Markus Schmidt

“I stand on the shoulders of giants,” Scott said. He vowed to work for civility in the upcoming session.

A Democratic majority takes charges in the General Assembly, which sets up potential for partisan conflict with a Republican governor. However, there’s also bipartisan agreement on some bills.

General Assembly members from Southwest and Southside have filed a flurry of bills, with more likely to come.

Tammy Brankley Mulchi won the state Senate seat; Eric Phillips won the House of Delegates seat.

Voters will choose a new delegate in the 48th District and a new state senator in the 9th District, just a day before the General Assembly convenes for its 2024 session.

The governor’s plan includes a 12% reduction of all income taxes. To offset the estimated annual revenue loss of $2.3 billion, Youngkin proposes increasing the state’s sales tax rate from 4.3% to 5.2%.

At a mass meeting that drew hundreds, Mulchi beat five other GOP candidates to be nominated to run in a Jan. 9 special election following Sen. Frank Ruff’s announcement that he will retire at the end of his current term. Democrats elected Wyatt-Younger in a district-wide firehouse primary, where she defeated three opponents.

Republicans will hold a mass meeting Tuesday night to pick between six candidates. Democrats will have four candidates running.

The veteran senator says he is leaving to focus on cancer diagnosis. He was set to be the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. Four candidates have now announced for the seat.

The days leading up to Thursday’s Republican mass meeting were contentious, as Eric Phillips accused his opponent, Will Pace, of orchestrating the time, place and method of the nomination to his own advantage.