City of Harrisonburg

This election will be held on November 4, 2025. Republican incumbent Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears and former Democratic US Representative Abigail Spanberger will face each other in the general election for Governor of Virginia.

The Democratic nominee for Governor, Abigail Spanberger actually fights to expand healthcare and reproductive freedom instead of rolling over when conservatives threaten to restrict abortion rights. She’s committed to investing in clean energy, holding polluters accountable, and reducing energy costs for working families. Her gun-safety agenda goes far beyond “thoughts and prayers,” taking on the NRA head-on instead of cashing their donation checks. Spanberger’s pragmatic progressive vision gives suburban moderates and left-leaners tired of corporate centrism and culture-war theatrics a real reason to show up.

The Opposition

The Republican nominee for Governor, Winsome Earle-Sears is all about slashing taxes for big corporations while telling unemployed workers that losing a job is “no big deal.” She grandstands against critical race theory and “woke” classrooms to score culture-war points instead of tackling real education challenges. By waving her Marine Corps credentials, she sells herself as the ultimate tough-on-crime candidate, conveniently ignoring how lax gun laws endanger communities. Her true believers are MAGA zealots who think banning books, rolling back reproductive freedoms, and erasing civil liberties are more important than looking out for working families.

Recommendation

Due to her advocacy for abortion access, gun violence prevention, and clean energy, Abigail Spanberger is the progressive candidate in this race.

This election will be held on November 4, 2025. Democratic Virginia State Senator Ghazala Hashmi and Republican John Reid will face each other in the general election for Lt. Governor of Virginia.

The Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor, Ghazala Hashmi is fighting to pump real money into public schools instead of the right’s perennial budget cuts and culture-war book bans. She defends reproductive freedom and Medicaid expansion for working families while conservatives keep dialing back healthcare access and waving anti-abortion placards. Her clean-energy agenda and environmental-justice bills actually target polluters, not the customary GOP handouts to pipeline lobbyists. Dreamers, suburban progressives fed up with partisan hijinks, and anyone who’d trade culture-war theatrics for equity and opportunity will cheer her unapologetic stand for Virginia’s working families.

The Opposition

The Republican nominee for Lt. Governor, John Reid is a self-styled small-government crusader who’ll happily cut taxes for wealthy donors while pretending he’s doing the same for working Virginians. He rails against “woke” curriculum and critical race theory, because apparently teaching actual American history is more offensive to him than runaway inequality. He touts law-and-order credentials and celebrity as a conservative radio host, hawking gun rights like they’re the ultimate public-safety strategy. He even plans to torpedo constitutional protections for same-sex marriage, proving that an openly gay candidate will stab his own community in the back for party unity, the perfect pick for culture-war diehards who prefer corporate giveaways to real solutions for working families.

Recommendation

Due to her advocacy for public education, abortion access, and environmental justice, Ghazala Hashmi is the progressive candidate in this race.

This election will be held on November 4, 2025. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares faces a challenge from former Democratic Virginia State Delegate Jay Jones.

The Democratic nominee for Attorney General, Jay Jones has pledged to sue the Trump administration every time it infringes on the rights of Virginians. He’s secured victories for abortion access, expanded Medicaid to cover thousands more Virginians, and even wrote anti-price-gouging measures to keep corporate vultures in check. His public-safety plan pairs smart gun-violence prevention and community-based crime interventions rather than recycling the right’s tired “lock ’em up” mantra for political ads. Grassroots progressives, consumer-rights advocates, and anyone sick of endless culture-war stunts will line up behind a candidate who actually puts families over fear-mongering theatrics.

The Opposition

Incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares cozies up to ICE, shaming local authorities who don’t cooperate with Trump’s policies of mass deportation, because terrorizing immigrant families is apparently his idea of due process. He grandstands on opioid crackdowns but turns a blind eye to corporate-friendly loopholes that keep the drug pipeline flowing. He bills himself as a federalism champion when suing Washington over environmental rules, conveniently ignoring states’ rights whenever big donors flash a check. His true believers are tough-on-crime zealots who think more ICE raids, harsher sentencing, and tax cuts for the wealthy are the pinnacle of compassionate governance.

Recommendation

Due to his advocacy for abortion access, gun violence prevention, and Medicaid coverage, Jay Jones is the progressive candidate in this race.

This election will be held on November 4, 2025. Incumbent Republican Delegate Tony Wilt faces a challenge from Democrat Andrew Payton in HD-34.

Virginia’s House District 34 covers the heart of the central Shenandoah Valley, encompassing part of Rockingham County and the independent City of Harrisonburg. In the 2024 election it leaned Republican by single-digit margins.

Democrat Andrew Payton is a Learning Designer and community organizer. He has chaired the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley, the City of Harrisonburg’s Environmental Performance Standards Committee. Payton currently serves on the executive committee of Renew Rocktown. He studied film and electronic media at Towson University before earning an M.F.A. in creative writing from Iowa State University. Payton was a Fulbright scholar in Slovakia. He lives in Harrisonburg with his wife and two children. 

Andrew Payton has pledged to defend and expand Medicaid and other public-health programs for the nearly 30,000 local residents who rely on them.

He would champion legislation to protect tenants and address barriers to affordable housing. 

He advocates for the right to collective bargaining, protections from workplace discrimination, and ensuring paid family and medical leave and paid sick days for all workers.

He supports taxing big business and the wealthy few to support programs like universal pre-K, free community college, fully funded public schools, and increased teacher pay.

He endorses the Virginia Clean Economy Act and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which aims to reduce the energy burden on low-income homes and prepare us for natural disasters like floods.

The Opposition

Incumbent Republican Delegate Tony Wilt has served as a in the House of Delegates since 2010. He defends so-called right-to-work laws that make it harder to join a union, opposes efforts to reduce vehicle emissions, and votes against gun violence prevention efforts. Wilt opposes new taxes and expansions of reproductive rights. Progressive voters may balk at his anti-union stance, resistance to clean-energy action, reluctance to invest in public schools or Medicaid expansion, and refusal to expand reproductive freedoms.

Recommendation

Based on his support for expanding healthcare access, funding public education, and protecting the environment, Andrew Payton is the progressive candidate in this race.