State and National Government
Voters in Virginia’s Democratic primary ranked health care as the most important issue facing the country, well above climate change, the economy, race relations, foreign policy and many other social issues. That’s according to a wide-ranging AP VoteCast survey of the Democratic primary electorate in Virginia. VoteCast also found more voters in Virginia’s Democratic primary said they wanted a candidate who would bring fundamental change to Washington, rather than one who would restore the political system to how it was before Donald Trump was elected in 2016. The Associated Press declared Joe Biden the winner just after the polls closed in Virginia, basing the call on data from VoteCast.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden has won Virginia’s Democratic presidential primary, reaffirming the state’s preference for moderate candidates over more progressive ones. Biden won the Virginia primary on Super Tuesday, a key date in the primary calendar when voters in 14 states made their picks. The full results from Super Tuesday were not immediately available. (With almost 96% reporting Biden was up more than 2 to 1 on votes over Sanders, with Warren and Bloomberg trailing far behind). Biden beat out Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Virginia was a key test for Biden, who has started consolidating support among moderate Democrats after a convincing win Saturday in South Carolina. His victory shows an ability to win a state with diverse voting blocs, a mix of rural, urban and suburban areas, and many veteran voters.
The Biden victory is also a blow to Bloomberg, who launched his campaign in Virginia and visited the state several times since getting in to the race as a late entrant. He spent more than $2.5 million funding groups that helped the Democrats wrest control of the state legislature and spent lavishly on field staff and television advertising in Virginia. Once a key swing state, Democrats have won every statewide election in Virginia for the last decade,while also flipping partisan majorities in the state legislature and the congressional delegation.
Will a whirlwind of high-profile endorsements be enough for former Vice President Joe Biden to perform well in today’s Super Tuesday elections? A political analyst doubts it, as WFIR’s Ian Price reports:
Two of Virginia’s former Governors have announced endorsements ahead of tomorrow’s Super Tuesday elections. WFIR’s Clark Palmer explains.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam may float an alternative redistricting plan as his fellow Democrats remain divided over how best to draw new congressional and legislative maps next year.
With only a week left to this year’s legislative session, the governor’s office announced Friday that he’s considering a range of options, including drafting new legislation or calling a special legislative session later this year.
“Given the increased possibility of deadlock, he is reviewing all options to ensure a new, transparent process is in place for the 2021 redistricting,” Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said in a statement.
Virginia Democrats have been in a national spotlight on redistricting reform after taking full control of the statehouse this year. The party has made redistricting reform a key campaign plank but has been split on whether to support a proposed constitutional amendment that passed the GOP-led General Assembly last year with broad bipartisan support, or to back a different proposal that is friendlier to the new Democratic majority.
The party has not been well organized on the issue. Del. Joe Lindsey, the Democratic chairman of the House Privileges and Elections Committee, said at a committee hearing Friday that the governor told him personally that he was going to present “alternative legislation” on Monday.
But Lindsey later said he was mistaken after reporters told him the governor’s office had not committed to proposing new legislation.
Redistricting has long been a hot-button issue in Virginia, where federal judges in recent years have struck down both the state legislative and congressional maps as racially discriminatory.
Several black lawmakers in the state House have objected to the proposed amendment on the grounds that it would dilute African Americans’ influence in drawing maps.
Del. Cia Price, a supporter of the alternative plan, welcomed Northam’s involvement, saying it gives more time for lawmakers to realize the flaws in proposed constitutional amendment.
Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg, a Democrat who supports the amendment, said he didn’t know what the governor’s intent was, but said it was past time for a full floor vote on the amendment.
“It’s time to be on the board, and any attempts to try and prolong it are just attempts to kill it,” VanValkenburg said.
Both the amendment and the alternative plan would create a bipartisan commission of lawmakers and citizens who would present maps to the General Assembly for approval.
But a key difference is who would have the final say in approving new maps should the commission’s work end in a stalemate. The amendment would give the last word to the conservative-leaning Virginia Supreme Court, while the alternative plan would still give the General Assembly that power.
The Senate has already passed the proposed amendment this year — with strong support from black senators. After punting on the issue for much of this year’s session, a House committee is expected to vote on the measure Monday.
The Senate has put off a final vote on the alternative plan. This year’s legislative session is set to end March 7.
U.S. House and state House and Senate districts will be redrawn based on the results of this year’s census, making the 2020 election particularly important. The winners could help control who holds power for the next decade, just as Republicans did after a tea party wave a decade ago.
Both parties have been accused of using partisan advantage to draw unfair maps around the country. More than a dozen states, both conservative and liberal, have passed some sort of redistricting procedures designed to keep partisanship in check.
MGN
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The Virginia Senate has advanced two pieces of Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed gun-control measures after previously rejecting them. The Senate voted Wednesday to advance legislation that would require gun owners to report to police any lost or stolen firearms and to toughen the penalty for leaving a loaded, unsecured firearm in a reckless manner that endangers a child. Northam’s office agreed to water down both measures in order to to win support of some Democrats who rejected earlier versions. Lawmakers are set to give final passage in coming days to seven out of eight gun-control bills backed by Northam.