G O V E R NME N T / P O L I T I C S THOMAS K. ‘TOMMY’


NORMENT JR. SENATE MINORITY LEADER, SENATE OF VIRGINIA, WILLIAMSBURG


JASON MIYARES DELEGATE, VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES; REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL, VIRGINIA BEACH


A delegate since 2016, Miyares is the Republican nomi- nee for attorney general and faces incumbent Democrat Mark Herring on November ballots. He graduated from James Madison University and William & Mary Law School and then worked as a local prosecutor in Virginia Beach, where he grew up. His mother is a Cuban immi- grant, and if elected, Miyares would be the first Cuban American attorney general in Virginia. A staunch conservative, Miyares criticized police reforms passed by Democratic legislators last year, and he opposed Medicaid expansion in 2019. The same year, Miyares proposed a so-called Red Flag bill that would allow the removal of firearms from a person under an emergency order of protection, a bill introduced weeks aſter the May 2019 Virginia Beach mass shooting. The bill failed in committee. In 2021, he was the only GOP co-sponsor of a bill requiring casino operators to be trained in spotting human trafficking before receiving a state license. Debating Herring in June, Miyares attempted to link the two-term AG to a rise in crime rates and controver- sial decisions made by the Virginia Parole Board, which caught flak for improperly paroling the convicted killer of a police officer.


Norment has been a member of the state Senate since 1992 and has led its Republican caucus for 13 years. He sits on several powerful committees, including finance and appropriations, commerce and labor, and judiciary. He is a strong proponent of Virginia’s right-to-work laws and backed marijuana decriminal- ization, although he stopped short of supporting this year’s measures legalizing recreational use. In 2021, Norment was one of four legislators who named citizen members to the state redistricting commission to draw new districts based on the 2020 U.S. Census. He also joined three Republican senators in voting to censure state Sen. Amanda Chase for “conduct unbecoming of a senator” in January. Norment himself is no stranger to controversy, having been charged with a


DUI in 2001, and in 2013, his affair with a lobbyist became public. Late last year, Norment, a Virginia Military Institute alum, compared scrutiny of the school and its superintendent’s resignation to a “lynching,” amid extensive allegations of racist incidents at VMI. Norment also holds a law degree from William & Mary.


RALPH NORTHAM GOVERNOR, COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, RICHMOND


An Eastern Shore native, Northam graduated from Virginia Military Institute and Eastern Virginia Medical School, becoming a pediatric neurologist and serving as an Army surgeon during the first Gulf War. In 2007, he won the first of his two terms as state


senator, then won the 2013 lieutenant governor’s race. In 2018, he became Virginia’s 73rd governor. Northam’s term can be divided into two parts: before the blackface photo


and aſter. Although the governor says he wasn’t in the offensive yearbook photo, which was made public in 2019, many in his own party called for his resignation. Northam remained in office and dedicated himself to doing more to promote racial equity and inclusion. With a Democratic-controlled legislature, he has led the state’s efforts to eliminate the death penalty, legalize marijuana, increase Virginia’s minimum wage and bolster voting rights protections. He also appointed the state’s first diversity, equity and inclusion officer. Northam was a steady voice during the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging


Virginians to wear masks and get vaccinated. In January, he will end a four-year term that many consider the most progressive in Virginia’s history.


LARRY SABATO ROBERT KENT GOOCH PROFESSOR OF POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE


Sabato has been a high-profile figure at the University of Virginia for half a cen- tury. As far back as 1974, U.Va.’s newspa- per reported that Sabato, then president of the student government, was better known on campus than the university’s own president. Now a political pundit known to millions, Sabato has taught more than 20,000 students and authored more than two dozen books. In 1998, he founded U.Va.’s Center for Politics. Although his Crystal Ball website continues to have a strong following, Sabato incorrectly predicted that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 presidency. He gamely admitted to the misstep in the Crystal Ball article, “Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa.” Sabato, who didn’t hold back on criticism of President Donald


Trump, was recently targeted by the Republican Party of Virginia, which called for the university to investigate Sabato’s tweets lambasting Trump.


A Rhodes scholar in his youth, Sabato told the Richmond


Times-Dispatch that Trump’s behavior and the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection led to a change in his tone, as did witnessing neo-Nazis marching through U.Va. during the 2017 Unite the Right Rally.


96 VIRGINIA 500


RICHARD ‘DICK’ SASLAW SENATE MAJORITY LEADER, SENATE OF VIRGINIA, FAIRFAX


One of the Virginia legislature’s longest-serving members, Saslaw is now the senior member in the Senate, where he’s served since 1980. He’s also the legislature’s top recipient of funding from Dominion Energy, and more progressive Democrats have accused him of supporting bills favorable to the utility. In 2021, the Saslaw-led Senate Commerce and Labor Committee killed bills to reform the state’s electric utility rate review system. Saslaw is known as one of the more moderate members of his party, which is now back in control aſter two decades in the minority. The business-friendly Saslaw is a prom-


inent voice for gun control, and in 2019, he proposed raising the age for gun purchases, as well as banning the sale of rifle “bump stocks,” which increase firing rates. His bill was short-lived in the then-Republican-led Senate, but it earned him an “F” rating from the National Rifle Association. He also supported law enforcement reforms last year during the summer special session of the General Assembly.


In 2018, for his support of affordable health care and the expansion of Medicaid benefits, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association named Saslaw a “Healthcare Hero.”


Ralph Northam photo courtesy Office of the Governor


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