in a number of areas where I think her votes and her legislative actions have kind of demonstrated why we need better leadership in the 68,” said Kyle Ellott, the man challenging Adams for the Democratic nomination. 

Tom Barbour Jr. is a Democrat running for the commonwealth attorney position in Richmond. Barbour previously served in the military in Iraq and as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney under Mike Herring. Colette McEachin is the incumbent and she is seeking reelection after first winning in a 2019 special election when Herring resigned.In this episode, Barbour talks about how he would work differently from McEachin if elected, how he would walk the line of enforcing the law and holding the police accountable when needed — and more about himself. Listen at the link on the top of this page.

Virginia Democrats have six candidates vying for the lieutenant governor nomination this cycle. Only four of those candidates have put together a statewide campaign that could be considered competitive in the June 8 primary election, however. State Del. Sam Rasoul, Del. Hala Ayala, Sean Perryman, and Norfolk City Councilor Andria McClellan have built their own coalition and raised enough money that they all have a potential chance at winning the nomination. 

The Republican nominee for lieutenant governor Winsome Sears talked to Brandon Jarvis and Marques Jones about her campaign for lieutenant governor. Listen at the link above.

Virginia’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin discusses how he will work to bring back moderate voters to the Republican Party; defining himself as a Republican, not Trump; investing in down-ballot races; how he believes the Democrats have overplayed their hand in Richmond; and what his first priority as governor would be.

Rich Anderson, the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia provides a brief explanation of how the May 8 unassembled convention to select Republican statewide nominees will take place.Republicans across Virginia will be choosing their nominees for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.

David Ramadan joined the ‘We Hate Politics’ podcast from Virginia Scope to discuss the Republican gubernatorial race. Ramadan served as a Republican in the House of Delegates from 2012-2016 representing parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties.He now works in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

State Senator and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Amanda Chase provided an update on the status of her Facebook page that was removed after the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington D.C.

Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-Henrico) checked in with Virginia Scope to talk about his bills that will be heard in the General Assembly's Privileges and Elections Committee on Wednesday.

Sean Perryman is seeking the Democratic nomination to run for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2021. Marques Jones and Brandon Jarvis interviewed him to talk about his candidacy. This is a Virginia Scope production.

On the fifth episode of We Hate Politics we discuss the challenges around securing abortion access, affirming reproductive rights in light of Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court, and how to get men involved in the pro-choice fight. We're joined by a wonderful guest, Liz Mahn, who is a board member of the New Jersey Abortion Access Fund. Episode Sections: 00:01:08 - Episode Note 00:02:45 - Getting Men Involved without De-Centering Women 00:24:51 - Top Priorities in a Justice Barrett World 00:35:26 - How Support for Transgender Rights Have Changed the Landscape 00:42:46 - Messaging to Meet People Where They Are 00:46:52 - Unpacking How Pro-Life is Really Pro-Birth 00:57:51 - International Abortion Fights & Productive Allyship 01:01:54 - Accountabilibuddies & Closing Thoughts Music: Magic by Six Umbrellas (link: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Six_Umbrellas/Private_Ark/05_Six_Umbrellas_-_Magic) Check out the dope video for the song as well (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esc4i1RNYTo)

On the fourth episode of We Hate Politics, we are joined by Rutgers professor and oceanographer Travis Miles to discuss some of the micro issues that towns and governments will have to face when it comes climate change and flooding in particular. As with everything else, there's a domino effect that will drastically change the way we live in so many ways that often get overlooked, and we need to proactively anticipate them if we want any chance of successfully adapting and saving our planet. Episode Sections: 00:01:09 - Episode Note 00:02:42 - Setting the Record Straight on Climate Change 00:10:53 - Flooding & Property Tax Calamity 00:22:28 - Threats to National Security 00:28:11 - Costs, Benefits & Planning Ahead 00:38:36 - What Role Can the Private Sector Play? 00:50:46 - Incentivizing Better Decisionmaking 00:54:27 - New Favorite Things/Closing Thoughts Music: Magic by Six Umbrellas (link: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Six_Umbrellas/Private_Ark/05_Six_Umbrellas_-_Magic) Check out the dope video for the song as well (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esc4i1RNYTo)

Marques Jones and Brandon Jarvis talk to Dr. Cameron Webb, the Democratic congressional candidate in Virginia 5th House of Representatives district. Brandon also talks about attending a MAGA rally last week. This is a Virginia Scope production. @jaaavis@marquesdjones@virginiascope

Brandon Jarvis and Marques Jones first talk to VPM's City Hall reporter, Roberto Roldan, about the state of the race for Richmond's Mayor. Later in the episode, Brandon and Marques talk to one of the candidates for Mayor, Alexsis Rodgers. This is a Virginia Scope Production.@Jaaavis @marquesdjones @virginiascope

In part two of a look at Virginia's 7th House congressional district, Marques and Brandon talk to Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger about her time in Congress and the race in VA-07.