On a night of Democratic victories, one of the most significant wins came in Virginia, where the party held onto the governor’s mansion. Democratic governor-elect Ralph Northam’s victory will enable him to expand voting rights to disenfranchised people and exert some control over the redistricting process.

The Virginia Supreme Court rejected a petition from Republican leaders on Thursday that sought to hold Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) in contempt for restoring the voting rights of tens of thousands of ex-offenders ahead of the 2016 election.

Virginia Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. announced Thursday that he’ll introduce a constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights for some nonviolent felons, create new barriers for others, and strip future governors of the power to restore political rights.

On Tuesday the Virginia Supreme Court heard arguments in a suit challenging Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s (D) April order that restored voting rights to 200,000 Virginians with past felony convictions. While the court proceedings will stick to legal arguments, the public debate has been needlessly rancorous and partisan.

Along with the state officials and law professors who are happy that the Supreme Court this week is reviewing the corruption conviction of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell, add inmate No. 24775-001 at the federal prison in Oakdale, La.

The Equal Rights Amendment cleared the floor of the Virginia Senate for the fifth time in six years. SJ1, sponsored by Senator Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), passed 21-19 on Tuesday on a near-party line vote with most Senate Republicans opposed​.

If you know Guys & Dolls, you’re already singing the rest of this line: “His name is Paul Revere, and there’s a guy that says, when the weather’s clear, ‘Can do!’” - http://www.musictory.com/music/Guys+And+Dolls/Fugue+For+Tinhorns )

The name of JEB Stuart High School should be changed because “along with the name, comes a history of racism, inequality, and oppression,” Stuart senior Lidia Amanuel told the Fairfax County school board Dec. 17 at a public hearing on a proposal to change the board’s policy on school names.

As states across the country are relaxing their marijuana laws and federal lawmakers consider doing the same, at least one state is bucking the trend and ramping up its war on pot. Marijuana arrests in Virginia have increased dramatically over the past decade, according to a new report from the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that advocates for drug policy reform. And black Virginians account for the overwhelming majority of this increase, causing the racial disparity in the state's marijuana arrests to widen.

It's fascinating what a little coordination - and a lot of communication - can do in battling homelessness among veterans.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that he will phase out a state-sponsored license plate featuring an image of the Confederate flag.

Felons who've served their time and want their voting rights restored won't have to pay outstanding court costs anymore as part of the deal, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday.

Virginia Democrats asked the federal court system Thursday to overhaul state voting procedures, accusing the state's Republican leaders of purposefully rigging the system against young, minority and Democratic voters.

It’s the cusp of his 90th birthday, but civil rights icon Ferguson Reid is still gearing up for the long haul.

“We have the races in 2015, 2017, and 2019 to get the majority,” he tells me, referring to the off-year elections for control of Virginia’s state government. “And this election will determine whether or not we’re able to get a House majority for 2021.”

The Virginia Constitution does not allow anyone with a felony conviction to vote unless their rights have been restored by the governor. But on Friday, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) announced he would immediately restore voting rights to anyone who has completed their sentence for a drug offense, and reduce the waiting period for other violent felonies from five years to three.

It’s the cusp of his 90th birthday, but civil rights icon Ferguson Reid is still gearing up for the long haul. “We have the races in 2015, 2017, and 2019 to get the majority,” he tells me, referring to the off-year elections for control of Virginia’s state government. “And this election will determine whether or not we’re able to get a House majority for 2021.”

RICHMOND — In 1972, when Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment and asked states to ratify it, “The Godfather” was No. 1 at the box office, people talked on rotary telephones and women made up about one-third of the U.S. workforce.

UPDATE: On February 5th the Virginia Senate passed SJ 216 after rescinding passage on February 3rd. The status of the bill lin the Virginia Legislature is available here. The bill will move to the House during crossover.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) on Tuesday unveiled plans for a 550-mile natural gas pipeline through three states, a proposal that won him kudos from the energy industry but criticism from environmental activists, who had considered him an ally.

(The Root) -- In 1994 Kemba Smith was sentenced to 24 1/2 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a cocaine ring. The story of the harsh punishment dealt to a minor player -- who admitted to lying and breaking the law for her abusive boyfriend but never used or sold drugs -- caught the attention of criminal-justice advocates across the country.

James W. Ray sat silently in the front row of the church meeting room, rubbing his eyes. Ray wasn’t mourning a loss. Rather, the Vietnam veteran and felon wept over something that had just been returned to him — the right to vote.

The Republican electoral sweep in yesterday’s elections has put an end to speculation over whether new laws making it harder to vote in 21 states would help determine control of the Senate this year. But while we can breathe a sigh of relief that the electoral outcomes won’t be mired in litigation, a quick look at the numbers shows that in several key races, the margin of victory came very close to the likely margin of disenfranchisement.

With midterm hangover setting in, many will chatter and finger-point into next month about what happened, who did what and why. And at the center of it will be questions about the black vote. In crucial Senate and gubernatorial races where the black vote was needed most—Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina—Democrats faced humiliating blows to the stomach.

This week the Durham, North Carolina-based nonprofit MDC released its latest State of the South report highlighting how the American dream of intergenerational upward mobility is more elusive for young people born at the bottom of the income ladder in the South than anywhere else in the country.

A group of his constituents met last week with Del. Michael J. Webert (R-18th/Marshall) to tell him how lack of adequate health care affects them and to enlist his support for a solution. From all ages and walks of life, they met Thursday, Aug. 7, at the cooperative extension service office in Warrenton.

Mercedies Harris strolls down the halls of the Hollaback and Restore Project, a felon rehabilitation center in rural Virginia, and points to a baby-faced 18-year-old with a timid gait. “This is a fine young gentleman who got into a little trouble,” he explains. “And we are working with him to try to stop him from being a statistic and being incarcerated and having a record. He’s going to learn to be a barista. And if he gets good, he’ll be known for it,” he chuckles. “People will be coming here to get his coffee.”

About 200,000 voters in Virginia may lack the proper identification needed to cast a ballot in the November midterm elections, state election officials said Thursday.

Under a state law that took effect this year, Virginia voters must present a driver’s license or some other form of photo identification at their polling stations before they cast a vote.