The city voted Democratic for the first time in a governor’s race in 40 years. That realignment is being driven by an influx of new residents, many of them working in or around Charlottesville.
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Anti-online gambling advocate: iGaming threatens local tax revenue and jobs
Online gambling would take revenue and jobs away from land-based casinos.
Posted inOpinion
By this time next year, Virginia likely will have legal weed sales. Here’s how they might work.
A state commission is putting together the proposed rules for legal retail sales of cannabis. Among the highlights: No local “opt-outs” and sales starting Nov. 1, 2026.
Posted inOpinion
Carroll County Democrats: Griffith broke health care, now claims it never worked
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, claimed, “I don’t think they intended Lee County Hospital to close when they passed that bill.” But hospital administrators had warned that exactly that could happen, health care experts had testified about it and the Congressional Budget Office documented it.
Posted inOpinion
7 lessons from Virginia’s 2025 elections that might apply to the 2026 midterms
With this year’s state elections behind us, we can now turn our attention to next year’s races. Here are some of the lessons we need to take with us.
Posted inOpinion
Republican leader on Virginia’s gift to itself: Fair maps, not gerrymandering
The maps adopted after the 2020 census, drawn by neutral experts appointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia, produced balance: some districts lean Republican, some Democratic and some remain competitive. That is what representative democracy should look like.
Posted inOpinion
Virginia’s solar trends have changed: Approvals are up, denials are down.
In 2024, Virginia localities rejected more megawatts than they approved. So far in 2025, that trend has reversed.
Posted inOpinion
Krizek, Morefield and Aird: Allowing local opt-out on retail cannabis is opting into the illicit market
For those opposed to cannabis altogether — opting out won’t somehow prohibit adults from being legally allowed to possess cannabis — but it will determine if they can do so safely.
Posted inOpinion
How President Grant helped create modern Virginia by stopping a plan to move the nation’s capital to St. Louis
If the move-to-St. Louis effort had succeeded in 1870, Northern Virginia would not be what it is today — and the fallout from federal job cuts and data center growth would be playing out in Missouri and Illinois, not here.
Posted inOpinion
University official: Virginia’s next higher education chapter must be collaborative, not competitive
Higher education must evolve alongside employers if we expect working adults to view advancement as truly accessible.