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Today’s Sponsor: Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association
Workplace Violence text/link: Health care workers are five times more likely to experience a workplace violence than workers in other industries, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Threatening or assaulting health care workers doing their jobs interferes with the delivery patient care. It is also against the law in Virginia. Watch the firsthand account of a health care professional who experienced violence in the workplace:
2025 talk
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s PAC received a donation of $100,000 from Deborah Simon. Simon’s family owns shopping malls in Indiana and is becoming a well-known Democratic donor on the national stage.
This donation went to Stoney’s statewide PAC which will likely be used for his expected 2025 gubernatorial campaign.
Griffin releases internal poll
SD-27’s Democratic nominee Joel Griffin released an internal poll showing positive results for him. Griffin is running against Del. Tara Durant (R) and Monica Gary (I) for the open seat.
Disclaimer: The poll was paid for by his campaign.
The pollster used was Global Strategies Group. They have a B/C rating from FiveThirtyEight’s pollster rating and a bias rating of 1.8 towards Democrats.
Both Griffin and Durant are tied at 39% each with Gary receiving 7%.
The poll reported that 89% of Democratic voters say they “definitely” plan to vote in the upcoming election, compared to 83% of Republicans.
The poll also reported that when voters hear balanced, positive introductions of both candidates they favor Griffin by a 5-point margin (48%-43%).
According to analysis from VPAP, Youngkin won this district by eight points in 2021. However, the same analysis shows that Democrats won this district by two points during 2022’s federal elections.
Other stuff:
Spanberger continues her push to ban lawmakers from trading individual stocks while in office. Watch.
Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott has a new ad on the air in Iowa and New Hampshire. "If you don't control your back door, it's not your house. And if we don't control this border, it's not our country" Watch the ad here.
Democrats question Youngkin election order and ex-lawmaker’s status as judge - Virginia Mercury
by Graham Moomaw
Democratic leaders in the Virginia Senate are questioning the constitutional validity of an Aug. 29 special election for a Southwest Virginia House of Delegates seat and suggesting Gov. Glenn Youngkin doesn’t have the power to set it in motion.
In a letter to Youngkin this week, Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, and Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, said they believe the governor’s recent actions were improper because, in their view, the General Assembly never fully adjourned from a special session that began in April of 2022.
Virginia's Obamacare premiums to spike with reinsurance program end - RTD
by Dave Ress
Obamacare health insurance costs in Virginia are set to spike next year because the General Assembly budget impasse means a financial deal that cut premiums has now lapsed, a State Corporation Commission analysis shows.
The analysis projects individual coverage would rise by 28.5% in 2024, after the reinsurance program the state financed — in tandem with a much larger federal sum — cut this year’s premium rates an average of 17.2% from 2022’s average premium rates.