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“If a judge didn't give you a life sentence, we shouldn’t give you a life sentence as a society. Once you've been adjudicated for your crime and you've served your time, then your right should be restored.” — Del. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights
Quadaire Patterson and wife Santia Nance stand with daughter Trinity on the porch of their Henrico County home. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Charlotte Rene Woods
Quadaire Patterson will vote for the first time this fall, a fact that brought a smile to his face on a recent afternoon as his 1-year-old daughter Trinity frolicked around the living room of the Henrico County home he shares with his wife.
He said he has been thinking about how future elections can shape Trinity’s future. But presently, he is eager to vote for a proposed amendment that could cement voting rights for former felons, like himself, into Virginia’s constitution.
Republican lawmakers are urging Gov. Abigail Spanberger to call a special session to suspend Virginia’s gasoline and diesel taxes for 90 days to ease fuel costs for families and businesses. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
By Markus Schmidt
Virginia Republican leaders on Tuesday called for Gov. Abigail Spanberger to summon lawmakers to Richmond and suspend the state’s gasoline and diesel taxes for 90 days, arguing that the temporary break would help families, farmers and trucking companies cope with high fuel prices.
Diesel prices have climbed sharply amid disruptions to global fuel supplies from the war with Iran and other pressures on the international market.
Lt. Gov. Hashmi is joined by two lawmakers in Richmond on Oct. 6, 2026, for a press conference announcing she is opposing the merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
By Shannon Heckt
The debate over whether Florida-based NextEra Energy should be allowed to acquire Dominion Energy and create the largest regulated utility in the country heated up Tuesday, with Virginia Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi pledging her opposition to the $67 billion merger.
She is the first elected official at the statewide level to formally oppose the creation of the energy titan.
By Amanda Watford
For years, the psychoactive compound kratom has been sold across much of the United States as an herbal supplement, available in powders, capsules and extracts with few of the restrictions applied to controlled substances.
But the market is changing. Products containing a potentially dangerous kratom derivative known as concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, and other chemically modified kratom compounds are increasingly being sold alongside traditional kratom leaf products, prompting state lawmakers and federal regulators to reconsider how the substances should be regulated.
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