Jahd Khalil
@jahd.bsky.social
1.5K followers 440 following 180 posts
I’m a public radio reporter for @vpm.org in Richmond, Virginia. My website is jahdkhalil.com and my instagram is @jahdreports.
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Reposted by Jahd Khalil
meghin.bsky.social
A very good, informative thread with six pieces by @vpm.org’s @jahd.bsky.social with candidates running for Virginia’s top three offices in November.
vpm.org
Election Day in Virginia is just over a month away (Nov. 4) — with the state’s top three offices all up for grabs.

VPM News State Politics Reporter @jahd.bsky.social set out to interview all six candidates for those offices in order to highlight where they stand on key issues for Virginia voters.
Reposted by Jahd Khalil
margaretbarthel.bsky.social
Democrat James Walkinshaw is headed to Congress, having won about 75% of the vote in the #VA11 special election this evening.

Once he's there, what are his thoughts on the looming federal spending bill deadline? I asked -
Screenshot of text of a news article that reads: 
Walkinshaw will arrive in Congress a few weeks before funding for the federal government runs out, a situation that offers Democrats an opening to demand their priorities be included in a spending bill — or shut the government down if they are not.

Walkinshaw said he didn’t want a government shutdown, but said he’d consider withholding his vote if the funding bill was not bipartisan.

“If they’re looking to have my vote on any government funding there needs to be a real bipartisan process in negotiation,” he said. “I’m not going to vote to extend cuts to health care that kick people off their health care. I’m not going to vote to extend DOGE.”
jahd.bsky.social
My back of the envelope math of this piece’s numbers (based on an ICE FOIA) says there were fewer than 1900 arrests related to someone with a criminal status. Compare that to Gov Youngkin’s July claim it was 2500 *violent* criminals
RICHMOND, VA - Governor Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force (VHSTF) surpassed 2,500 arrests as of July 1, 2025. The VHSTF is a federal-state partnership established by the U.S.
Department of Justice, formally announced on March 3, that works to combat transnational organized crime, gang violence, and illegal immigration across the Commonwealth. Since operations began on February 25, the Task Force has arrested 2,512 violent criminals who are illegally in the United States.
"The Virginia Homeland Security Task Force has been extremely successful, and Virginia is safer today because of it," said Governor Glenn Youngkin. "I am grateful for the brave men and women of our federal, state and local law enforcement who show up and go to work every day to ensure violent criminals who are here
jahd.bsky.social
“Most immigrants arrested in Virginia have not been convicted of any crimes and do not have pending criminal charges. ~ 29% of all those arrested by ICE in the state between January and July had convictions, and less than 16% had pending criminal charges”
ICE arrests in Virginia soar under Trump crackdowns — Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism
The Trump administration's enforcement has targeted thousands of foreign nationals - most from Central and South America and without criminal records.
vcij.org
jahd.bsky.social
KFF indicates it's probably more too: "These increases are attributable to the reconciliation law alone and do not include the effects of the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits or the proposed Marketplace integrity rule"
jahd.bsky.social
KFF estimates between 230k and 390k Virginians will become uninsured* because of the effects of HR1 aka the Big Beautiful Bill www.kff.org/uninsured/ho... *i deleted a post w/a typo here which said "insured"
jahd.bsky.social
Wow "By the numbers: This year, developers have opened enough new data centers in the Richmond market to consume 720 megawatts of power, per the report...That's enough to power more than 500,000 homes."

www.axios.com/local/richmo...
Richmond is suddenly America's hottest data center hub
Within six months, the region has become the fastest-growing data center market in the U.S., per a new report.
www.axios.com
jahd.bsky.social
AP:Virginia judge bars Youngkin's university board appointments rejected by Senate Democrats apnews.com/article/judg...

Opinion: drive.google.com/file/d/1s06V...
The Senate of Virginia delegated to its Committee on Privileges and Elections the
responsibility of considering the resolution to confirm gubernatorial appointees to the governing
boards of George Mason University, the University of Virginia, and the Virginia Military Institute
and deciding whether (and how) to bring that resolution to the Senate floor for a vote. By voting
8-4 to not report the confirming resolution, the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections
rejected those appointees on behalf of the Senate.
Because confirmation of a gubernatorial appointee requires the majority vote of a quorum
of each chamber of the General Assembly, the action of the Senate committee manifested the
General Assembly’s “positive unwillingness” to make the requested confirmations and constituted
a refusal to confirm under the Constitution of Virginia. Accordingly, the Constitution of Virginia
required the rejected appointees to immediately cease their participation on their respective boards.
They have not done so.
Instead, following the legal advice of the Attorney General, the defendant Rectors of the
George Mason University and University of Virginia Boards of Visitors and President of the
Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors have continued to recognize the rejected appointees
as members of their respective governing boards. Moreover, they intend to continue to do so.
jahd.bsky.social
I missed this when it came out a couple weeks ago, but Virginia's economy shrunk in the first 3 months of 2025 by 0.5% (roughly the same as the US as a whole). Q2 numbers don't come out til September. www.bea.gov/news/2025/gr...
jahd.bsky.social
The Times of Israel is reporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Monticello. www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
jahd.bsky.social
WES sums up her argument as running on Youngkin's record: "My vision for Virginia is we’re going to continue the wonderful successes we’ve made."
jahd.bsky.social
Earle-Sears is talking about tax relief (there's been alot over the past 4 years) when she compares Spanberger to Mamdani. Paraphrasing: "The ideas my opponent has are socialist in nature...she wants to spend your money."