Governor Abigail Spanberger has vetoed Virginia’s long-debated marijuana retail legislation, halting plans to create a regulated adult-use cannabis market and exposing divisions between legalization advocates, hemp businesses, and state leadership over the future of...
"Congress has forgotten to serve the people they represent." -- Lisa Vedernikova Khanna I often ask myself, what is the American Dream? Is it the white picket fence and a two-and-a-half-kid household? Maybe you picture the Statue of Liberty welcoming new arrivals to a land of promise or hear a faint echo of the Constitution’s preamble. ...
Editor’s Note: This story includes remarks from a national webinar hosted by the Hemp Industry & Farmers of America (HIFA) on Friday, November 8, 2025, before Senator Mitch McConnell’s hemp amendment was inserted into the government funding package over the weekend. The comments reflect the industry’s final warning before the language...
And Governor elect Spanberger urges Democrats to reopen government, not prolong fight Virginia’s senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, find themselves on opposite sides of a Senate proposal to reopen the government, a sign of rising Democratic tension as the shutdown drags into its sixth week. The proposed agreement, brokered by a bipartisan group...
At the Richmond Convention Center on Tuesday, supporters of Abigail Spanberger gathered to mark a turning point in Virginia’s history. By night’s end, Spanberger, a former CIA officer and three-term congresswoman, became the Commonwealth’s first woman governor. Her victory led a broader Democratic sweep across the state, wins for lieutenant...
This week, Zohran Mamdani won the race to become the next mayor of New York City in one of the nation’s most closely watched elections. A Democratic socialist who campaigned alongside Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in both the primary and the general election. But beyond the political...
“You want me to tell you what’s immoral? War is immoral. Poverty is immoral. Racism is immoral. Police brutality is immoral.” — a defendant in Punishment Park I read that director Peter Watkins had passed away last week and realized I’d never heard of him. As it turns out, Watkins was one of the most radical filmmakers of the twentieth century, a...
"We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025 Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our Commonwealth over chaos." — Governor-elect, Abigail Spanberger. Cheers erupted throughout The Richmond Convention Center as Abigail Spanberger was officially declared the 75th governor of Virginia at 7:53 pm. In a race that felt more...
New mural in Carytown at 3101 W. Cary Street, designed by Shepard Fairey for the People For the American Way Foundation. Painted by Brian Tull and Silly Genius. Photos by Landon Shroder Support RVA Magazine. Support Independent Media in Richmond. At a time when media ownership is increasingly concentrated among corporations and the uber...
The final week of October in Richmond saw Virginia Democrats push to begin the process of amending the state constitution ahead of the 2025 election. Changing the Virginia Constitution requires lawmakers to pass resolutions in two consecutive legislative sessions, separated by an election. The proposed amendment would allow redistricting ahead of...
