Virginia’s 4th Congressional District House Race

Early voting has opened in Virginia ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, running through Oct. 31 with a voter registration deadline of Oct. 23. Voters statewide will decide three constitutional amendments covering reproductive rights, marriage equality (protecting gay and interracial marriage), and automatic restoration of voting rights for felons who complete their sentences.

Richmond-area voters will also weigh in on federal races: Sen. Mark Warner seeks a fourth term against Bert Mizusawa, while U.S. House contests include the 1st District (Rob Wittman vs. Shannon Taylor), 4th District (Jennifer McClellan vs. Robert Murray Jr. and Joan Bell), and 5th District (John McGuire vs. Tom Perriello and Cooke Harvey). Richmond and Chesterfield, along with 45 other Virginia localities, will vote on authorizing a local 1% sales tax for school construction, projected to raise roughly $47 million and $70 million annually, respectively. Richmond also holds a special School Board election between incumbent Anne Holton and Jackie McDonnough.

Virginia voters head to the polls Nov. 3 to decide three constitutional amendments — on reproductive rights, marriage equality, and automatic restoration of voting rights for felons after sentence completion — alongside federal races. Sen. Mark Warner seeks a fourth term against Bert Mizusawa, while competitive U.S. House contests play out in the 1st (Wittman vs. Taylor), 4th (McClellan vs. Murray and Bell), and 5th (McGuire vs. Perriello and Harvey) districts. Richmond and Chesterfield voters will also weigh a 1% sales tax increase to fund school construction, alongside 45 other Virginia localities, plus local School Board and Board of Supervisors races. Early voting runs through Oct. 31.

Early voting opened Sept. 18 in Virginia ahead of the Nov. 3 election, with voting continuing through Oct. 31 and a voter registration deadline of Oct. 23. Voters statewide will decide three constitutional amendments covering reproductive rights, marriage equality (protecting gay and interracial marriage), and automatic restoration of voting rights for felons who complete their sentences.

Congressional races include Democratic Sen. Mark Warner seeking a fourth term against Republican Bert Mizusawa, plus contests in the 1st District (Rob Wittman vs. Shannon Taylor), 4th District (Jennifer McClellan vs. Robert Murray Jr. and Joan Bell), and 5th District (John McGuire vs. Tom Perriello and Cooke Harvey). Richmond and Chesterfield voters, along with 45 other localities, will also weigh a potential 1% sales tax increase dedicated to school construction, projected to raise roughly $47 million annually in Richmond and up to $70 million in Chesterfield. Local races include a Richmond School Board special election and a contested Chesterfield School Board seat.

Virginia's parole board, reconstituted by Gov. Abigail Spanberger in mid-March, has approved parole at a rate far exceeding that of former Gov. Glenn Youngkin's board. According to a Washington Examiner analysis of state parole data, the board's 13.89% release rate over roughly six months is more than ten times Youngkin's full-year 2025 rate of 1.23%. The panel has granted parole to 38 prisoners, already surpassing Youngkin's year-end total of 32, including six convicted murderers and 11 sex offenders. In more than 49% of parole-violation cases, the board allowed violators, including repeat offenders, to remain on parole rather than revoking their release.

Supporters of the board's approach point to rehabilitation factors such as vocational achievement, faith-based program participation, and age at time of offense. Critics, including the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, argue the trend reflects a shift toward more lenient criminal-justice policy and raises public-safety concerns. The board maintains an overall denial rate above 86%. Spanberger's administration has also expanded prison reentry programs and restored voting rights to tens of thousands of formerly incarcerated Virginians this year.

Virginia began removing three Confederate memorials from Capitol Square in Richmond on Friday, continuing a years-long effort to clear the former Confederate capital of monuments honoring the Confederacy. Statues of Generals Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Gov. William "Extra Billy" Smith, and Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire had stood in the public park near the state Capitol for more than a century before their removal was ordered by the Virginia legislature during its 2026 session.

Former state Sen. Adam Ebbin, who sponsored the legislation, said the move "changes who we choose to venerate on the Capitol lawn" without altering Civil War history. State Sen. Mike Jones noted efforts to remove such statues in Richmond date to 2018. The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation will preserve the monuments, relocating them to battlefield sites in the Shenandoah Valley. The Virginia division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy said it hopes the memorials remain publicly displayed for reflection and study.

Richmond officials announced plans to restart the city's real estate tax sale program, dormant since the Levar Stoney administration quietly suspended it in January 2023. The move aims to address more than $32 million in overdue real estate taxes, over $24 million of which is at least six months delinquent. Some debts date to 2006 and risk becoming uncollectible under Virginia's 20-year statute of limitations.

Mayor Danny Avula and Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II described the revamped effort as "enforcement with compassion," emphasizing outreach, payment plans and education rather than property seizure as the primary goal. Under state law, tax-delinquent properties can be auctioned after two years of nonpayment (one year if blighted), with proceeds settling debts and remainder returned to owners. Before the 2023 suspension, 85% of cases were resolved without reaching auction.

The City Attorney's Office has opened cases on 85 properties, while more than 7,600 accounts owing $5.4 million are currently eligible for sale. The program is set to resume by November, with the first auction expected in June 2027.

Richmond's City Council unanimously passed a resolution directing Mayor Danny Avula's administration to formalize a "trust policy" limiting how city employees cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Introduced by Councilmember Nicole Jones, the measure sets guidelines for interactions between city staff and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and governs handling of immigration and citizenship information.

More than a dozen residents spoke in favor at Monday's meeting, arguing a written policy would help immigrant families feel safer accessing city services, schools, and police without fear of being reported to ICE. Avula has said Richmond does not enforce federal immigration law or coordinate with ICE, but advocates, including organizer Elena Camacho of New Virginia Majority, pushed for a formal, enforceable policy rather than informal practice.

The council's vote requires the administration to draft the policy by January 1 for review. Camacho said advocates want a role in shaping the guidelines, potentially through a citizen board. Avula praised the resolution and said more details would follow in coming weeks.

Richmond, Virginia officials have launched the Faith & Housing Initiative, a two-year program partnering with local faith-based organizations to convert underutilized church and congregation-owned properties into affordable housing. The city is working with national nonprofit Sympara, which has already begun early parcel mapping and outreach to faith leaders.

Starting Oct. 20, interested congregations can apply for a 12-month "Faith & Housing Cohort," limited to 12 congregations, that will guide participants through planning and preparing for multiyear housing developments. Applications close Nov. 30, with informational sessions planned for early November. Mayor Danny Avula framed the effort as a creative response to the city's housing affordability crisis. The cohort is set to begin meeting in 2027.

Richmond officials on Aug. 17 released the third draft of Code Refresh, a proposed overhaul of the city's zoning code that dates back more than 50 years. The revision follows nearly a year of public meetings and feedback since the second draft, including a July 21 community meeting hosted by the Richmond Civic League. Mayor Danny Avula said resident input shaped the new proposal.

The most notable change scales back a "2+1" concept, which would have allowed two primary homes plus an accessory dwelling unit on one lot, to a "1+1" model permitting one primary home and one accessory dwelling unit, after pushback from residents. The draft also introduces contextual height limits meant to keep new construction compatible with existing neighborhoods, new green space protections, and a measure eliminating by-right data center development citywide to protect water and energy resources. Richmond City Council will ultimately vote on the plan; Avula said early council feedback has been positive.

Richmond, Virginia officials publicly acknowledged missteps in the rollout of a new billing system for the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), which launched May 26 and triggered widespread customer disruption. Mayor Danny Avula, chief administrative officer Odie Donald and DPU director Scott Morris said Monday the city relied too heavily on assurances from software vendors Oracle and KUBRA rather than conducting its own thorough oversight before launch. Problems included payment-posting delays, inflated bills, missing bills, new account numbers for every customer, and an unplanned server migration, all of which overwhelmed DPU's call center. Monthly call volume jumped from about 14,400 calls before the rollout to nearly 40,000 in June and July, before easing to roughly 22,000 in August after staffing was more than doubled.

Officials said most issues have been resolved but could not specify how many rollout-related cases remain open. They pledged improved communication, faster escalation of billing disputes, and expanded customer-service capacity going forward.