Though much of the recent media focus has been on Kent and Tulsi Gabbard, the onetime isolationist turned hawkish director of national intelligence, it is Vance who will ultimately have to wrangle with the political fallout of Trump's decision to attack Iran. Assuming Trump does not illegally seek a third term, all early polling - as well as history and conventional wisdom - suggests it will be Vance accepting the nomination two and a half years from now.
A pair of bills would have required local zoning codes to allow multifamily and mixed-use residential development by right across broad swaths of commercially zoned land. Supporters said the approach could convert underused strip malls, parking lots and office corridors into thousands of apartments without case-by-case rezonings.
The text of the bill, HB333, adds new language to the Virginia statutes that requires any local school board that imposes new restrictions on any program of instruction on or relating to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol and any accompanying curriculum or instructional materials, or any instruction provided by a teacher as a part of any program of instruction.
In perhaps a vain attempt to prove themselves moderate, the Democratic lawmakers helped override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's vetoes. Voters responded with the kind of ballot-box fury that should serve as a lesson to other incumbents. It wasn't just a case that the incumbents lost. They were buried, with several of them getting trounced by margins of 40 points or more.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, a California Republican whose District 3 was eliminated through redistricting, changed his party affiliation to Independent to remain competitive in the newly drawn Sixth District centered in Sacramento, which leans heavily Democratic. Rather than challenge fellow Republican Tom McClintock in a Republican stronghold district, Kiley opted for the Independent label.
California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks warned in a statement that for all the state's liberal bona fides it was possible that a large Democratic field could carve up the party's primary vote into small fractions and allow only two Republican candidates to advance to the November election. The all-GOP general election is possible under California's unusual top-two primary system, which puts all candidates on one ballot and only the top two vote-getters advance to November, regardless of party.
Republicans and Democrats alike face a high-stakes choice that could set the stage for one of the fiercest Senate races of the 2026 midterm cycle. At the center of the fractious Republican contest is a clash between the party's old guard and a Maga culture warrior, with four-term incumbent John Cornyn, a conservative fixture of Senate leadership locked in the fight of his political career against the state's scandal-plagued attorney general, Ken Paxton.
When Virginia's new Democratic leaders took control of the governor's office and attorney general position last week, they wasted no time overhauling higher ed. Abigail Spanberger, the new governor, immediately appointed more than two dozen members to the governing boards of the Virginia Military Institute, George Mason University and the University of Virginia, meaning she's already appointed the majority of members on the George Mason and UVA boards.
When Rep. Seth Moulton announced his plans to challenge Sen. Ed Markey last October, candidates flocked to the open race to replace him. So far, seven candidates have officially launched campaigns to represent Massachusetts's 6th Congressional District. They come from a variety of backgrounds, with some advertising their experience in the halls of power and others proudly labeling themselves as political outsiders. They share some commonalities, such as a disdain for the Trump administration and a stated desire to make life more affordable for residents.
Though only 17 of the 47 presidents were governors, only four men (James Garfield, Warren Harding, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama) have gone directly from Congress to the White House. Among Democrats, however, the last sitting or former governor to win a presidential nomination was Bill Clinton. Indeed, the last governor to run a viable Democratic nomination contest was Howard Dean in 2004, and his signature issue was foreign policy (his opposition to the Iraq War).
