Youngkin sent a letter to Biden about Quantico incident

Youngkin sent a letter to Biden about incident at Quantico

In a letter sent to President Joe Biden, Gov. Glenn Youngkin is asking for more information about two Jordanians who were detained at a military base in Virginia.

Youngkin wants to know the immigration status of the individuals trying to gain unauthorized access to Quantico’s military base.

“The Biden Administration’s failure to secure the border has brought this crisis to the front gates of our military installations. I sent a letter to President Biden regarding the attempted breach at Quantico & their failure to disclose the immigration status of those involved,” Youngkin wrote on social media when sharing the letter.

From the Marine Times last week:

“The Marine Corps prevented two people from breaking onto a Marine installation in Virginia on May 3 and turned them over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The two people drove up to the Fuller Road Gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, in a box truck and were stopped by military sentries, Capt. Michael Curtis, a spokesman for the base, said in a statement to Marine Corps Times on Tuesday.”

View the letter he sent to the president below:

GOP U.S. Senate candidate from NoVa doubles down on ‘podunk’ comments, says driving to Abingdon for debate is ‘just ridonkulous’ - Cardinal News

by Markus Schmidt

Hung Cao, one of five candidates seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to oppose the Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine in the fall, on Wednesday doubled down on his remarks referring to the Staunton News Leader as a “podunk local newspaper.”

During a virtual town hall meeting hosted by the Fauquier County GOP, Cao alleged that the newspaper is run by left-wing hacks. “Everybody in Staunton knows that, they laugh at those people. You wouldn’t even wrap your fish with that,” Cao said in a video recording of the town hall meeting obtained by Cardinal News.

A dozen Dems seek a chance to run for Rep. Wexton's seat - RTD

by Michael Martz

In 2018, Jennifer Wexton was a state senator from Loudoun County when she unseated Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-10th, as a trio of Virginia elections sent three Democratic women to Congress and flipped the Republican majority in Virginia's congressional delegation.

But before Wexton defeated Comstock by 12 percentage points, she won a six-way Democratic primary that included Dan Helmer, who finished a distant fourth. Helmer won a seat in the House of Delegates the next year in the third successive Democratic electoral wave during the term of then-President Donald Trump.

Park Service will allow Knights of Columbus Mass at Petersburg cemetery - RTD

by Samuel Parker

Facing a lawsuit and pressure from Virginia officials, the National Park Service on Thursday agreed to allow the Petersburg council of the Knights of Columbus to hold a Memorial Day Mass at Poplar Grove National Cemetery — a reversal from the NPS’ earlier decision to bar the group from observing religious ceremonies on the grounds of the cemetery.

Attorneys for the Petersburg chapter of the Catholic fraternal organization on Tuesday filed a motion seeking a restraining order against the NPS, alleging that the service was violating the organization’s First Amendment rights by blocking the Mass, court records show.

Gov. Youngkin lauds new initiative as a collaborative approach to solving Southwest Virginia’s problems - Cardinal News

by Susan Cameron

A new initiative called Accelerate Southwest Virginia was announced in Wise on Thursday by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who said the collaborative effort will take a holistic approach to solving the region’s problems by focusing on infrastructure, economic development, health care, housing and lowering the cost of living.

The governor said those are the issues that were most talked about during a “listening tour” he held across the region on March 20. “I believe we need to go faster and accomplish more,” he said.

Immigration, drug trafficking take center stage in 7th District GOP primary - Daily Progress

by Jason Armesto

In a crowded field of Republican candidates, Derrick Anderson is trying to break away from the pack in a second TV advertisement laser-focused on illegal immigration and the cross-border trafficking of the lethal drug fentanyl.

The Spotsylvania County native is among six candidates seeking the GOP nomination for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, which spans from Albemarle County to Fredericksburg and is now held by Democrat Abigail Spanberger. Spanberger has announced her intention to run for governor in 2025 instead of a fourth term this year.

Editorial: An art show at an Augusta County school prompts an emergency school board meeting - Cardinal News

by Dwayne Yancey - opinion

In the spring of 2023, the theater departments at Lynchburg’s two public high schools joined together to produce the popular, but often controversial, musical “The Prom,” which is loosely based on the true story of a gay couple banned from attending their high school prom.

Lynchburg City Council member Marty Misjuns blasted the choice: “It’s absolutely appalling to me that the publicly funded Lynchburg City Schools would put on a production with children that openly mocks the vast Judeo-Christian majority in our city … Lynchburg City Schools should immediately cancel the rest of these productions out of respect for those that believe in, prescribe to, and practice the Christian faith.”

From behind the paywall: Filler-Corn pushes back on attacks from Democratic PAC; accuses them of using antisemitic tropes

With unknown funding, Virginia Democratic Action PAC is attacking former Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn as she seeks the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s tenth congressional district.

Filler-Corn is responding to the attacks, calling them lies and baseless accusations.

Connor Farrell, the PAC’s executive director, says she “is a good lobbyist for them, but a bad Democrat for us.”

“Virginia Democrats are tired of pay-to-play politics and don’t want to send someone to Washington who will place their priorities on the chopping block if it means a free trip to a Washington Commanders game,” he said in a press release.

Farrell founded Left Rising, a Democratic fundraising firm. The firm’s website says its mission is to bring “exceptional fundraising to a new generation of organizations and candidates—younger, more diverse, more progressive.”

His social media feed shows support for candidates who are pro-Palestine.

Filler-Corn, who is Jewish, says the attacks rely on antisemitic messaging.

“It is clear that my message – that we need women on the frontlines defending our rights and our freedom – resonates with voters,” she said in a statement. “As Speaker, I made historic progress for the Commonwealth, rolling back right-wing abortion restrictions and holding election deniers accountable. These false attacks are plainly sexist and rely on vile antisemitic tropes.”

The attack ads focus on Filler-Corn’s time working for the lobbying firm Albers & Company. Among their clients are the Cigar Association of America and Lilly Pharmaceutical Company.

Filler-Corn’s campaign says she “never lobbied for these groups and was never a registered lobbyist for either the tobacco or pharmaceutical industry.”

Filler-Corn resigned from her position with Albers and Company in 2019 before being elected speaker. She then started a consulting firm, about which limited public information is available.

The PAC sent out mailers saying that Filler-Corn sided with “big oil” and blocked action on climate change in the General Assembly.

In response, her campaign cites the “A” rating she received from the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters. They also point out that she was speaker when the General Assembly passed the Clean Economy Act.

The ad accuses Filler-Corn of receiving more than $34,000 in gifts from special interests, but her campaign says they were all approved and “include items like travel for a Women in Government Conference.”

In Virginia, elected officials have few restrictions on what they can receive and use the money for when fundraising.

“In fact, over her 14 years in the House of Delegates, she reported far fewer ‘gifts’ annually than other colleagues of hers in this race, but she’s being held to different standards,” the Filler-Corn campaign says.

Filler-Corn is seeking the Democratic nomination against several other candidates — many of whom served in the General Assembly with her. One of the candidates, Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, played an instrumental role in the 2022 ousting of Filler-Corn from her role as Speaker.

The Washington Post endorsed Helmer.

The VA-10 incumbent, Rep. Jennifer Wexton, endorsed state Sen. Suhas Subramanyan, D-Loudoun, for the nomination.

Former Gov. Ralph Northam endorsed Filler-Corn.

Other candidates on the long list of Democrats seeking the nomination include Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax; Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun; Del. Michelle Maldonado, D-Prince William; former Education Secretary Atif Qarni; Krystal Kaul; Travis Nembhard and more.

Farrell says he is not acting on behalf of any other Democrats in the race.

Primary day is June 18. Early voting has already started.

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