2025 VA Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General Dem Primaries

The 2025 Virginia Democratic Lieutenant Gubernatorial primary, a contest primarilly between State Senators Ghazala Hashmi & Aaron Rouse as well as Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney saw Hashmi win with a narrow 0.8% Margin and 27.5% plurality over the Richmond Mayor.

a relative progressive, Hashmi campaigned on women's reproductive rights, while belefitting from an expanded regional bounce from the Richmond area due to the unpopularity of the city's mayor—Levar Stoney—who received significant blame for the city's water crisis.

This, despite his strong support among African Americans, and from his mentor—former governor Terry McCaullife—ended up sinking him, as Hashmi's margin in the Richmond area, and narrow win in Fairfax county was a death sentence for Stoney's campaign.

Also taking a significant chunk of the vote was State senator Aaron Rouse, campaigning mostly in his home region of Hampton Roads and the eastern Shore, his margins in that region were almost enough to propell him to a statewide win in the divided field; coming 1.3% behind the winner—Hashmi.

Compared to the Clown-car primary for Lieutenant Governor, former Delegate and losing 2021 Attorney General Dem Primary Candidate Jay Jones beat Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor by a narrow 2%

Focusing on using the office of Attorney General to fight for the people, Taylor had a late-breaking scandal due to accepting donations from Dominion Energy,

donations that led multiple Democrats to criticize Taylor for creating a conflict of interest due to the AG's role in conducting regulatory oversight of the company—VA's largest public utility company

In the end, however, Jones strong support with African Americans in South Side, and outspending Taylor in candidate spending, was enough to overpower Taylor's white suburban support; building upon the same coalition that hearly allowed him to best incumbent controversial Attorney General Mark Herring in 2021