Nov 4, 2025 - News
Virginia's 2025 election season: The top moments
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Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
Richmond, we did it. We made it through one of the wildest, longest and most expensive election cycles in recent history.
Why it matters: It's finally (almost) over.
The big picture: Virginia's 2025 election season kicked off two years ago when then-U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger announced her candidacy for governor.
- Since then, it's been a nonstop ride filled with scandals, ads and viral moments.
Flashback: Let's look back at the highlights.
🔃 Stoney's in-and-out campaign
- Former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney jumped in the Virginia governor's race, dropped out, ran for lieutenant governor — and lost.
- He underperformed in his own city, with state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi leading by more than 10,000 votes.
👀 Reid's video address
- Republican lieutenant governor candidate John Reid — who is gay — posted a fiery X video in April, telling viewers to "send the kids out of the room."
- He addressed calls for him to step aside due to his sexuality and a scandal involving photos of nude men posted on a social media account he denied was his.
- He also said he's "seen porn," and "had one-night stands" — before vowing to stay in the race.
😳 October surprises
- Bombshells came in threes. First, it was the resurfaced report of Democratic AG candidate Jay Jones' 2022 reckless driving conviction. It raised questions about his hours of community service — half of which he did for his political action committee.
- A text scandal followed. Messages that Jones sent in 2022, suggesting a hypothetical scenario involving shooting the then-Republican House speaker, drew GOP calls for him to exit the race.
- Finally, Virginia Dems last week began the multistep process of redistricting the state's congressional maps to their advantage.
🤖 The robot debate
- But before October came to an end, the weird again cropped up: A political debate between Reid ... and an AI-generated version of Hashmi — moderated by a static image of a man in a suit.
🤝 The bipartisan handshake
- Reid crashed Spanberger's press gaggle outside of a Henrico precinct on the first day of early voting, and the two shared a handshake and laugh — a rare moment of civility this cycle.
What's next: The 2026 midterms are coming in hot. And campaign season ramps up... now.