Free Republic

Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s prospects of retaking control of the Virginia Senate dimmed Tuesday night as Republicans won a Richmond district that Democrats called key to their plan for flipping the upper chamber. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Glen Sturtevant, a Richmond school board member, defeated Democrat Dan Gecker, a Chesterfield County supervisor in the race to replace Sen. John C. Watkins (Powhatan), who is retiring. “Well it’s a shame. We did the best we could,” Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) said. Tuesday’s election results will ultimately determine McAuliffe (D) has any legislative leverage or political momentum heading...

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D.) wants to make sure that “Virginia is Hillary Clinton territory,” so he brought her out to Terry McAuliffe territory.The perennial Clinton insider and prolific fundraiser won the 2013 gubernatorial election by about 55,000 votes out of more than 2 million cast; he won Alexandria, a city of 150,000, with more than 70 percent of the vote, giving him a 20,000-vote edge. The Washington, D.C., suburbs in Northern Virginia have almost singlehandedly transformed Virginia from a deep red state to a swing state in the past two decades and if Hillary Clinton wants to mimic President...

A critical race in the battle for control of the Virginia Senate has entered a new dimension for state legislative races with a national gun-control group’s announcement that it is buying $700,000 of political advertisements for Democrat Daniel A. Gecker in his race for the 10th District seat in Richmond and its suburbs. Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said Wednesday it will begin airing a television ad today in the Richmond media market that features the father of Alison Parker, a 24-year-old Roanoke television reporter gunned down with her cameraman, Adam...

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is outlawing the open carry of guns in some state-owned buildings and pushing for tighter gun control measures. McAuliffe signed an executive order Thursday at the Capitol setting up a task force aimed at more robust prosecution of gun crimes. The order also establishes a statewide tip line to report gun crimes, and orders state police to request a trace of every gun involved in a crime in Virginia. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and Attorney General Mark Herring joined the governor, along with parents of victims killed in gun-related crimes. That included Andy and Barbara Parker,...

VA GOP Statement on Gary McCollum No Longer Being Employed By Cox -- Despite #StolenValor and Cox situation, Dems still think McCollum is a 'Top 3' candidate and they continue to hide his State applications -- September 25, 2015 - Richmond, VA - Last night, Cox Communications released a statement to The Virginia Pilot announcing that Gary McCollum is no longer employed by Cox Communications. Below is RPV's statement on the matter: "I want to thank Cox Communications for making the right decision by severing ties with a man who has practiced stolen valor for the past fourteen years," said...

Virginia’s Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe made headlines when, after the shocking on-air murder of two journalists, he called for new gun control laws before police had captured the suspected shooter. Now he is catching heat for attending an anti-gun rally organized by the anti-gun group Everytown For Gun Safety with armed security in tow in Washington, D.C., where it is nearly impossible for residents to obtain a permit to carry a firearm. When asked by Townhall’s Katie Pavlich why his security detail can be armed yet others cannot, McAuliffe responded, “You can be armed, go through a background check.” Washington, D.C. has approved only...

Thursday afternoon Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun advocacy group Everytown for America held a small rally in Washington D.C. in front of the Capitol Building in an effort to shame Congress into passing gun control legislation. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe spoke at the event and brought his armed body guard with him. A few things. First off, McAuliffe's claim that people "can be armed" while we were standing on the Capitol grounds in Washington D.C. is false. It is nearly impossible for law abiding civilians to be legally armed in Washington D.C. and it is illegal for them to be armed at...

Hoping to start a bloody "race war," a black, gay, in-your-face Obama-supporting former TV reporter horrified Southwest Virginia TV viewers yesterday when he stalked and coolly murdered two white former TV station colleagues and wounded a white interview subject during a live broadcast.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) stated, “there are too many guns in the hands of people who should not have guns. This is why I’ve long advocated for background checks” in an interview on the shooting of a reporter and a cameraman on Washington DC’s WTOP radio, portions of which were broadcast on Wednesday’s “CNN Newsroom.”

Virginia is targeting 1,691 license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag in a statewide recall that will replace the existing tags with new ones without the controversial image. The Virginian-Pilot reported that it’s unclear how quickly the flag tags will disappear from state highways now that the plates are being recalled and replaced following a federal judge’s ruling Thursday lifting a 2001 injunction that allowed the image. “We’re working as quickly as possible to get this done,” Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Brandy Brubaker told the paper. Vehicle owners with the flag plates will be sent new Sons of...

Virginia is recalling the 1,691 specialty license plates featuring a Confederate battle flag, state officials said Thursday. But it's unclear how quickly the flag tags will disappear from roadways. The affected motorists will be sent new Sons of Confederate Veterans tags along with a letter telling them they have 30 days before the old plate is invalid, said Department of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Brandy Brubaker. However, the replacement tag doesn't exist yet. The DMV will work with the heritage group to come up with a new flagless plate design, Brubaker said. Then the plate has to be manufactured and sent...

Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe and his appointees to the Virginia State Board of Elections seem determined to ensure that felons and non-citizens can illegally register and vote in elections without getting caught. In April 2015, Governor McAuliffe vetoed House Bill 1315, which would have required jury commissioners to retain information from individuals not qualified to serve as jurors for reasons that would also disqualify them from voting, such as not being a citizen of the United Statesno longer being a resident of the Commonwealthbeing a resident of another county or city in the Commonwealthhaving been convicted of a felony and...

RICHMOND — Virginia Republicans will reject Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s pick for the state’s newest Supreme Court justice and install their own choice, igniting a political firestorm that will come to a head when lawmakers return to Richmond in two weeks. McAuliffe’s nominee, Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Jane Marum Roush, has already been sworn in, meaning Republicans will take the rare step of unseating a justice after she has taken the bench. Leaders of the GOP-controlled General Assembly announced they plan to elect Virginia Court of Appeals Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr., who previously served on the Prince William County circuit...

RICHMOND — People registering to vote in Virginia would no longer be required to check boxes to indicate whether they are U.S. citizens or felons whose right to vote has not been restored under changes being considered by the Virginia Board of Elections. Voters would still have to affirm elsewhere on the application, under the threat of a felony conviction, that they are citizens and otherwise eligible. But instead of responding to separate questions about their citizenship or felony status, they would simply sign the form on a line near language that attests to their eligibility based on those and...

Virginia will begin the process to remove the Confederate flag from state-issued license plates, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday, calling the emblem divisive and hurtful. McAuliffe said that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows states to decide which emblems to allow or not allow on license plates. He said that the decision supersedes previous federal court rulings that required Virginia to issue Sons of the Confederate Veterans plates that include the iconic image of the red flag with a blue X. His announcement comes a day after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the removal of the Confederate...

BRISTOL, VA (WJHL) - Applications for state jobs in Virginia will no longer will include questions regarding a person's criminal history. Governor Terry McAuliffe signed an executive order removing criminal history questions from state employment applications Friday. Under the order, employment decisions won't be based on an applicant's criminal history unless it's specifically related to the job they are being considered for. While it only applies to state employment applications, the order also encourages similar hiring practices for private employers throughout the Commonwealth. Some business owners we spoke to in Bristol, Virginia are not on board with the idea.

An email obtained by The Associated Press shows that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's office rebuffed interview requests with a federal agent investigating the U.S. government's investor-visa program. The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General twice asked McAuliffe for an interview in the summer of 2014 but said in a recent report that the efforts were "unsuccessful." McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy told The AP the governor was too busy "running the commonwealth" to sit down with investigators but offered to provide any specific information agents needed.

Many of the key figures cited in a scathing inspector general’s report this week are allies of Hillary Rodham Clinton, marking the latest in a series of stumbles for the former first lady and secretary of state that likely forced her to delay her planned presidential campaign announcement.A Democratic strategist familiar with her team’s thinking said they are scrambling to limit the damage and readjust the campaign rollout schedule after the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general revealed an apparent cronyism scandal that ensnared Mrs. Clinton’s brother, Anthony Rodham, and two of her political confidants, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and former...

The No. 2 official at the Homeland Security Department improperly intervened on behalf of foreign investors in three cases involving the U.S. government soliciting investments in exchange for American visas, the agency's inspector general said Tuesday. Investigators said he helped secure the visas, and created the appearance of favoritism and special access. The investigation could not suggest a motive for the official's involvement.

Not long before he became governor of Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe received special treatment on behalf of his electric-car company from a top official at the Department of Homeland Security, according to a new report from the department’s inspector general. McAuliffe was among several politically powerful individuals from both parties, including Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), seeking special visas for foreign investors through a program administered by the department. But intervention on behalf of McAuliffe’s GreenTech Automotive company by Alejandro Mayorkas, now the department’s No. 2 official, “was unprecedented,” according to the report. The long-anticipated report found no evidence of...