Warner seeks a final term as Mizusawa makes his case for change

Good morning from The Mercury.

By Markus Schmidt

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner says he wants one final term to help undo the damage he believes President Donald Trump has caused. His Republican challenger, Bert Mizusawa, argues Virginia would be better served with a senator Trump will actually listen to. 

The two candidates made their cases in two separate phone interviews with the Virginia Mercury, three weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

Warner, a three-term Democrat, is seeking a fourth term against a retired U.S. Army major general who has extensive national security experience but little money to compete with the incumbent. 

By Shannon Heckt

The Chesapeake Bay earned a C+ on the annual report card that calculates improvements or losses in key indicators of health and conditions in the estuary and surrounding areas. This is the highest the Bay has ever scored since the record-keeping began in 2006. 

At the announcement in Woodbridge on Tuesday, Virginia leaders said the score reflects the impact continuous clean up efforts have in the Bay, however slow the progress may be.

By Nathaniel Cline

Loudoun County Schools Superintendent Aaron Spence defended his school board’s recent LGBTQ+ History Month proclamation, after Republican Del. Tim Griffin, R-Bedford, called the board’s decision “despicable” on social media and suggested the school system influences students’ sexual identities.

Spence joined the division in 2023 and has led the state’s third-largest school division through a series of federal investigations and disputes over transgender students' access to school facilities, parental concerns and administrators’ handling of complaints.

By Markus Schmidt

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones on Tuesday announced a new Voter Protection Section, creating a team of dedicated lawyers to investigate voting rights violations and enforce state election laws three weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. 

The section will investigate improper voter registration cancellations, absentee ballot denials, voter intimidation and interference with election administration. 

By Eric Bonds

Harsh practices used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continue to make news across the country, with detainees including U.S. citizens describing agents kneeling on their necks, holding them in isolation and more. 

Records show that the majority of detainees have no criminal convictions and a PBS News/NPR/Marist poll earlier this year found a majority of citizens say “ICE is making Americans less safe,” while “a growing number believe the agency's actions have gone too far.”

How should Virginians who share those sentiments respond? One could start by demanding  our local and state institutions use the power they already have.

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