Virginia's economy is showing initial impacts from cuts to the federal government and the shutdown, but it's been more muted than some analysts initially expected.

One reason: the defense industry.

Snaps from the first day of early voting at Fairfax Government Center, where voters got to hear from John Reid and Abigail Spanberger.

It was sunny, it was hot, it was bustling: a good beginning to our annual festival of democracy in Virginia.

Thoughtful opinion piece in the Times-Dispatch from Miyares advisor Shaun Kenney on engaging in good faith:

richmond.com/opinion/colu...

Democrat James Walkinshaw is headed to Congress, having won about 75% of the vote in the #VA11 special election this evening.

Once he's there, what are his thoughts on the looming federal spending bill deadline? I asked -

I haven't had time yet to wade through today's 10-page ruling, but here is one passage that stuck out. The appellate court found that the way the plaintiffs in the original case argued against 'missing middle' makes it difficult to then exclude developers from the suit.

ICE disputes these accounts. Here's what they sent me in response:

They also detail accounts of inadequate food and little ability to contact families or lawyers.

They describe people in overcrowded conditions without access to medical care, including an account of a fever spreading among the people held there.

The Virginia ACLU sent an emergency letter to ICE about conditions for detainees at the processing center in Chantilly, where people detained in D.C. and NoVA usually pass through on the way to the agency's actual detention facilities.

Mayor Aliya Gaskins said she was outraged the raid took place on the first day of school.

The ladder at the right of the photo was left behind by the workers, per advocates with Tenants and Workers United.

Sincerely hope my colleagues in national political news do not think that the departure of Elon Musk from the spotlight (and from campaign fundraising) means that DOGE is "over" or not a factor in the Virginia elections this year.

Virginia Court of Appeals seems ... confused? ... about this procedural matter in the Arlington 'missing middle' lawsuit, about whether or not the trial court judge should have allowed a developer to join as a party to the original lawsuit against the zoning ordinance.

I asked the VA-11 Democratic nominee, James Walkinshaw, for a statement on all this. Here it is:

Meanwhile, outside the GOP campaign event, there were a few dozen protesters, mostly home care workers from SEIU 512, a local union, there to talk about their concerns about the OBBBA.

A few snaps from the Virginia GOP rally in Vienna last night.

450 people packed in a room is certainly one kind of "unity"

Virginia's April 2025 revenue letter is out. General fund revenues are up and still tracking to forecast, which the Youngkin admin says reflects "strong job growth and business investment," per a press release.

But the letter also notes impacts from tariffs and federal job losses.

Those figures show "federal employment" broken out by state:
D.C.: 162,144
MD: 142,876
VA: 144,483

The kicker is in the fine print: those numbers are *where the jobs are located* not *place of residence of federal workers.*

I went to Rep. Subramanyam's town hall on federal workers and contractors last night in Leesburg. This is the line of people who did not get into the event (it was out the door).

Hello Bluesky, it's me, Margaret. I'm a public radio reporter covering Northern Virginia for WAMU 88.5 ... and also a millennial who is slow to adopt new social media platforms.

You can find me kicking around Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William with one of these: