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Today’s Sponsor: PhRMA
Did you know that only three insurance company PBMs control 80% of the prescription drug market?
They use their market power to get tens of billions in rebates and discounts that should be going to patients.
Hanger might run in a new district; Norment is running for reelection
According to reporting from Richmond Times Dispatch, Republican state Senator Emmett Hanger is considering moving to a new district to run for reelection. If Hanger does make this move, it would match him up against Del. Chris Head in a nomination battle.
Hanger didn’t file to run against his Republican colleague Mark Obenshain in the district he currently resides. That deadline has passed and it can now be presumed that Obenshain will be the nominee in SD-02.
According to RTD’s reporting, Hanger is considering moving south to run in SD-03, where Del. Head is already running.
RTD’s reporting also stated that Senate Republican LEader Tommy Norment will be seeking reelection. He was drawn into the same district as his colleague, Ryan McDougle. Norment has been in the Senate for 32 years and McDougle for about half of that time.
McDougle has not yet stated if he will run for reelection or not — but if he does — it would be a huge primary race.
Virginia Democrats fundraise off of block Dutta’s appointment
In case you missed it earlier this week, Democrats in the state Senate blocked multiple gubernatorial appointees including Suparna Dutta to the Board of Education.
Senate Democrats blamed her lack of experience but the Democratic Party of Virginia tied her to Ginni Thomas, a Republican activist who believes the 2020 election was stolen, in a fundraising email. She is also the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Thomas was pressuring lawmakers to support Dutta’s appointment prior to the vote.
Republicans have accused Democrats of being racist for not approving Dutta to the board. Dutta is not an educator but she founded a group that opposed new admission policies at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology that was intended to add more diversity to the student population.
In the fundraising email that the Democrat Party of Virginia sent out Thursday, they attack Dutta for past comments and the support she had from Ginni Thomas. Read the full email below:
