Free Republic

The Supreme Court of Virginia on Friday agreed to allow Democratic lawmakers’ mid-decade redistricting attempt to move forward, announcing it will hear the case on an expedited basis. The court denied Republican lawmakers’ motion to pause a redistricting referendum as the high court deliberates the case. The order means voters will be able to approve or reject the redistricting amendment in a referendum scheduled for April 21, 2026. The effort would redraw Virginia’s congressional maps, with 10 districts favoring Democrats and one tipped towards Republicans. Almost immediately after the order was released, Democratic leaders emphasized that the decision to redistrict...

Virginia’s proposed new congressional map, which gives Democrats all but one seat in a state that still votes more than 40% Republican, is sparking new debates over the proper use of political power.Conservatives in particular are split over whether Virginia Democrats’ aggressive gerrymander is an abomination to be condemned or an example red states should follow ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states such as Texas to pursue mid-decade redistricting to help the GOP defend its razor-thin House majority by creating new pickup opportunities for the president’s party. Some red states heeded Trump’s call. Others, like...

Virginia Delegate Tom Garrett Jr. delivered an extended statement arguing that efforts to restrict firearms represent a fundamental misunderstanding of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the historical basis of self-defense, asserting that the right to bear arms is inherent and not granted by government.Garrett framed his remarks around what he described as repeated misinterpretations of the Second Amendment and broader constitutional principles, opening by questioning the motivation behind gun control proposals.

RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger is advancing significant constitutional amendment proposals including enshrining same-sex marriage, the right to reproductive freedom, automatic voting right restoration for time-served felons, and redistricting in the Commonwealth, should voters approve them. On Friday, Feb. 6, Spanberger signed four bills passed by the Virginia General Assembly to put four constitutional amendments up for referendum this year. Virginians will now be asked to approve or reject the amendments this year. The first bill, HB612, would require the equal treatment of a legal marriage between two adults under the law, regardless of sex, gender, or race....

It’s all backstage now. This fraught moment, the power centers locked in the coldest cold of the year, the Spanish language lessons of Bad Bunny behind us, all the real action in the battle to save the country is out of sight, moiling and churning in the deep background. Everybody’s on edge waiting for shoes to drop, praying they don’t drop on their heads. You should have seen Senator Mark Warner (D-VA; Vice-chair of the Senate Intel Committee) on Face the Nation Sunday, frothing at the mouth over Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence (DNI). He cannot believe she turned...

NewsTalk 105.9 FM WMAL is pleased to bring the Free Speech Forum once again to The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA on Sunday, May 17th. This unique event features WMAL’s personalities on stage debating the news of the day as determined by questions posed in writing from members of the audience. WMAL personalities will include Larry O’Connor, Chris Plante, Vince Coglianese and WMAL’s new afternoon show host, Derek Hunter.

America’s biggest funder of the humanities subsidizes ‘Ecowomanism,’ ‘Black Trans Studies’ and the like. The University of Virginia launched a hiring spree in 2020 as it pledged to become “a racial-equity-focused university.” A special initiative promised to recruit 30 postdoctoral fellows and “open the gateway” for them to fill tenure-track jobs. One current fellow’s specialties include “transfeminisms” and “genderqueer life writing.” Another researches how Filipino nurses resist “racial capitalism.” The program owes its existence to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which funded it to the tune of $5 million. With a $7.7 billion endowment, the Mellon Foundation is the nation’s...

In one sense, Saddam Azlan Salim is a classic immigrant success story. Born in Bangladesh, he grew up in northern Virginia and quickly demonstrated an aptitude for the political rough-and-tumble of his adoptive land. Now he is 36 years old, a Virginia state senator, and a rising star in that state’s now-dominant Democrat Party establishment. In another sense, however, Saddam Azlan Salim clearly retains at least some of the sensibilities of the land of his birth, and he wants to bring them to his new land: He has just introduced a bill to criminalize “Islamophobia” in Virginia. In Bangladesh, criticizing...

Top Virginia Democrats signaled Thursday that the party has agreed upon a new House map proposal that would give the party four pickup opportunities heading into November. “We made a promise to level the playing field, and today we’re keeping our promise. Our maps are ready. Virginia’s ready. We said 10-1, and we meant it,” Virginia Senate President Pro Tem L. Louise Lucas (D) told reporters. Virginia House Speaker Don Scott (D) said he expects the new proposal will be released either later Thursday or Friday. Virginia Democrats had been mulling two different map proposals — one that would give...

Anti-ICE protesters have descended on the Virginia mansion owned by the Hilton Hotels CEO, accusing the hospitality company of aiding the work of immigration agents by renting rooms to officials. The franchise has faced mounting pressure from far-left activists to sever its ties to President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, with demonstrations storming outside hotels across the nation in recent weeks. On Thursday, protesters took their movement to the $5.2 million mansion owned by the Hilton Hotels CEO Christopher Nassetta in Arlington, Virginia. The group waved banners reading 'HILTON HOUSES ICE' while calling Nassetta out by name and blaring loud music,...

Senator Saddam claims that Virginia is in the middle of an ‘Islamophobia’ crisis. The second Muslim selected for the state senate, after Ghazala Hashmi, who is now acting as Virginia’s Lt. Governor, the Bangladeshi immigrant, from a country where non-Muslims are being murdered in the streets, has made complaining about ‘Islamophobia’ in his new home his signature issue. Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim’s first priority has been a bill to define ‘Islamophobia’. The most notable thing about his bill SB 624 ‘Assault and battery; definition of “Islamophobia”, penalty’ is how completely unnecessary it is. Virginia already has multiple layers of hate...

This is what you get when Democrats have complete power.

VMI’s loyalists should not confuse a proposed legislative “study”—a proposed task force, in this instance—for being anything other than hostile to the school itself. The Democrats are coming. They yearn to lash out and there it sits—VMI—on the open plateau of Virginia’s culture wars, an optimal target of opportunity. To put it another way, you’re as likely to get a sympathetic, balanced, sensible response out of the current General Assembly on the subject of this long‑venerated, state‑owned school—VMI—as you would out of the Trump administration on the subject of immigration.

Illegal alien who allegedly admitted to 5 murders in El Salvador arrested in Virginia just weeks before Gov Spanberger ended ICE cooperationFIRST ON FOX: An MS-13 gang member and alleged mass murderer has been taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Virginia, Department of Homeland Security sources told Fox News Digital. The announcement of the arrest of Edwin Antonio Hernandez Hernandez, 27, of El Salvador, comes after newly sworn-in Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order saying local and state law enforcement are no longer required to cooperate with ICE, repealing an order from her...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — Following a November jury verdict that awarded former elementary school teacher Abigail Zwerner $10 million, a judge denied motions Friday seeking to overturn it. Zwerner was shot in her first-grade classroom in January 2023 by a 6-year-old student. Former assistant principal Ebony Parker was working the day Zwerner was shot. The bullet passed through Zwerner’s hand and struck her near her left shoulder. The jury found that Parker was negligent, and that led to the shooting incident. Parker‘s attorney argued that a teacher getting shot is not an extraordinary part of the job. “The job...

Virginia Democrats failed to comply with state law and the legislature's rules when trying to implement emergency powers, a judge says. The Democrat-controlled Virginia General Assembly gave final legislative approval earlier this month to a proposed constitutional amendment that would give lawmakers emergency powers outside the 10-year redistricting process to gerrymander the Old Dominion's congressional maps. "Virginia's proposed redistricting amendment is a response to what we're seeing in other states that have taken extreme measures to undermine democratic norms. This approach is short-term, highly targeted, and completely dependent on what other states decide to do themselves," Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger...

After Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race going away in November, the consensus among the political chattering class was that it’s a foregone conclusion the Republicans will lose in next year’s midterms. The experts said this was a referendum on President Donald Trump, and an early sign that his America First movement is cracking. The same experts pointed to “key Democrat wins” in the New Jersey governor’s race and the New York City mayoral election as further indicators of a coming blue wave. To be so smug in their predictions, the experts had to ignore the fact that the...

Virginia Democrats have introduced a host of new tax proposals that would tax a range of services, including dog walking and gym memberships despite running on a campaign to increase affordability. More than 50 proposals and new rules were introduced for the new legislative session, including additional local sales tax in all Virginia counties and cities, 7News reported. The new proposed policies include: dog walking and grooming tax gun and ammunition tax new income tax brackets storage facility tax dry cleaning tax home repair tax new personal property tax on electric leaf blowers and electric landscaping equipment

An unhinged Virginia nurse who encouraged medical professionals to drug ICE agents with paralytic meds was swiftly canned. Malinda Cook, a nurse anesthetist at Virginia Commonwealth University Health, was fired by the hospital on Tuesday after she spewed the disturbing remarks in a spate of TikTok videos. Cook, who was identified by local media, blasted out her so-called “sabotage” tactics as anti-ICE riots exploded across the country.

Meet Melinda, a healthcare worker at VCU Health. She posted a series of videos encouraging people to inject ICE agents with succinylocholine, a temporary paralysis drug, and spray poison on them. She also encourages woman to go on dates with agents and drug their food. Any comment VCU Health? How can you have such a vile person working with patients? How can anyone feel safe at your facilities if you employ such people?