|
|
| See guides.vote for online guides with links & sources |
Abortion
Ban or legal? |
Ban. Opposes adding reproductive rights to the Virginia constitution. Supports a 15-week ban, after supporting a six-week ban in 2021. Voted against guaranteeing a right to contraception in Virginia law. | Legal. Supports adding reproductive rights to the Virginia constitution. Supports “the right to choose.” Says, “Congress needs to codify Roe v. Wade as federal law.” |
Climate Change
Should climate change be a top priority? |
Likely no. Has supported offshore oil and gas drilling, and supports an all-the-above energy strategy: “clean coal. Oil… renewables. Nuclear. Natural gas.” | Yes. Says climate change is a “direct threat” to our future. Supported funding local “climate stewardship” and voted for $369 billion in clean energy investments. |
Criminal Justice
How to ensure effectiveness and fairness in law enforcement? |
Would be “tough on crime.” Her “position is simple: Protect innocent Virginians, prosecute criminals.” | Supports increasing officer pay and funding community policing. Says that the “Defund the Police” slogan “was a terrible idea.” |
Economy
Decrease or increase government investment in the economy? |
Likely mixed. Wants to increase rural broadband. Would “scour the government books to cut wasteful government spending.” Would strengthen public-private partnerships. | Increase. Wants a statewide strategy on developing infrastructure, with both rural and urban development, including more broadband. Wants a push for investment in shovel-ready sites. |
Economy
How will the DOGE layoffs and cuts affect Virginia’s economy? |
Says Virginians will “be all right.” Fired federal workers should apply for private sector jobs in the Commonwealth. Says, “We don’t want folks to lose their jobs,” but losing a job “happens to everybody all the time.” | Opposes “these unprecedented attacks on the federal workforce,” and says the cuts are “terrible for Virginia’s economy and Virginia’s workforce.” Says, “Virginia is home to more than 320,000 full-time federal employees, and the impacts are dire.” |
Education
Use public funding for private and/or for-profit schools? |
Yes. Supports using state public funds to pay for private schools. Would divert a portion of state per-pupil funds from public to private schools. Supports funding more charter schools. | No. Opposes “efforts that seek to… take public dollars out of public schools.” Sponsored a bill funding public school facilities that excluded funding for-profit schools. |
Education
Limit teaching about racism? |
Yes. Says, “Slavery happened, absolutely. And there are some vestiges of it. But how long are we going to go back there?” “We don’t have time to teach about oppression…. I am proof we are progressing.” | No. Says, “We [Virginia] have the greatest elements of our foundation in our country. We also have the darkest moments in our country’s history. And that history is important for us to learn from.” |
Gun Laws
Loosen or tighten gun regulation? |
Loosen. Said, “Gun control laws infringe on the right to self-defense and deny people a sense of safety. Gun control laws DO NOT deter crime; rather it is gun ownership that deters crime.” Supports a strong Second Amendment. | Tighten. Said, “As a former federal law enforcement officer, I carried a gun…. I support the Second Amendment. I also believe that commonsense gun safety laws are necessary to curb the gun violence epidemic we are facing today.” |
Health Care
Support Medicaid and/or other healthcare expansion? |
No position found on Medicaid. Supports more funding for mental health initiatives. | Yes. Sponsored a bill to expand Medicaid eligibility and federal funding. Would improve access to rural healthcare, including telehealth. |
Immigration
How to handle immigration? |
Would make local police cooperate fully with ICE, and “opposes sanctuary cities.” Says, “Every state [is] a border state.” “We are finally deporting criminal illegal immigrants.” | Says, “Our immigration system is broken.” Wants to deal separately with issues of immigration and fentanyl trafficking. Voted for a pathway to permanent residency for DACA Dreamers. ICE raids are “not about keeping communities safe.” |
Labor
Make it easier or harder for unions to organize? |
Harder. Is a “staunch supporter” of Virginia’s “right to work” law (where employees at a unionized business are allowed to not pay union dues), to protect “workers from heavy-handed union bosses.” She opposes the PRO Act. | Easier. Sponsored the PRO Act, which would protect union organizing rights. Says, “I… strongly support organized labor.” She doesn’t support “a full repeal of our current right-to-work statute,” but “reforms may be necessary into the future.” |
LGBTQ Rights
Limit or expand LGBTQ rights? |
Limit. Is “morally opposed” to a bill that stops any Virginia official from denying a marriage license on the basis of sex, gender, or race. Has opposed same-sex marriage: “I emphatically support a constitutional amendment preserving the institution of marriage to be between a man and a woman.” | Expand. Supports removing “the ban on marriage equality from Virginia’s Constitution.” Voted to prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Sponsored a bill to put same-sex and interracial marriage rights into federal law. |
Marijuana
Ban or legalize recreational marijuana? |
Likely ban. In 2021 opposed recreational marijuana legalization as “a gateway drug.” Said, “I’m not against medicinal marijuana.” | Legal. Says, “We need a formalized, legal, emerging cannabis market.” Voted to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. |
Minimum Wage
Raise the state minimum wage? |
No position found. | Yes. As governor, would sign legislation to raise the VA minimum wage to $15 an hour. |
Tariffs
Support or oppose President Trump’s tariffs? |
Support. Praised the Trump tariff plan. The tariffs are “to our benefit, after all.” Says, “President Trump is doing the work to put America first again.” | Oppose. Says the Trump “tariffs are a tax on Virginians…. who will feel the sting.” Says, “There’s a cost to this chaos, and Virginia families are paying the price.” |
Voting Rules
Make voting harder or easier? |
Harder. Supports new Virginia voter ID requirements and strict vote-by-mail procedures. | Easier. Voted for the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. “Supports the General Assembly’s work to add a restoration of voting rights amendment to the Virginia Constitution.” |
