It’s feeling like the 2029 governor’s race is already under way, with Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi and Attorney General Jay Jones hitting the roads to raise their profiles with voters.
Jones, last week, made stops in the Richmond metro area and the Shenandoah Valley, talking up his office’s enforcement efforts related to new vape laws on the books in Virginia, attending National Night Out events, hosting a consumer protection roundtable, and highlighting rural healthcare access.
I’m personally most appreciative of the Valley visit, which had Jones visiting Sentara RMH in Harrisonburg; I’m the one who has pointed out, for years, that Richmond Dems ignore us out this way.
Good to see that somebody seems to have gotten the message.
I’m among those who thought Jones should have stepped down last fall amid the revelations of the dumb text conversations he had with a Republican colleague that made it seem like he was wishing bad things on former House Speaker Todd Gilbert.
But now that Jones is in the AG’s office, I think he’s doing a great job taking that office in a 180 from the approach of his MAGA predecessor, Jason Miyares, who had us wasting our state tax dollars chasing down to serve the ever-changing whims of Team Trump.
So, good on Jones, for the job that he’s done to date, and for getting out there, with an eye on 2029.
Tough job for the LG
Hashmi has a tougher job trying to get attention for herself as lieutenant governor, even though she’s technically a step above Jones on the statewide office ladder.
A step above, sure, but the LG has almost nothing in terms of actual job responsibilities, so it’s up to you when you’re the lieutenant governor to create your own momentum.
And Hashmi has been doing a good job of that, the most noticeable thing being, her advocacy efforts on the proposed $67 billion merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy.
Hashmi got out in front of even the governor, Abigail Spanberger, in pushing the State Corporation Commission to expand its review of the proposed merger, and today, her office announced the launch of what they’re calling the Energy Costs Listening Tour, which the LG’s office billed in a release as being “a series of community conversations across Virginia focused on the proposed takeover of Dominion Energy by NextEra Energy and what it could mean for utility bills, communities, and Virginia’s energy future.”
“An acquisition of this size and significance requires a thorough, transparent review,” Hashmi said, in a quote highlighted in the release from her office. “Virginians deserve the opportunity to understand what this proposal could mean for their utility bills, their community, and our shared energy future. These conversations are about listening, sharing information, and ensuring the public has a meaningful voice before a decision of this magnitude is made.”
The listening tour will make stops in Loudoun, Hampton Roads, Richmond, Charlottesville and Roanoke, which, that seems to cover all the major bases.
Setting the stage: 2029
The 2029 cycle is going to be tough for our side. Reading the tea leaves, Dems are going to win back control of Congress in three months, as a prelude to the 2028 cycle, which is shaping up to be another, and perhaps conclusive, rejection of Trumpism.
Going into 2029, then, Democrats in Virginia run the problem that both parties have in statewide races in our odd-year elections, which occur in the shadow of the presidential.
Only once in the past half-century has the nominee of the party that won the previous year’s presidential election gone on to win our governor’s race – Terry McAuliffe in 2013.
We’re going to want to have coalesced behind one candidate as relatively early as possible to give that person the best chance to have success in the statewide.
This is why we’re seeing Hashmi and Jones hitting the roads now, three years out.
Because, the clock is ticking.
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Chris Graham
