The leader of Virginia's second-largest local government won't take the debate stage with her primary opponent.

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By Sarah Roderick-Fitch | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ended months of speculation he will make a run for the White House in 2024.

Youngkin was asked by Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Baker at the Milken Institute’s “Governing America” discussion if he was planning on “dusting off” his fleece jacket to hit the campaign trail this year. Youngkin didn’t mince any words with a simple, “no.”

Instead, Youngkin is going to put his focus on the commonwealth. The governor has decided his signature red fleece campaign vest can be put to better use in Virginia. Both chambers of the General Assembly are up for full reelection this year.

Multiple media reports cite an unnamed aide as saying Youngkin is not launching a bid in calendar year 2023, that he’s still possible to run in 2024. Virginia law does not allow governors to serve consecutive terms; his is scheduled to end in January 2026.

Youngkin hopes the red wave of 2021 – it carried Winsome Earle-Sears to lieutenant governor and Jason Miyares to attorney general in addition to his victory – will carry over into this November.

The Virginia General Assembly is divided, with the House majority Republicans and the Senate majority Democrats. Youngkin is focusing on securing a Republican majority in both chambers.

“I want to hold our House, and I’d like to flip our Senate. And I think we’re doing a really good job in Virginia, and I think this is a chance to bring that to voters,” Youngkin said during the discussion on Monday.

Youngkin may try to bank on his high approval ratings as Virginia starts the election year. In March, the governor received high marks for the job he has been doing leading the commonwealth. A Roanoke College Poll gave the governor a 57% approval rating, which had climbed five points since November 2022.

The poll also found a majority of Virginians were pleased with the direction the commonwealth was headed, at 55%.

Despite the positive poll numbers, this year’s election in Virginia could be anyone’s guess as the commonwealth underwent independent redistricting. As previously reported by The Center Square, the new redistricting map resulted in 46 members of the House and 19 members of the Senate were drawn into districts with one or more incumbents. Several incumbents have either decided to retire or not seek another term.

Youngkin’s announcement comes days before early voting for the Virginia primaries kicks off later this week.

Updated 4 p.m. — It took multiple attempts, votes to reconsider, and 12 hours filled with arguments and accusations, but Stafford County now has the fiscal year 2024 budget that will take effect July 1, 2023.

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Updated 1 p.m. April 19 — Former Gainesville District Supervisor John Stirrup collapsed at tonight’s Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting on April 18, 2023.

According to sources, Stirrup, who is running for the House of Delegates District 21 seat in Haymarket, was rushed to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, where he’s lying in intensive care.

His condition has improved, according to a post on his Facebook page.

John is now feeling much better, resting and even telling a few dad jokes to the hospital staff. He and Heidi are incredibly grateful for the first responders, medical team, and all those who have reached out and offered prayers and support.

Fire and rescue crews resuscitated Stirrup at the board meeting before loading him by stretcher onto an ambulance. Stirrup was speaking during public comment time, talking about the county’s violent crime rate, which has increased 70% since 2019, and the jail board’s abolishment of the 287(g) program, which had county jail officers partner with federal immigration and customs authorities to hand over jail inmates suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler called a meeting recess until 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20, 2023. Supervisors were in the public comment portion o the meeting and then were to engage in budget markup when leaders were to decide what to cut from the fiscal year 2024 budget.

After returning from recess, County Executive Christopher Shorter said, “What we witnessed here tonight was a medical emergency. The response from our first responders here was amazing.”

Stirrup, a conservative, served on the Board of County Supervisors for two terms from 2004 until 2011. Stirrup left the county government and later lobbied on its behalf.

Stirrup has a Republican challenger in Josh Quill, who is also seeking the party’s nomination in a June 20 Primary.

Here’s a transcript of Stirrup’s speech, delivered just before he collapsed:

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Carrie Rist, one of three candidates for at-large chair of the Prince William County School Board, has been convicted twice for shoplifting and pleaded no contest to a charge of leaving an animal in a hot vehicle. 

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Prince William County Republicans canceled a series of mass meetings to determine candidates for three Board of County Supervisors seats.

The unneeded party conventions were to be used to determine the candidates for each office. Only one Republican filed to run for each seat by the April 6 filing date, negating the need for a nominating contest.

The GOP candidate in the Gainesville District is incumbent Bob Weir, who won his seat in a special election this February. He’s running unopposed at the moment.

Occoquan District, the nominee is Karla L. Justice. She’ll face incumbent Kenny Boddye (D).

Woodbridge District, the candidate is Jeannie LaCroix, who’ll face incumbent Margaret Franklin (D).

Incumbent Yesli Vega (R), the Coles District Supervisor who made an unsuccessful bid for congress in 2022, says she’ll seek relation to the seat. She’ll face Idris A. Jibowu-O’Connor (D).

Republican Verndell Charlotte Robinson will run the Potomac District (Dumfries area) to unseat incumbent Andrea Bailey. Bailey is facing a Primary challenger, Democrat Kim Short, on June 20, 2023.

Meanwhile, the race for Board of County Supervisors At-Large Chair, now held by Ann Wheeler (D), is heading up with two candidates vying for the Republican and two Democrats vying for their party’s nomination.

Jeanine Lawson (R), Brentsville District Supervisor since 2014, is facing a Primary Election challenger in Ken Knarr on June 20 — despite the fact county Republicans have distanced themselves from Knarr.

Also, on June 20, Democrats will choose from incumbent Ann Wheeler or Deshundra Jefferson for their party’s candidate for the At-large chair seat, responsible for setting the agenda for the Board of County Supervisors.

Sheriff Glen Hill (R) wants to keep his seat in what is shaping up to be another rematch with Fairfax County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh King (D), whom he defeated in 2019.

Matt Lowery (R) seeks to unseat county Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth.

Republicans are also making it interesting in several House of Delegates races. In the 21st District (Gainesville, Haymarket), Republicans Josh Quill and John Stirrup (former county supervisor) will face each other in a June 2023 Primary. Josh Thomas is a Democrat in the race.

Ian Lovejoy, a former Manassas City Councilmember, is the GOP nominee in District 22 (Bristow and central Prince William County). He’ll face Democrat Travis Nembhard.

Here’s our full list of candidates seeking office at all levels in Prince William County in 2023.

A group of leading Prince William County Republican Party voices is denouncing Republican candidate for Board of County Supervisors chair Kenn Knarr as a “Democrat masquerading as a Republican.”

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The Prince William County circus is never short on sideshows.

In eastern Prince William, we’re gambling on “The Rose.”  In western Prince William, we’ve bet the house on data centers.

The latest Prince William County Police Department report shows our violent crime rate has skyrocketed since 2019.  Good luck getting those winnings home from the casino.

Our Absence-of-Planning Office is absolutely melting down after a series of controversial decisions that prioritized developer exploitation over prudent land use.  Senior planning staff runs for their professional lives without a word of explanation.  Are even the exiles muzzled by non-disclosure agreements?

Just when you think you need a breath of fresh air, there isn’t any.  Despite our sustainability goals, Prince William County is one of two Northern Virginia counties increasing its greenhouse gas emissions.  As if no one’s paying attention, our earth-moving and clear-cutting Chair At-large Ann Wheeler dons environmental lipstick to gloss over her abysmal record before a Green Business Council invented by her husband.

And when you’re drowning, you can always count on our self-serving friends along Pageland Lane to throw you an anchor.  Ken Knarr has generously stepped forward to claim Pete Candland’s financially-conflicted “what’s-in-it-for-me?” role in the Republican primary.  This stunt is most likely designed to dilute the burgeoning opposition to our beleaguered Chair.

For all these “services,” you got a tax increase.  In the alternate universe of Ann Wheeler, this bedlam is supposed to merit her re-election.  She has inexplicably chosen to run on a record most would be running from.

Pulling off this con requires an awful lot of voter disengagement.  Don’t fall for it.  Vote for Deshundra Jefferson in the June 20 Democratic primary.

Bill Wright
Gainesville

Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears used the podium in Prince William County to encourage Republicans to vote early.

Sears urged Republicans to participate in the growing practice of mail-in voting, a practice more Democrats than Republicans have adopted since introduced in Virginia in 2020. Sears said Rep. Jennifer Higgins (R-Virginia Beach) lost Virginia Beach City because more voters cast mail-in absentee ballots for the Democrat in the race. Kiggans won the overall vote but would have performed better had more Republicans voted, said Sears.

“Until the [absentee voting] rules change, we have to show up,” Sears told a sold-out crowd gathered for the annual Prince William County Republican Committee annual dinner at Old Hickory Golf Club in Woodbridge on April 1, 2023.

Conservatives have shown a propensity to vote on Election Day instead of mailing in a ballot following allegations of voter fraud and ballot harvesting in the 2020 Presidential Election. In some cases, ballots cast by Democrats outnumber those cases by Republicans by 10-1.

Sears urged the GOP to call “cicada” voters who cast ballots every four years in presidential elections and ask them to request a ballot be mailed to their home for the 2023 off-year election, where every seat in the Virginia General Assembly is up for grabs.

“They’re more likely to pick up a pen, fill in a bubble, and mail it back if the ballot is on their kitchen table,” said Sears.

Republicans need to hold the House of Delegates and pick up three seats in the State Senate to win control of state government. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin currently occupies the governor’s mansion until 2026.

Sears also called for the ousting of gender politics from the classroom and for a law allowing parents to use earmarked educational tax dollars to send their children to private charter schools. “We want school choice, and we want it now,” said Sears.

Several middle-class residents would use the school choice program, she adds. “Do you really think the rich are waiting for government programs to send their children to school?” Sears asked.

Several high-profile local offices are up for grabs, like the board of supervisors, school board seats, and commonwealth attorney. Matt Lowery is a Republican seeking to unseat one-term county commonwealth attorney Amy Ashworth, who was elected three years ago.

“The changes voters chose in 2019 came with consequences,” said Lowery, a prosecutor who worked in Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office under Ashworth’s predecessor, the retired Paul Ebert.

The number of felony grand jury indictments has fallen from more than 200 per month to about 75 monthly under Ashworth, while the county violent crime rate spiked 70% between 2019 and 2022.

Sears called on commonwealth attorneys across the state to encourage the General Assembly to pass legislation to lower the $1,000 cap on stolen goods that constitutes a felony charge.

Carrie Rist, running to unseat Democrat Babur Lateef as county school board chair at large while seeking the Republican endorsement, said elected leaders need to apologize to the children suffering academic and developmental setbacks from years of forced coronavirus classroom closures and online learning.

“They don’t want more programs. They don’t want to be told how to feel. They want to hear someone say, ‘I’m sorry…you had feared… you were isolated…I’m sorry you’re behind academically and socially…I’m sorry you were used as a political pawn,” said Rist.

Voters will head to the polls on November 7, 2023. Early voting begins Saturday, September 23.