Bold Dominion

Both Virginia's 7th and 2nd U.S. House districts voted for Trump in 2016. But then two years later, they flipped in the midterm elections. Democrats Abigail Spanberger in the 7th and Elaine Luria in the 2nd both won by razor thin margins. This fall, these first-term lawmakers will face their yet-to-be-determined Republican challengers. Today, we’re talking about their potential opponents, their chances of re-election, and the consequences of holding onto the seat.

With all the news of the pandemic going on, it's easy to forget that we have elections coming up quite soon.

This episode looks at Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, a huge, gerrymandered region that stretches from the North Carolina border to the Washington, DC exurbs.

Freshman lawmaker Denver Riggleman is the Republican incumbent. But he’s facing a challenge from far right candidate Bob Good. And all this is happening amidst a global pandemic.

Well, we’re in May now. It’s been a month and a half since everything started closing and authorities urged social distancing.

But work hasn’t stopped for people working in essential industries – health care, of course. But also grocery stores, fire and police services, construction, buses, meat packing, and more.

That doesn’t mean the work is always safe. Around the country, there have been more than 150 labor actions like walk-outs or strikes. Protesting conditions that the workers feel are unsafe. That includes several labor actions here in Virginia – from workers in Naval Yards in Hampton Roads to poultry plants in the Shenandoah Valley.

The General Assembly has arrived back in Richmond for a highly unusual special session.

The task at hand: figure out Virginia’s state budget during this pandemic related economic seizure. Also: sort out the bills that Governor Ralph Northam sent back for revisions.

What now for Virginia's budget and minimum wage hikes?

In this episode of Bold Dominion: the economy has run full speed into a brick wall. And that wall is called COVID-19.

We’re still in a public health crisis that has yet to peak. And while we’re all practicing social distancing as best we can, this pandemic has created an immediate economic crisis no matter how you slice it.

We talk with Virginia journalist Peter Galuszka and UVA Professor David Leblang about how this pandemic will pan out in Virginia’s economy.

As has been widely reported, the outbreak of COVID-19 is causing a serious pubic health emergency. Alongside this public health crisis is an economic crisis. Even for all of us who haven’t gotten sick… yet… the pandemic is still upending our lives.

We talk with journalist Peter Galuszka about how the pandeminc is going to hit Virginia's economy. Peter has covered Virginia business, politics, and news for four decades.

In the second half of the show, we talk with Brenda Castaneda from the Legal Aid Justice Center about what Virginia should be doing for working people during this crisis.

This episode is hosted by Nathan Moore and produced by Aaryan Balu and Sabrina Moore.

In this episode of Bold Dominion: the Virginia General Assembly has just wrapped up its 2020 session. And plenty of observers have said that this was a historic session.

With new Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate – plus a democratic governor – a raft of new legislation made its way through passage this year.

In this episode: Virginia Mercury reporter Graham Moomaw gives us a recap of the Assembly session. And lawmaker Sally Hudson explains how these decisions really get made – including some of what you don’t see in the news stories or TV coverage.

Once in a while, the national politics story and the Virginia politics story are the same story. We’re just around the corner from Super Tuesday (March 3), when Virginia and a raft of other states hold primaries for the Democratic nomination for President.

What can we expect in Virginia as we head toward the Super Tuesday vote?

In this episode, former Charlottesville city councilor Kristin Szakos shares the mood of Virginia Democrats as she does canvassing.

Then an in-depth conversation with Paul Freedman, professor of Politics at the University of Virginia.

Host: Nathan Moore. Producer: Aaryan Balu.

Virginia just became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. On the face of it, the ERA seems straightforward: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex."

Proponents want the ERA because of continuing sex inequality in our society. Lower pay, sexual harassment, violence against women. These are serious social problems that have been around for a long time.

But the ERA may not be the tool to solve them. So says our guest this week, UVA Law professor Kim Forde-Mazrui. He shares the overall goals of real equality for women, but he’s concerned that federal judges would hand down decisions that would actually harm the cause of equality for women.

Bold Dominion is online at BoldDominion.org. It's a member of the Virginia Audio Collective, VirginiaAudio.org.

In this episode of Bold Dominion: guns and gun policy.

On May 31st, 2019, a disgruntled city employee in Virginia Beach shot and killed twelve people in a mass shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building.

Weeks later, Virginia’s Democratic governor Ralph Northam called a special summer session of the General Assembly -- specifically to consider new gun safety measures. But the Republican controlled Assembly voted to close that session within just a few minutes. No new gun laws passed.

Last November’s elections changed all that. With new Democratic majorities in both houses, Governor Northam vowed to reintroduce some of these gun safety measures.

But that has led to its own kind of blowback.