State and National Government
The Roanoke-Lynchburg region is gaining more clout in next General Assembly. Two area delegates have been named committee chairs when the new House of Delegates Republican majority is sworn in next month. House Speaker-designee Todd Gilbert today appointed Botetourt County Delegate Terry Austin chair of the Transportation Committee, and Bedford County’s Kathy Byron will lead the Labor and Commerce Committee.
NEWS RELEASE: Speaker-designee Todd Gilbert today announced the chairs of six additional House standing committees.
“I’m pleased to announce more of the House of Delegates leadership team for the upcoming General Assembly session. These new committee chairs will bring a breadth of experience to their new assignments. I look forward to working with all of them to enact our shared common-sense, conservative agenda,” Gilbert said.
Today’s appointments are:
- Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources: Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan
- Courts of Justice: Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle
- General Laws: Del. Jay Leftwich, R-Chesapeake
- Health, Welfare and Institutions: Del. Bobby Orrock, R-Caroline
- Labor and Commerce: Del. Kathy Byron, R-Bedford
- Transportation: Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt
“In keeping with long-standing Caucus precedent, Caucus Chair Kathy Byron and Whip Jay Leftwich are stepping aside from their roles in elected caucus leadership in order to take on their new roles as committee chairs. Their replacements will be chosen by the Caucus at a later date,” Gilbert said.
“As House Republicans advance our legislative priorities, it will be imperative that we have committee chairs ready on day one. From transportation to housing, the rule of law to improving Virginia’s business climate, healthcare to Virginia’s agribusiness industry, these leaders are prepared to deliver for Virginians,” he added.
“Delegates Ware — who has graciously accepted this role after close discussion with the immediate past chairman Delegate Marshall — Bell, Leftwich, Orrock, Byron, and Austin have extensive knowledge related to their committees and will deftly lead their committees as we lead Virginia in the upcoming General Assembly,” he said.
The announced chairs join Del. Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, who was previously announced as the incoming Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Additional appointments will be announced at a later date.
The State Supreme Court has scheduled two public hearings for later this week on the proposed redistricting of Virginia’s General Assembly and Congressional districts. Virginia Tech Professor and WFIR Political Analyst Bob Denton says Democrats are likely to fare better overall — largely a matter of population shifts in Virginia, with Democrats generally making up a larger share of the state’s fastest-growing regions, leaving our part of the state with less General Assembly representation. And as a result, that could lead to some area incumbent lawmakers facing each other to remain in office. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
WASHINGTON (AP) – The chairman of the House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection says the committee has interviewed about 250 people so far. That shows the swift pace of the investigation as lawmakers aim to compile the most comprehensive account yet of the violent attack and hold a series of public hearings next year. Committee members and staff have conducted the interviews in private, and most witnesses have complied voluntarily. Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson disclosed the number of private interviews as he tried to make the case at a House hearing Thursday for contempt charges against a former Justice Department official from the Trump administration.
Democratic incumbent delegate Alex Askew (Virginia Beach) has officially conceded his District 85 race after a recount showed that he would not overcome Republican challenger Karen Greenhalgh. A three judge panel today upheld her victory, ensuring a Republican majority in the House of Delegates, even with one more recount in the 91st district expected next week.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — A three-judge panel overseeing a recount in a close Virginia Beach state House race upheld the Republican candidate’s victory on Friday, a decision that also reaffirms the GOP’s takeover of the chamber and completes the party’s sweep of last month’s elections.
Republicans also claimed the statewide offices of governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in the Nov. 2 balloting. Those wins were a dramatic turnaround in a state where the GOP had not won a statewide race since 2009. Democrats still hold a 21-19 majority in the Senate — where elections won’t be held until 2023 — splitting control of Virginia’s state legislature.
The certified results from the election showed Republicans leading in 52 districts and the Democrats leading in 48. The recount in the 85th District race resulted in Democratic incumbent Alex Askew gaining 12 votes, but he still trailed Republican challenger Karen Greenhalgh by 115 votes. There was one contested ballot. The panel found that the intent of the voter was unclear, so that ballot was not counted for either candidate.
After Democrats requested recounts in two races with razor-thin margins, that left open the remote possibility of a 50-50 split. Though the second recount, in the 91st District, is still expected to proceed next week, Democrats no longer have a shot at undoing the GOP’s majority. Askew is an incumbent freshmen first elected in 2019, when Democrats flipped both the House and Senate. After the recount results were announced, Askew thanked his supporters, campaign staff and volunteers.
The first of two recounts in Virginia’s House of Delegates that will determine whether power is split between Democrats and Republicans don’t matter much. That’s according to our political analyst as WFIR’s Ian Price reports:
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Ports in California have been making headlines for their delays and supply chain backups. But the Port of Virginia has been running smoothly and outperforming other major ports on East Coast.
Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director Stephen Edwards said this week that its terminals are doing better in part because they have fundamentally different operating structures than those in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
For instance, Edwards told the Virginian-Pilot the two ports in the Los Angeles area are run by two distinct organizations. Virginia’s terminals are run by one entity — the Virginia Port Authority. If one terminal has a congestion issue, the port authority can easily divert cargo to another terminal.
The Los Angeles area also has three trucking providers that are unrelated to the terminals. Virginia’s port authority has sole control over the trucking fleet, Edwards said. He also credited the terminal’s automated stacking cranes. Because of them, the port spends less time running extra shifts and burning out employees when ships are late.
A regularly updated study shows how safe each state is during the COVID-19 pandemic. WFIR’s Ian Price has details about where Virginia landed on the list:
