Governor Ralph Northam declared Virginia “officially blue” following Tuesday’s election that gave Democrats control of both houses in the General Assembly for the first time in 26 years. And Dems swept Albemarle County, taking the Board of Supervisors, commonwealth’s attorney, and sheriff races. Yet the local House of Delegates races resulted in no upsets and […]
Governor Ralph Northam declared Virginia “officially blue” following Tuesday’s election that gave Democrats control of both houses in the General Assembly for the first time in 26 years. And Dems swept Albemarle County, taking the Board of Supervisors, commonwealth’s attorney, and sheriff races. Yet the local House of Delegates races resulted in no upsets and […]
The reliably Democratic 57th District rarely makes for an exciting horse race. Once a delegate, always a delegate, as David Toscano and Mitch Van Yahres before him proved, each easily holding on to the seat representing Charlottesville and the Albemarle urban ring as long as he chose. Not this year. Newcomer Sally Hudson upended the […]
Ultimately, no one was surprised that a House of Delegates subcommittee, made up of eight white men, killed a bill that would let Virginia localities decide what to do with Confederate monuments–not even the bill’s sponsor, Delegate David Toscano. “They knew when we walked in what they would do with that bill,” said Toscano following […]
Medicaid expansion clears House For Terry McAuliffe’s entire term as governor, Medicaid expansion for 400,000 uninsured Virginians remained out of grasp. Last week, after Republican Delegate Terry Kilgore broke rank in favor of expansion, the House voted 68 to 32 in favor, with local delegates Rob Bell, Steve Landes and Matt Fariss in the no […]
Andy Goddard has been going to the General Assembly since 2008, the year after his son was shot four times in the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. In his 11th year monitoring the legislature and how it deals with mass murders and guns, not much has changed. “It’s the same old thing,” says Goddard, who’s the […]
Albemarle’s favorite delegate with a rap sheet, Rustburg resident Matt Fariss, R-59th, pleaded guilty to a hit-and-run charge March 25 in Campbell County, and claims the incident that sent his Dodge Ram pickup airborne happened when he dropped a bottle of Mountain Dew and attempted to retrieve it. At the same hearing, Fariss was found […]
Delegate David Toscano made two surprise announcements within two days. On November 12, he sent an e-mail to the Democratic caucus in the House of Delegates saying he was stepping down as minority leader. One day later, he says he changed his mind “when my cell phone blew up with caucus members and federal and […]