Across Virginia
With eight days to go before election day, Virginia Tech Political Science Professor Bob Denton says it’s clear that the candidates for Virginia governor believe the race is as potentially close as polls increasingly suggest — as evidenced by their own actions. Most recent polls have shown a difference of less than 3%among likely Virginia voters, and a couple of them show a virtual tie. Denton says the very fact that Terry McAuliffe is calling on President Biden to campaign with him tomorrow is another sign that his camp is nervous, but he says if Democrats get a strong election day turnout, the GOP remains at a numbers disadvantage. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — A struggle between a police officer and a murder suspect led to the officer’s gun being discharged in a Virginia Beach hospital stairwell.
The Virginian-Pilot reports it happened Friday at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.
Virginia Beach police say no one was injured, and there was never an active shooter in the building.
In a statement released Saturday morning, police said an officer arrived at the hospital to take Matthew Christie into custody.
Christie, 38, is charged with first-degree murder and malicious assault of his 74-year-old mother, Linda Christie. She was found dead Oct. 16.
Police had responded to their home after a request to check on the welfare of the residents. At the time, Matthew Christie had serious injuries and was taken to Virginia Beach General.
On Friday, he fled from the arresting officer, who caught up to him in a stairwell. Officials said Christie attempted to disarm the officer, leading to his handgun discharging.
No one else was in the stairwell at the time and Christie was eventually restrained and taken into custody, police said. He’ll face additional charges from the incident.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe raised more money than Republican Glenn Youngkin in the latest fundraising report for the governor’s race, as the two candidates continue building on the record-breaking amount of money raised for a gubernatorial race in the state.
McAuliffe raised $12.6 million last month, compared to about $7 million raised by Youngkin.
McAuliffe also had more money left to spend. The former governor’s campaign reported that he has about $7.8 million in cash on hand, compared to about $3.5 million for Youngkin.
For the election cycle, McAuliffe has raised more than $45 million. Youngkin has raised more than $42 million for the election cycle.
The leading donor to McAuliffe’s campaign in September was DGA Action, which is the political action committee for the Democratic Governors Association. It donated $1.1 million for the period. McAuliffe was Virginia’s governor from 2014 to 2018.
The top donor to Youngkin’s campaign in September came from RGA Right Direction PAC, which is an arm of the Republican Governors Association. It donated $1.5 million in the reporting period.
Youngkin, who made his fortune as an executive with The Carlyle Group investment firm, loaned himself $4.5 million in the fundraising period covering July and August, but the latest report for September doesn’t indicate an additional loan. So far, he has loaned his campaign $15.7 million, which is included in his reported total.
McAuliffe also spent more than Youngkin in September. McAuliffe spent $17.5 million, and Youngkin spent $9.5 million, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.
Princess Blanding, who is running for governor as the Liberation Party candidate, raised $8,367 in September. Blanding reported $6,339 cash on hand.
In down-ballot races, Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Hala Ayala raised $1.6 million for the reporting period and has $1.1 million on hand. Her Republican opponent, Winsome Sears, raised about $575,000 and reported about $481,000 on hand.
For attorney general, Democrat Mark Herring raised $1.3 million and reported $1.9 million cash on hand. Republican Jason Miyares raised $1.4 million and has about $858,000 on hand.
Early in-person voting already is underway across the state. In-person early voting ends Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 2.
Virginia and New Jersey are the only two states electing governors this year, and the Virginia race is by far the most competitive. Republicans and Democrats nationally are hoping a victory will give their party momentum going into the 2022 Congressional midterm elections.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Officials at Virginia Tech are putting restrictions in place ahead of this weekend’s game against Pitt after reports of “selfish, inappropriate, and embarrassing student behavior.”
The school announced Thursday that it’s restricting student attendance to season ticket holders and limiting the number of student lottery winners, news outlets report. The changes come after a student petition called on the university to address claims of overcrowding and problems entering the stadium.
“Over the last several weeks, we have heard too many stories of selfish, inappropriate, and embarrassing student behavior at home football games,” officials said in a message to students. “What we have heard falls short of Virginia Tech standards – and most importantly, creates an unsafe environment for all who attend.”
Students will be expected to head immediately to their seats to allow all fans to take their seats safely, students who enter illegally or violate line protocols will be referred to Student Conduct and be subject to ban from athletic facilities, officials said.
Last month, Virginia Tech apologized for problems during the opening football game, including long lines to get into the stadium and bottles being thrown in the stands and toward the players. Some fans found students sitting in their seats.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A government watchdog group said Friday that it had filed an ethics complaint against White House press secretary Jen Psaki for a comment she made about former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who is running for election to his old post.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Psaki violated the Hatch Act when she appeared to endorse McAuliffe during a White House press briefing on Thursday. The Hatch Act prevents federal employees from engaging in political work while performing their official duties.
In response to a reporter’s question about Virginia’s Nov. 2 election, Psaki said, “We’re going to do everything we can to help former Gov. McAuliffe, and we believe in the agenda he’s representing.”
Immediately before making the comment in support of McAuliffe, Psaki said she needed to be “careful about how much political analysis” she offered in her official capacity.
After CREW filed its complaint, Psaki said in a CNN interview Friday that she should have used the word “he” instead of “we” in response to the question.
“While the president has publicly expressed his support for McAuliffe, we’ll leave it to the press and the campaign to provide commentary on the race,” Psaki said in a statement. “I take ethics very seriously and will choose my words more carefully moving forward.”
During the presidency of Donald Trump, the Office of Special Counsel, which is tasked with enforcing the Hatch Act, officially reported several of Trump’s aides for ethics violations and called on the president to fire his senior counselor Kellyanne Conway for repeatedly ignoring the rules. It is up to the president to determine any appropriate disciplinary action for workers who violate the law, and Trump declined to take action against Conway or the others.
In a statement about the Psaki complaint, CREW President Noah Bookbinder noted the flagrant and repeated violations of the Hatch Act by the Trump White House.
“While (Psaki’s) conduct does not come close to rising to the level of the outrageous offenses of the Trump administration, that does not mean we should be casual about compliance with an important ethics law,” Bookbinder said. “The Biden administration should not follow the Trump administration down that path.”
(Va. ABC photo)
Virginia’s state liquor system is a major purchaser of vodka, bourbon and other distilled spirits, but even that clout cannot prevent some pandemic-related inventory shortages. ABC stores offer about 5,200 different products across the statewide system, and right now, about 175 of them are out of stock. One big reason starts with distillers unable to receive enough glass or caps to bottle their products, and transportation is another major challenge. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:
The Virginia Redistricting Commission has all but given up on agreeing on a plan for new General Assembly district lines, and members are now turning their attention to Congressional districts. And Democrats are already pointing to two in our area as ones needing major revisions. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:
Bedford, Virginia, October 8, 2021 – Senate Republican Leader Pro Tempore Stephen D. Newman (R-Bedford) released the following statement regarding [Friday’s] meeting of the Virginia Redistricting Commission: “Today’s result confirmed my worst fears about the fate of Virginia’s Citizen Redistricting Commission. And for that, I am deeply saddened and disappointed.
“From the first meeting of the newly formed Commission, it became abundantly clear that most of the Democratic citizen members, appointed by those in leadership who opposed the Redistricting Commission bill from the beginning, wanted this process to fail.
“I will never forget the Commission’s meeting on August 3rd. when some Democratic citizen members made it crystal clear to everyone that they didn’t care whether the process ended in new maps for the Commonwealth or not. They were only interested in forcing their will onto the other members of the Commission. “Last month, it became obvious to me that Democratic citizen members just didn’t want this process to work. There was no way to overcome their intransigence.
“It was disingenuous to release a highly partisan plan for Senate districts – that had no connection to previous Commission or public input – during today’s Commission meeting and expecting that map be advanced. Leaving the meeting to prevent its continuation only made matters worse.
“The Commission was able to create criteria that will help hold localities together, protecting communities of interest. If the Democratic citizen members continue with their mission to derail the Commission’s work, I would hope the Supreme Court of Virginia would take the criteria that was agreed upon with a bipartisan consensus over the summer and use it as a solid foundation that will fulfill the intent of the original Constitutional Amendment, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in Virginia last year.”
Negotiations broke down Friday between members of Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission after Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on which proposed maps they should use as a starting point. The meeting ended after Democratic citizen co-chair Greta Harris left. The impasse comes just two days before the commission is supposed to turn in maps for Virginia’s state House and Senate districts.
“At this point, I don’t feel as though all members on the commission are sincere in their willingness to compromise and create fair maps for the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Harris said before leaving. A number of other members also left, effectively ending the meeting because it lacked a quorum. Others wanted to push on. Harris told The Associated Press in an email that she did not resign from the commission, and that she had only left the meeting.
The commission is tasked with dividing the state’s voters into new legislative and congressional districts, while also trying to ensure that Black and minority voters are given a fair shot to elect candidates of their choice. The 16-member commission is evenly split between Democratic and Republican appointees. And it was already struggling to break a partisan divide before Friday’s impasse. Bipartisan cooperation has proved elusive, not only in Virginia, but in Ohio and New York. Redistricting commissions in all three states are meeting for the first time this year and have seen members splinter into partisan camps.
The two most recent statewide polls suggest the race for Virginia governor is shaping up to be a close one. One poll comes from the Wason Center at Christopher Newport University. It shows likely Virginia voters favoring Democrat Terry McAuliffe over Republican Glenn Youngkin 49 to 45 %. 5% remain undecided. Another poll, this one from Emerson College in Boston, shows an even tighter race, with McAuliffe leading Youngkin by just one percentage point. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
WASON CENTER NEWS RELEASE: With voting underway, Democrats hold small but narrowing leads in Virginia’s statewide races, according to our survey of likely voters in the Nov. 2 general election. Since we polled these races in late August, Democratic leads have shrunk, and the contests for governor and lieutenant governor now stand within this survey’s margin of error (+/- 4.2%). Independent voters have moved significantly toward all three Republican candidates. Republican voters are more enthusiastic about voting than Democrats, with 61% of Republican likely voters indicating they are very enthusiastic compared to 55% of Democrats.
Governor: Democrat Terry McAuliffe maintains a narrow lead against Republican Glenn Youngkin, 49% to 45% in the race for governor. This represents a tightening in the race since our August 26 poll, which showed McAuliffe with a 9-point lead (50% to 41%).
Independent voters have shifted significantly, with Republican Youngkin gaining 11 points since late August (from 39% to 50%), while McAuliffe has lost ground among Independents (from44% to 41%).
Click here for full Wason Center Poll results and methodology.
Click here for full Emerson College Poll results and methodology.