Upholding the Constitution

The office of Attorney General in Virginia is often overlooked, buried down-ballot beneath the governor’s race and even some state legislative contests. But make no mistake: this office is one of the most consequential in the Commonwealth not only for its influence on Virginians’ daily lives, but for its power to check federal overreach when Washington veers off course. In the age of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the party that holds this office will determine whether Virginia stands up for the rule of law or stands aside. 

As the Commonwealth’s chief legal officer, the Attorney General doesn’t just give legal advice or defend state agencies. The AG decides when to sue the federal government, whether to join multi-state coalitions to protect civil rights or the environment, and how aggressively to enforce consumer protection laws. The AG’s opinions can shape state policy for years. When the federal government acts beyond its authority, it’s the state attorneys general who decide whether to fight back or to cooperate. 

That’s why the upcoming race for Virginia Attorney General has drawn national attention and national money. It’s not just about Richmond politics. It’s about whether Virginia will be a firewall for democracy and constitutional order at a time when federal institutions are under pressure to bend to partisan will. 

We’ve already seen what can happen when those institutions bend. In September, Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, reportedly resigned after resisting pressure from Trump administration officials to bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, the AG who successfully prosecuted Trump for civil fraud in New York. Federal prosecutors in Virginia concluded there was no probable cause for the charges. But within days of Siebert’s departure, Trump installed Lindsey Halligan, a longtime Trump ally with no prior prosecutorial experience, as interim U.S. Attorney. Halligan promptly presented the case to a grand jury, resulting in an indictment many legal experts viewed as politically motivated. 

Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner decried the move as retaliation for Siebert’s refusal to “weaponize federal law enforcement.” The episode underscores a chilling reality that when the independence of the Justice Department is compromised, state attorneys general may be the last line of defense for accountability and constitutional norms. 

During Trump’s first term, Democratic attorneys general from states like California, New York, and Massachusetts successfully blocked dozens of unlawful federal actions - from the travel ban to the rollback of environmental protections to efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. If Virginia’s AG had joined those coalitions, the Commonwealth’s 8.8 million residents would have had a stronger voice in those national fights. 

Instead, under Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, Virginia has charted a different course that aligns closely with Trump-era priorities. Miyares has used his office to investigate locally elected prosecutors, issue politically charged “reports” on Commonwealth’s Attorneys he disagrees with, and withdraw Virginia from multistate coalitions defending abortion rights, voting access, and environmental protections. 

If the next AG shares that philosophy, Virginians should expect the office to cooperate with, rather than check, Trump’s federal agenda even when that agenda undermines state autonomy or civil rights. But if a Democrat wins, the office could once again serve as a counterweight, joining national efforts to protect the rule of law, fight censorship, and preserve basic rights under the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions. 

There is a lot at stake in this election. The Attorney General’s office influences whether Virginia sues to block harmful federal rollbacks in education, housing, or environmental policy. It affects how forcefully the state protects consumers from predatory corporations or defends the rights of LGBTQ+ Virginians when the federal government won’t. And it determines whether Virginia stands with other states in defending reproductive freedom and access to healthcare, both of which are once again on the chopping block. 

Every administration tests the boundaries of power. But the Trump administration has shown a willingness to cross them, pressuring prosecutors to pursue political enemies and punishing those who refuse. The federal system was designed to withstand such pressure because the founders envisioned strong, independent states with their own legal guardians. In Virginia, that guardian is the Attorney General. 

So when voters head to the polls over the next few weeks, they’ll be choosing more than a lawyer for the state. They’ll be choosing whether Virginia remains a state that upholds the Constitution or one that looks the other way when it’s violated. 

This is why I’m not getting distracted by the noise. I know Jay Jones will represent the best interests of the Commonwealth and protect the things my constituents in Falls Church care about the most. 

The Election is over. What's Next?

If you’ve made it this far, you are still reading some news. And I’m glad my Richmond Report column has made the cut for you!  

In my family, it remains difficult to consume news from mass media sources as we are bombarded with breaking news alerts that would be shockingly atrocious if we hadn’t been told exactly what to expect.  

The silver lining, and I’ll concede it is the thinnest of thin silver linings, is that the party that wins the White House tends to suffer from a backlash in Virginia’s odd year elections the following cycle. 

So, the good news is we don’t have to wait two or four years to register our feelings about the incoming Administration and the policies they are likely to implement. We have an election in 2025 that will allow us to elect leaders that want Virginia to remain a safe haven for abortion rights in the south, a leader on voting rights, and a place that protects workers and their paychecks while maintaining an excellent business environment.  

Although the national results weren’t what most of us voted for, the state and local level results begin to tell us the story of what matters to Virginians. 

Election Statistics 

Perhaps because Virginia is considered safely blue, neither campaign devoted massive resources here. The result was that overall turnout fell off a bit from prior presidential years. Virginia had 69.8% voter turnout in 2024, below the 75% we saw in 2020 and 72% in 2016. 

The City of Falls Church saw a 76% voter turnout rate, with just under 80% of those votes case going to the Harris-Walz ticket. Not quite as high as 2020 or 2016, which indicates to me that many folks willing to vote for the GOP nominee in 2016 and 2020 couldn’t bring themselves to cast a vote after what they witnessed on January 6, 2021. 

What’s Next? 

As desperate as things may seem at the national level, we have an opportunity in 2025 to send a message that our values in Virginia haven’t changed. All three statewide offices – Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General – are up for election as well as all 100 members of the House of Delegates.  

We currently have the slimmest possible majority in the House and Senate, but Tim Kaine won 59 of Virginia’s 100 House of Delegates districts, and Harris-Walz won 58. That means we have a real opportunity to expand our House majority. 

Proposed Constitutional Amendments  

Starting in January, one of the very first things the 2025 General Assembly will take up will be three major constitutional amendments – codifying a right to an abortion (HJ 1), voting rights restoration (HJ 2), and repealing the same-sex marriage ban that is still on the books in Virginia (HJ 9). 

Last week, the House Privileges and Elections Committee voted to advance these amendments, first introduced during the 2024 Session and carried over, to the House Floor for 2025. 

HJ 1 enshrines the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, prohibiting the Commonwealth from penalizing or prosecuting an individual for exercising this right. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, we’ve seen how conservative states have severely reduced or eliminated abortion access.  

HJ 2 restores voting rights for those who have been released from incarceration after a felony conviction. This amendment restores their rights automatically upon their release. Currently, only the Governor has the power to restore voting rights once an individual has applied for restoration. As a result, the process is very opaque and applied sporadically without providing details for a denial.  

HJ 9 repeals the current constitutional amendment that prohibits same-sex marriage and affirms the right to marry. The only reason that same-sex couples can get married in Virginia right now is because of the 2015 US Supreme Court case, Obergefell v. Hodges, which made this legal across the country. If that is ever overturned, then we will revert to the marriage prohibition that still exists. 

For these three constitutional amendments to appear on the ballot, we must pass the amendments during the 2025 Session, have the intervening 2025 November election, and then pass them again in the exact same format in 2026. Then, the amendments go to the voters in November 2026. This means Democrats must maintain control of the House in the 2025 election. If the Virginia GOP takes over again, none of these amendments will survive.  

You can view the full text of these proposed constitutional amendments by visiting lis.virginia.gov.

Keep On Rockin' In The Free World

There's colors on the street
Red, white and blue…
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

~Neil Young, “Keep on Rockin’ in The Free World”

Ready for some good news from the 2016 Elections?

President Elect Donald Trump received a mere 1,324 votes in the City of Falls Church, representing around seventeen percent of the total votes cast. While we may have political differences, and some of us are more conservative or more progressive than others, it’s apparent that the vast majority of us in the City and Greater Falls Church considered Mr. Trump’s words, actions, and positions unacceptable in a presidential candidate.

In other news, a substantial majority of Falls Churchers rejected the so-called “right to work” amendment to the Virginia Constitution. Overall, in what was a surprising result to many of us in the political establishment, 54% of Virginians voted against the proposal, causing the amendment to fail. You can rest assured I will remind my colleagues in the General Assembly - who passed the language on a party line vote two years in a row - that they are out of touch with their electorate on this issue.

And Virginia went bigger for Hillary than it did for President Obama in either 2008 or 2012, causing one conservative talk show host do declare Virginia to not be a swing state, but a blue state. Whether that’s true or not, it’s certainly getting bluer with each election.

Of course, in spite of all this good news, like many of you I was extremely disappointed in the outcome of the national election. For several days the outcome seemed surreal. In many ways I felt as though I was living in a dream like state - a nightmare really.

Before long, I decided to stop moping and look for ways to move forward and use this most unfortunate turn of events to my advantage. I reached out to a group of friends and neighbors on Facebook, some old political pros, and others newly engaged

About fifty of us sat around my home and talked about the future. We tried not to spend too much time thinking about specific things we wished the Clinton campaign had done differently, although we did spend time talking about what we need to get right the next time around.

Since Virginia has an election every year, next time around is already here.

While Virginia’s odd year elections can sometimes be exhausting, this year I view them as a silver lining. We’ve got something positive to work toward right away. In 2017, Virginians will elect a new Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General.

In addition, all 100 House Delegates will be up for re-election in 2017. If we can work to motivate voters who’ve cast votes for Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Tim Kaine in even year elections to show up in an odd year election, we could even see the bright red Virginia House of Delegates turn blue again.

If you’ve had enough political campaigning for the time being, or you’re worried about the immediate threats to our civil liberties a Trump presidency poses (and I know many of you are), there are other ways to take action that are even more cathartic than ranting on your Facebook page.

Contact my office and we can put you in touch with organizations that stand up for the priorities you believe in, like the ACLU, Campaign Zero, Planned Parenthood of Virginia, RAINN, NextGen Climate Action, Equality Virginia, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. There are so many options.

And if none of that cheers you up, come to my house on December 18th for Latkepalooza III, my annual holiday fundraiser. Rachel’s making latkes, we’ll have jelly donuts and other holiday fare, and a great time will be had by all. Check out www.marcussimon.com for details.