Richmond Pastors Attend Rouse for LG Event; Kim Pope Adams Raises Big; Pam Bondi's Bro Loses Big
🏌️ There are 6 days until the June 16 Fore the Love of Fathers 🏌️ Fundraiser
➡️ There are 7 days until the June 17 primary in Virginia
➡️ There are 521 days until the November 3, 2026 midterm elections
➡️ There are 1,246 days until November 7, 2028
Black Virginia News is giving you vital news and information on the Black community in Virginia. We give you facts others ignore. Thank you to all of our subscribers! Please support unbossed indy news in Virginia. Thank you!
Follow us on 🦋 BlueSky
🏛️ Trump Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to the Administration
💼 Executive Order Tracker | Federal Register List of Executive Orders
💼 Statutory whistleblower protections: Whistleblower
🌹 RIP Sly Stone (1943-2025)
DC Bar Overwhelmingly Votes Against Pam Bondi’s Brother and Selects Diane Seltzer as President
VOTE FOR DC BAR PRESIDENT. With over 37,000 ballots cast members of the D.C. Bar, rejected Brad Bondi, the brother of current Attorney General Pam Bondi. Brad Bondi only received 9 percent of the vote. The winner, Diane Seltzer earned over 90 percent of the vote. Brad Bondi is a partner at Paul Hastings. The massive rejection of Bondi occurred after lawyers in the DC Bar were alerted by the possible Trump takeover.
The race for president of the DC Bar wasn’t business as usual. Control of the DC Bar by the Trump administration could have meant retaliation against lawyers and firms who didn’t agree with the Trump Administration. Trump has already leveraged several firms to do pro bono work and issued executive orders targeting them for retribution. Trump has targeted Covington & Burling, Elias Law Group, Jenner & Block, Paul/Weiss and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
Race for Lieutenant Governor: Several Pastors Gather for Rouse in Richmond
RICHMOND, VA — With a week to go until the June 17 primary, Senator Aaron Rouse held a luncheon event featuring Black leaders, pastors and community members in Richmond at former Mayor Dwight Jones’ Imani Catering Conference Center on Hull Street.
Dr. Cheryl Ivey Green, Executive Minister at First Baptist Church of South Richmond, Dr. A. Lincoln James, Pastor, Trinity Baptist Church, and Pastor Dr. Rodney Waller, Senior Pastor of the First African Baptist Church of Richmond were in attendance as were Senator Lashrecse Aird and recent Mayoral candidate and former Richmond City Council member Michelle Mosby.
Above: Richmond Pastor and former Mayor Dwight Jones and candidate for Lieutenant Governor, State Senator Aaron Rouse
A large group of attendees formed a long line as media looked on and everyone enjoyed sweet tea and chicken served up by Kitchen Magician Catering. Senator Aaron Rouse, who is competing against five other challengers in a competitive primary for Lieutenant Governor, which includes area Senator Ghazala Hashmi, relayed his life story and policy priorities.
“I’ve been working since I was 10 years old… Farm Fresh, Target, you name it, I was working. I understood the burden my mother had on her shoulders to provide for four children. I didn’t want my mother to worry about how I was gonna get school clothes or who was going to cut my hair,” Sen. Rouse explained as he told the crowd about growing up in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Several speakers referred to the state of play that President Donald Trump has placed the country in as authoritarian fascism under Trump plays out in several ways from the executive branch. At a time when the Democratic party is wrestling with its own identity and getting over losing the White House and the U.S. Senate, Senator Aird’s remarks were pointed as she introduced her Virginia Senate colleague.
“I'm gonna be politically incorrect right now, one of the things we hate to talk about is the fact that not all Democrats are not created equal. I'm gonna go there. This is a Democratic primary. That means you have to make a choice between other Democrats,” Lashrecse Aird said as she introduced Sen. Rouse.
“You have to make a choice between other Democrats on the ballot. This is very important, and this is what I mean when I say if I have to just continue to talk about you getting out to vote, I can never put you on to game about how this process works, and what that means is you've got 21 Democrats in the State Senate, but I can guarantee you the people we are fighting against to move housing forward, to get guns off the streets, to get environmental protections, to get increases in education funding for teachers sometimes those are Democrats we're fighting against. So when we talk about putting the right person in office. When you talk about making the right decision in a primary. I'm talking about Senator Aaron rouse being the right person,” Senator Aird told the crowd pointedly.
Above: Candidate for Virginia LG Aaron Rouse sits at a table made up of mostly pastors in Richmond at a luncheon of Black leaders on June 9, 2025.
When Rouse spoke he was personal but also deferential about how his story is related to others.
“I’m running for lieutenant governor not just for a position, or to further a political career, but I’m running to let our community know, to let our Commonwealth know, what it means to come from nothing and to become something,” Sen. Rouse said. He also spoke on policy.
Senator Rouse worked to pass the Save Local Pharmacies Act through the General Assembly this year. The bipartisan bill aims to “address the rising cost of prescription drugs and protect access to pharmacies in underserved communities,” and streamline the Medicaid process for local pharmacies. On May 2, 2025, Gov. Glenn signed Sen. Rouse’s bill into law.
Early voting continues in Virginia and primary day is next Tuesday, June 17.
Below:
LISTEN! Sam Shirazi’s podcast FEDERAL FALLOUT 🎙️ Listen to the latest episode of Federal Fallout with Black Virginia News founder Lauren Burke
HD82: Kimberly Pope Adams Raises $262,048
In the race for House District 82, Kim Pope Adams holds an 8 to 1 cash on hand advantage over Del. Kim Taylor
The fundraising numbers are in and, Kimberly Pope Adams, Democratic nominee for Virginia’s 82nd House District, announced raising $262,048 in 66 days. Adams has raised more than her Republican opponent Del. Kim Taylor, who raised $64,489. Adams' campaign has over 1,800 donations from 47 different states. “Adams now has a financial advantage of $289,468 cash on hand compared to Taylor's $34,502—an 8 to 1 ratio,” according to Adams’ campaign.
Below: A look at the top fundraisers in the Virginia House (Source: VPAP)
NEW PODCAST - EP52 🎙️ Reps. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX): Democrats Talk Media Strategy in the Fight to Save Health Care
Podcast 51 🎙️ Fergie Reid, Jr. on the 100 Virginia House Races
Podcast 50 🎙️ John Reid, History and Blackmail? with Paul Goldman
➡️ SUBSCRIBE TO BLACK VIRGINIA NEWS. “One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap.” —Ida Wells. 👨🏽💻 Send press releases, submissions, tips, pitches, comments and corrections to BlackVirginiaNews@gmail.com.