Latest Ralph Northam News

Virginia House Democrats vote to remove their leader
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia House Democrats voted Wednesday to remove their caucus leader, months after an unsuccessful election cycle that saw the party lose full control of the state government. The 48-member caucus voted by secret ballot to remove Minority Leader Eileen...

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoes 26 Democratic bills
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed 26 bills — including some that passed with broad bipartisan support — as he took action on more than 800 bills the divided legislature sent him during its regular session. None of the vetoed bills were sponsored by...
Youngkin rolls back Northam's limits on single-use plastics
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday ended what his office called a “burdensome” restriction on single-use plastics at state agencies, colleges and universities. The Republican governor signed an executive order rolling back a 2021 order from...

Report criticizes Virginia's response to snowy I-95 gridlock
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia state agencies collectively "lost situational awareness" and failed to keep up with growing gridlock during a January snowstorm that stranded hundreds of motorists along Interstate 95, a state-commissioned report released Friday said. While the...
Youngkin administration: Election IT project behind schedule
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A project to replace the clunky and sometimes-unreliable IT system essential to administering Virginia's elections is running “critically behind schedule," Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration said this week. Youngkin's newly appointed...
Virginia lawmakers create Historic Preservation Fund
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A new state fund could give the Patawomeck Tribe a chance to reacquire tribal land and help protect battlefield sites throughout the state where Black soldiers fought and died. “If there were any way that we could ever get anything back, we would want to see...

Ex-colleagues praise Youngkin's elections commissioner
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has tapped a former local elections official and ex-aide to a far-right-wing state senator to serve as Virginia's elections commissioner. The move sparked criticism Monday from both Democrats and the GOP senator, while former colleagues of the...
Civil rights group asks to join Virginia redistricting suit
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia civil rights group wants to join a lawsuit seeking to force new state House of Delegates elections this year, but a judge on Monday said the court must first decide whether the Democratic activist who brought the suit has legal standing to sue. Paul...

Ex-EPA leader Wheeler to serve as adviser to Youngkin
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Andrew Wheeler, the former Trump administration Environmental Protection Agency administrator, will serve as a senior adviser to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration after Senate Democrats rejected his appointment to a Cabinet role. Wheeler had been...
Thermo Fisher expanding lab operations in Richmond area
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific is expanding its bioanalytical laboratory operations into three new locations in the Richmond region, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday. The company will invest $97 million in the expansion, which the...
