by Morgan Sweeney
As President-elect Donald Trump is making cabinet picks and Congress orients its new members, Virginia is gearing up for its next elections.
One week after election day, campaign announcements for 2025 are popping up across the commonwealth. Virginia is one of just a handful of states that holds major elections in off years, so while special elections to replace state Sens. John McGuire, R-Goochland, and Suhas Subramanyam, D-Loudoun – both elected to Congress last week – are the most immediate, they’re just the beginning of the political contests Virginians will see in 2025.
Subramanyam and key state party leadership, including Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, Speaker of the House Don Scott, and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, have already coalesced behind Del. Kannan Srinivasan, D-Loudoun, for Subramanyam’s District 32. Surovell posted a video to X promoting Srinivasan for the district’s upcoming Democratic primary, saying the delegate would help Democrats maintain their “blue brick wall” in the Senate.
“I’m also out here knocking doors today for our firehouse primary for Delegate Kannan Srinivasan, who’s trying to move up to the Virginia state Senate so we can hold our Senate majority and put Roe v. Wade in the Constitution, put the right to vote in the Constitution and put marriage equality in the Constitution,” Surovell said. “He has all the support. I hope you can support him too.”
Last November, Democrats won slim majorities in both the House of Delegates (51-49) and the state Senate (21-19).
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that several Republicans have come forward to compete for McGuire’s seat in the very conservative District 10, including former state Sen. Amanda Chase, her former staffer Shayne Snavely, a Louisa County board supervisor Duane Adams, and Jean Gannon, a longtime Republican activist. Chase was a state senator for eight years until redistricting pitted her against Sen. Glenn Sturtevant, R-Colonial Heights, in the 2023 primary. Challenging the primary results, she has described herself as “Trump in heels.” She has previously run for Congress and governor of Virginia and was censured by the Virginia Senate in 2021 for voicing support for Jan. 6 protesters.
Many others have also announced they’re running for office in 2025. Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger announced in November 2023, that she would run for governor. Later, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears said she would run on the Republican side. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney withdrew his bid to run for governor and has instead chosen to run for Lt. Gov.
On Tuesday, former Del. Jay Jones announced he would run for attorney general.
“Today, with hope for a brighter future for our Commonwealth and our nation, I am proud to announce my campaign for Attorney General of Virginia. As Virginia’s Attorney General, my highest priority will always be the safety and freedom of Virginia families,” Jones wrote in a pinned post on X.
Jones served as a delegate from 2018-2021 and previously ran for attorney general in 2021 but lost in the primary. He also served as an assistant attorney general to the District of Columbia’s attorney general.
Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor announced earlier this year that she would run for the office.
Virginia’s current Attorney General Jason Miyares followed Jones’ announcement with his own statement on X.
“Both of the announced Democrat candidates for Attorney General are far-left, anti-police, criminal rights progressives who will make Virginia less safe. They will support the same criminal first, victim last policies that lead to a surge in violent crime,” Miyares wrote.
The student body vice president at D.C.’s The George Washington University disagrees.
“The next critical election is right here in Virginia. There is no stronger ticket to stand up for the Commonwealth than @SpanbergerForVA for Governor, @LevarStoney for LG [and] @jonesjay for AG. Let’s get it done,” wrote Ethan Lynne on X.
Some running for Virginia’s General Assembly in 2025 have also announced their candidacy. Kimberly Pope Adams, who ran against Del. Kim Taylor, R-Dinwiddie, and lost by less than half a percentage point in 2023, made her bid for the seat again on X Tuesday.
“It’s Official! I’m running for Delegate to represent Virginia’s 82nd District!” Pope wrote on X Tuesday.
State senators Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, and Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, have already endorsed her.
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Morgan Sweeney is a staff writer covering Virginia and Maryland for The Center Square. Morgan was an active member of the journalism program as an undergraduate at Hillsdale College and previously freelanced for The Center Square.
Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Martin Kraft. CC BY-SA 3.0.
