It's less than 30 days till Election Day in Virginia.

Why it matters: The nonstop barrage of political ads, partisan mailers, campaign text messages and calls is almost over.

The big picture: Virginia's off-year elections are typically watched for insight into the national political mood.

• And this year, the state is seen as an early test of how voters feel about the Trump administration ahead of the 2026 midterms.

What's on the ballot: Virginia's next governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

• All 100 House of Delegates seats, including 10 in metro Richmond.

The intrigue: It's been a spicy election season in Virginia, from early cracks in the GOP ticket over their lieutenant governor nominee to a recent text scandal involving the Democratic attorney general candidate.

• But no matter the outcome, it'll be historic — because the state will have its first woman governor.

Here's everything to know in Virginia's historic 2025 election.

The governor's race

🔴 Winsome Earle-Sears (R) vs. 🔵 Abigail Spanberger (D)

• Earle-Sears, a former Marine and Virginia's current lieutenant governor, is the first Black woman to hold statewide office in Virginia.
• Spanberger is a former CIA agent and U.S. congresswoman.

Lieutenant governor

🔵 Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D) vs. 🔴 John Reid (R)

• Hashmi, who represents Chesterfield and parts of South Richmond in the General Assembly, would be the country's first Muslim American woman elected lieutenant governor, if she wins.
• Reid, a longtime conservative talk show host in Richmond, is the Commonwealth's first openly gay nominee for statewide office of any party.

Attorney general

🔵 Jay Jones (D) vs. 🔴 Jason Miyares (R)

• Jones, a former Norfolk delegate in the statehouse, could be Virginia's first Black AG.
• Miyares, Virginia's current attorney general, was the first Latino to hold statewide office.

Keep reading for the House races

Richmond vape shops are becoming hot spots for crime, Police Chief Rick Edwards warned in yesterday's crime briefing.

Why it matters: The same alleged illegal weed sales drawing police raids are also making vape shops prime targets for "takeover-style" armed robberies, Edwards says.

By the numbers: Over a third of commercial robberies this year involved vape shops, Edwards said.

• Nearly 90% of those robberies involved firearms.
• In the coordinated raids last month, police collected over 75 pounds of marijuana and weed-related products across several vape shops.

Between the lines: Edwards said Richmond police are also noticing a "disturbing" trend of guns found at these vape shops while they're executing search warrants.

• "The clerks are arming themselves because they're also targets of violence themselves."

What's next: Edwards is briefing City Council's public safety committee on the issue on Oct. 28.

Why local police are limited in how much they can enforce

🚌 Richmond School Board voted 6-3 to delay a vote on changes to the district's union contracts with its teachers, support staff and bus drivers, saying they'll work with the unions to "refine the proposal." (The Richmonder)

👀 Mayor Avula asked Gov. Youngkin for $80 million in the state's next two-year budget to improve the city's water infrastructure and lighten the financial burden on Richmond's ratepayers. (Times-Dispatch)

❤️ Richmond Animal Care and Control received its largest-ever check from the Team Tommie license plates this past year: Over $136,000. (WWBT)

• The money from those plates, named after a pit bull set on fire in Richmond, goes toward helping other animal shelters statewide with emergency medical care.

🚵‍♂️ Southside bike shop and grocery Outpost opened a similar store yesterday in the former Coqui Cyclery spot in Woodland Heights. (BizSense)

English, German and Irish are the most common ancestries among Richmonders, per 2024 U.S. Census Bureau data on self-reported ancestries, as well as race and ethnicity info.

Caveat: Latinos — who have historically been under-counted in the Census — are still the metro area's third largest ethnic group when viewed by self-reported ancestry.

• That includes the more than 113,000 locals who identified their ancestry as Central American, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South American or "other Hispanic."

The bottom line: Richmond is one big melting pot. And it seems like we need more festivals in celebration of all our heritage.

Keep reading for our other key groups

Richmond Folk Festival is this weekend.

Why it matters: It's Richmond's biggest festival weekend, usually drawing around 200,000 attendees to Brown's Island and the surrounding area.

What to know: The Richmond Folk Festival kicks off Friday night and runs through Sunday evening along the city's riverfront.

• It's a full weekend of free live music, local food and drink, kids' activities, folklife demonstrations, shopping local makers and people watching.
• Admission is always free. Off-site parking and shuttle service are available at Dogwood Dell on Saturday and Sunday.

New this year: Allianz Amphitheater is part of the festival.

Non-Folk Fest things to do

Arepa Station is taking over the Bocata space in Short Pump that closed in August.

Why it matters: It's like a Venezuelan Chipotle.

Driving the news: Arepa Station had its soft opening this week, and unlike Bocata — previously the area's longest-running Venezuelan restaurant — it focuses more on arepas.

• Those are the golden cornmeal pockets stuffed with various fillings.

How it works: Choose whether you want a bowl or an arepa.

• Then pick from the hot fillings, which range from steak and shredded beef to pork rinds and plantains.
• Then decide what else to top it with, like different types of cheese, deviled ham, avocado and more.

Zoom in: If you're indecisive, the menu offers over 15 arepa combos, including: chorizo and cheese and shredded beef with beans and plantains. $8-$12.

If you go: Arepa Station officially opens Friday, 10am-8pm.

Tell a Venezuelan