Speaker Scott Donates Record $3M to Virginia House Dems; Impact Awards on July 18 in Portsmouth; History of Black Labor
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➤ There are 116 days until the November 4, 2025 general election in Virginia
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➤ There are 1,215 days until November 7, 2028
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Speaker Scott Donates Record $3M to Virginia House Democrats
Virginia House Speaker Don Scott donated a record $3 million to candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates. Speaker Scott has shattered every previous benchmark in campaign fundraising for the Virginia House.
The $3 million donation puts Virginia Democrats in a position to pick up many of the battleground seats that the Speaker has listed as “in play.” There are 13 battlegrounds in addition to others that Democrats are hoping to win if this year turns in to wave election year in their favor. In a cycle that mirrors the 2017 cycle, that is viewed as possible given that the Trump Administration has eliminated thousands of federal jobs that threaten to change the landscape of Virginia’s economy.
Speaker Scott’s positioning as a fundraising juggernaut is juxtaposed by four Republican retirements and the looming departure of their former Speaker Todd Gilbert. On July 1, President Trump nominated the former Republican House Speaker for a U.S. attorney post.
On July 10 it was announced that Virginia had lost its top spot as the Top State for Business. Virginia dropped to number four. The reason was obvious: President Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce.
“Virginia, America’s Top State for Business in 2024 and a top three finisher in each of the past five years, slips this year to its worst showing since 2018,” reported CNBC on July 10.
Above: On July 12, 2025, Speaker Scott announced his $3 million fundraising donation to Virginia House Democrats on social media.
“We’ve dropped from the top spot for business because Donald Trump tanked our economy and Virginia Republicans just let it happen. While Trump was busy firing thousands of federal workers and gutting funding in Virginia, Republicans said nothing. Did nothing. Because they’re too terrified to stand up to him. Their only policy is fealty to Trump – even if that means Virginians lose their jobs,” Speaker Scott wrote.
Above: Speaker Scott converses with the secret weapon, Eileen Davis, at the Blue Commonwealth Gala on June 21, 2025 in Richmond.
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Republicans have been quiet on Trump’s impact on Virginia’s job picture. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Trump’s mass layoffs in a decision on July 9. On the same day, Governor Glenn Youngkin held an event on how his administration has decreased regulations for businesses.
But that news was obscured by the Supreme Court decision and the following CNBC report that Virginia’s business ranking had fallen from the top spot to the fourth position.
🥁 Two Virginia Must Reads
1. Derailing the Waste, Fraud, & Abuse Train at City Hall (Part 1) in RVA 5X5 by Jon Baliles (July 11, 2025)
2. Fed’s Hidden Immigration Weapon – Virginia’s Surveillance Network by Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO by Kunle Falayi (July 3, 2025)
3. Exclusive: Navy SEALs Confront Racism Allegations After Black Operator Targeted With Offensive Memes in After Action Report by Seth Hettena (May 20, 2025)
THIS SUNDAY ☀️ This Sunday Morning with Pastor Dr. Phillip & Lady Carolyn Williams will celebrate a 40th Pastoral Anniversary alongside the members of the Royal Baptist Church Family of Petersburg.
Impact Awards on July 18 in Portsmouth
The annual impact awards presented by Titus Jackson will honor several individuals in the community on July 18. In addition to a wards show there will also be a gospel concert as part of the evening. Honorees include Tina Vick, John Kee, Joni Ivey and Don Christian.
Additionally, the Hezekiah Walker Center for Gospel Music at Virginia Union University will be having a free pop-up concert to celebrate Juneteenth and men’s health on Saturday, June 21, 2025. It will be held at VUU-Barco Stevens Lawn at 1500 N. Lombardy Street in Richmond at 4pm. Veteran gospel singer and pastor John P. Kee, will perform with New Life. Other musical guests will also be performing.
NEW EPISODE 54 - LISTEN! 🎙️ THE BLACK VIRGINIA NEWS podcast on Trump’s proposed cuts to health care and rural hospitals!
LISTEN! 🎙️ THE VIRGINIA PRESS ROOM podcast with Virginia Press Room with host Michael Pope, Lauren Burke of the Black Virginia News, Chris Saxman of The VIP Podcast and Rich Meagher of RVA's Got Issues.
Black Labor: Exhibit Runs Until October 31, 2025
The Portsmouth Colored Community Library Museum is featuring the exhibit Forged in Hampton Roads. The exhibit explores the transformative impact of Black labor and how it shaped Hampton Roads. The exhibit will run until October 31 and will focus on John Mallory Phillips, who created one of the region’s first Black resorts and hotels in Hampton. Another point of focus will is an enslaved man named “Aaron” who developed a unique style of canoe that Black waterman used on the James and Elizabeth Rivers.
Forging Hampton Roads focuses on their stories and examines the lives of some of the region’s most important workers and entrepreneurs.
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