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Representing over 34,000 members, who serve every Virginia community, while advocating for increasing housing supply, improving affordability and helping families achieve the dream of homeownership. Thanks to everyone for a great 2025 legislative session!
The latest filings for House of Delegates races
There is a long list of new candidates who have filed to run for the House of Delegates this year. There are also a few primary challengers who have filed in districts across the commmonwealth. Check them all out below:
Stacey Carroll (D) in HD-64. Paul Milde (R) is the incumbent. He won in 2023 with 54% of the vote.
Makayla Venable (D) in HD-36. Ellen Campbell (R) is the incumbent. She won in 2023 with 60% of the vote.
Shane Boswell (D) in HD-31. Delores Oates (R) is the incumbent. She won in 2023 with 60% of the vote.
LaRock is considering a run for governor after grassroots push to get him on the ballot
Former Republican Del. Dave LaRock said he is considering a run for governor after a grassroots movement to get him on the ballot began this week. This could set up a potential primary race between him and Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears for the Republican nomination.
“There seems to be a pretty good grassroots push in that direction, and people collecting signatures to that effect,” LaRock said in an interview with Virginia Scope on Wednesday. “That’s probably about as much as I want to say at this point.”
Waverly Woods, a Republican operative, started pushing the effort Wednesday morning, she said.
“Honestly, my phone’s been blowing up,” she said in an interview with Virginia Scope. “I thought [LaRock] was an amazing legislator. He has a great track record, and I’m hoping we can convince him to do it. This is a real grassroots movement, and I’m happy to get people motivated to do it.”
“I literally just started today,” she continued. “I just got engaged in it today. That’s just me. I don’t know how many other people were doing something somewhere else. The scuttle was going around, and I was like, ‘I’m grabbing this bull by the horns.’”
LaRock served in the House of Delegates for ten years before ran for an open state Senate seat in 2023 after redistricting.
He came in second behind Timmy French for the nomination, pausing his career in politics for the time.
Spanberger and Sears use their predecessors’ actions against each other on the campaign trail
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger blamed Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration Wednesday when she highlighted recent reporting from the Richmond Times-Dispatch that shows Virginia ranks 51st in the U.S. — behind all other states and Washington D.C. — in math recovery between 2019 and 2024, based on scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears took a jab at Spanberger in response and blamed Democrats’ handling of COVID-19 school closures.
The rankings from researchers at Harvard and Stanford Universities, along with the RTD’s reporting, show how Virginia’s math scores have dropped drastically in recent years.
“In fourth-grade math, Virginia fell from No. 2 in the nation in 2019 to No. 20 in the nation in 2024. In eighth grade math, Virginia ranked 22nd nationally in 2024, down from No. 5 in 2019,” the data shows.
Dyer Strategies is a boutique political consulting firm that offers tailored fundraising, compliance, PAC management, and training services to progressive organizations on the federal, state, and local levels.
Sears’ new staff does not have Trump on their side
Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears recently brought in a new consultant firm, Coldspark, to run her campaign for governor. After recently making inroads with the MAGA crowd that she has had trouble bringing into the mix due to her comments about President Donald Trump in 2022, this move could potentially undo that progress.
Coldspark ran Nikki Haley’s unsuccessful campaign for president last year. Haley and Trump did not coalesce well in the primary against each other, to say the least, and last month, he sent out a message on social media notifying anyone who worked with Haley and many of his other enemies in the Republican Party to not even bother to apply to work in his administration.
“In order to save time, money, and effort, it would be helpful if you would not send, or recommend to us, people who worked with, or are endorsed by, Americans for No Prosperity (headed by Charles Koch), ‘Dumb as a Rock’ John Bolton, ‘Birdbrain’ Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, disloyal Warmongers Dick Cheney, and his Psycho daughter, Liz, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, General(?) Mark Milley, James Mattis, Mark Yesper, or any of the other people suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, more commonly known as TDS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
House Republicans go on offensive to attack Democrats
All 100 seats are up for election this November in the Virginia House of Delegates, and Republicans have already gone on the offensive against Democrats. The Republican State Leadership Committee released a new six-figure paid media attack ad Tuesday accusing Democrats in the General Assembly of blocking tax cuts and efforts to lower electric costs and refusing to crack down on illegal immigration.
“Virginia House Democrats have said they want to cut taxes, make their communities safer, and make the Commonwealth more prosperous, yet this legislative session under their leadership has been one broken promise after the next,” said RSLC PAC President Edith Jorge-Tuñón.
“Politicians love to talk, but what matters to Virginians is what they do,” said House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert. “Republicans have concrete, actionable plans to lower your power bills, cut your taxes, and make your neighborhoods safer. Our House Republican Caucus wants to put more money back in your pocket, ensure that parents are in charge of their children, and make sure the future looks brighter for us all. But we need more Republicans in the House to make that happen.”
Democrats plan to use a special session to address federal workforce and spending cuts
Democratic members of the General Assembly are expanding the scope of a special session already underway to address the federal workforce and spending cuts that impact the commonwealth.
“I believe absolutely we’re going to have to come back,” Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said during a press gaggle when asked by the Richmond Times Dispatch Friday morning.
The governor can call the General Assembly into a special session, or a supermajority in both chambers can do it, but neither of those options is likely as Republicans do not want to give Democrats a platform to attack President Donald Trump.
However, there is already an active special session from last year to address changes to VMSDEP, and Democrats can just change the scope of the work moving forward.
The House announced that on Saturday, they will gavel into the special session at 2 p.m., add the new language to expand its scope, and then gavel out.
“We have to be responsive, and we have to be nimble to the things that are happening in DC,” Scott continued. “So we have a responsibility to come back. I already believe that we’re more than likely to have to come back to deal with some of the chaos that’s going on in DC.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, echoed that sentiment.
Senate advances legislation to put regulations on license plate readers
The Virginia Senate passed a bill Thursday to regulate license plate readers. House Majority Leader Chariniele Herring, D-Fairfax, is sponsoring the bill. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee amended the bill, which means the House, where the original legislation passed 59-39, will have to either accept the changes and advance it to the governor or work out the differences between the two chambers in a conference.
The legislation would limit automatic license plate readers to be used; only as part of a criminal investigation where there is a reasonable suspicion that a crime was committed; as part of an active investigation related to a missing or endangered person; or to receive notifications related to a missing or endangered person, a person with an outstanding warrant, a person associated with human trafficking, a stolen vehicle or a stolen license plate.
In the original legislation, data from the readers would be destroyed after 30 days. It was amended Monday by the Senate Courts Committee to reduce the time to 21 days.
The original legislation also allowed for the expansion of camera use on Virginia’s highway system, but Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, successfully added an amendment to the bill Monday that would require a reenactment vote from the General Assembly next year to allow for this.
Former Gov. Jim Gilmore is endorsing John Reid in the race for the Republican lieutenant governor nomination.
“I am proud to endorse John Reid for lieutenant governor,” Gilmore said. “John is a high-caliber man, a son of Virginia, and always stands decisively for what is right. John is emblematic of the tradition and values his father, one of my closest friends, longtime Republican and Virginia Delegate Jack Reid stood for. Virginians across the Commonwealth are enthusiastic about his candidacy and I am excited to do all I can help get John Reid elected.”
Gilmore also served as United States Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
Reid is running against Fairfax Supervisor Pat Herrity and John Curran for the nomination.
Virginia lawmakers delay human trafficking training for short-term rentals
By Jaila Hendricks, VCU Capital News Service
RICHMOND, Va. -- Lawmakers did not advance measures to implement human trafficking awareness training for short-term rental properties, with one patron saying they need to get the language right first.
Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, sponsored House Bill 1654, and Sen. Angelia Williams, D-Norfolk, introduced Senate Bill 985.
The bills would require property owners and their employees to complete awareness training to recognize and report suspected human trafficking.
Lawmakers and stakeholders still need to work on technical aspects that include getting the language right, and maybe adding accountability measures, according to Helmer.
“We know too much of it is happening in Virginia and around the country,” Helmer said. “Making sure that owners of short-term rentals also are aware of the issues is critically important to making sure we combat human trafficking.”
John McAuliff said he raised 100K since launching campaign
John McAuliff gave an update on his fundraising in his HD-30 race. He is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against the Republican incumbent, Geary Higgins.
McAuliff said he raised $100,000 from more than 300 individual donors in the first 20 days.
“Three weeks in, this campaign is already breaking records and we’re just getting started,” McAuliff said. “Anyone curious if the Democratic party is energized and ready to fight in 2025 should come visit one of our great towns - and stay for dinner.”
He also announced the endorsement of former Del. Wendy Gooditis.
Commentary: Parents Should Be “Skill” Games’ Fiercest Opponents
by Dr. Babur Lateef — he is the chair of the Prince William County School Board and a current Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.
For six years, I’ve served as Chairman of the Prince William County School Board, Virginia’s second-largest school division. School boards like mine have taken on the immense responsibility of developing policies and programs to mitigate kids’ various addictions. I fear another addiction looms on the horizon with Virginia’s “skill games” legislation.
Despite what various lobbyists and industry insiders will tell you, these games are basically slot machines. They’re loud and bright to draw players in. They’ve received minor tweaks to make their claim they involved an element of “skill” to the game, but the fact remains they are currently illegal. Yet, they could be coming to gas stations and grocery stores near you, depending on the outcome of legislation before the General Assembly right now.
I’m a medical doctor and a dad; I don’t need a 15-year double-blind study to tell you that these things are bad for kids and young adults. The Virginia Council on Problem Gambling says the “ubiquitous nature of skill games” poses a heightened risk to children as “research indicates that early exposure and participation in gambling can be a risk factor for developing a gambling problem later in life.” Is anyone surprised?
Commentary: Vaping Saved My Life – Vapor Directory Bills Put My Progress at Risk
by Robert Derr
Throughout my life, I have earned many titles, some I am prouder of than others – Twenty-year Navy Veteran, Father of Three, and at age 13, began my ‘title’ as an eventual Thirty-year-smoker.
I am thankful to always be a Navy Vet and a father, but thanks to vape products, I no longer carry the title of cigarette smoker. That is why I find House Bill 1069 & Senate Bill 550 from the 2024 session to be harmful to former cigarette smokers who rely on these products to quit smoking and improve their health. While the bill’s intentions may be rooted in public health and safety, its potential consequences could hurt those who are trying to make healthier choices. Thankfully, these bills have not gone into effect yet, but come July 1st, they will become law if lawmakers don’t act first.
Furthermore, courts have already ruled against this issue, making similar laws in other states invalid. Right now, The United States Supreme Court is actively considering a case that could invalidate Virginia’s law immediately prior to or just after it is scheduled to take effect. Why make consumers and business owners jump through hoops to comply with a law that the Supreme Court could very well strike down? Let’s allow for certainty before we act.
