The Virginia Mercury's Top 10 Stories Of 2025

By Staff Report and Markus Schmid Woods, Virginia Mercury

January 2, 2026

Virginia waded into the early days of 2025 amid a water crisis in its capital city that left thousands without water for days and delayed the start of the General Assembly session.

That set the tone for an action-packed year that included the election of the first woman governor in the state’s history, a surprise redistricting push, major federal policy shifts that led to upheavals in education and health care here, fallout from ramped up immigration enforcement across the commonwealth, statewide protests against the presidential administration, the creation of a new rate class for data centers as the state grapples with skyrocketing energy demands and much more.

The Virginia Mercury chronicled it all, publishing over 600 stories this year. Here are the top 10 most-read reports and columns of 2025.

1.

‘Beyond disqualifying’: Jay Jones controversy jolts Virginia’s pivotal 2025 elections

by Markus Schmidt, published Oct. 5, 2025

Jay Jones, a former state delegate from Norfolk, announced his renewed bid for attorney general during a gathering at the Maggie L. Walker Memorial Plaza in Richmond Tuesday. (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury)

What began as a quiet October Friday in Virginia politics erupted into a full-blown national scandal when screenshots of private, three-year old text messages showing Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones fantasizing about shooting then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his children were made public. | Read more

2.

Blue wave rebuilds the House: Democrats soar to at least 64 seats in Virginia

by Markus Schmidt, published Nov. 4, 2025

The Virginia House of Delegates convened Monday, Oct. 27, 2025 at the state Capitol in Richmond for a special session called by Speaker Don Scott. On a party-line vote, Democrats approved a procedural resolution expanding the session’s scope to include a proposed constitutional amendment on redistricting, a move Republicans denounced as unconstitutional and politically motivated just one week before the Nov. 4 election. (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury)

Democrats managed to increase their majority in the Virginia House of Delegates, moving from 51 to 64 seats (with one race still undecided as of 11 p.m.) as voters turned out Tuesday in a pivotal election for control of the chamber. The win came amid a backdrop of fierce competition across suburban and exurban battlegrounds, with both parties viewing the outcome as a bellwether for 2026 and beyond. | Read more

3.

Study shows historically redlined Virginia neighborhoods are hotter in the summer

by Shannon Heckt, published June 11, 2025

Map of the 10 localities examined in the “Virginia Heat Watch: Collaboration to assess climate vulnerability at local to regional scales” study. (Map courtesy of Todd R. Lookingbill/Virginia Heat Watch study)

As hot and humid summer weather settled across Virginia, a recent study found that certain neighborhoods across the state, often with higher populations of people of color, can be up to 15 degrees hotter than other areas. The research cites extreme heat as the cause of “more fatalities in the United States than any other weather phenomenon.” | Read more

4.

Virginia House clerk rejects three of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s vetoes

by Charlotte Rene Woods, published May 15, 2025

Gov. Glenn Youngkin addresses the Virginia General Assembly in January 2025. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)

The clerk of Virginia’s House of Delegates on May 14 rejected three of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recent vetoes in the state’s revised two-year budget. Acting within the clerk’s purview as Keeper of the Rolls, Paul Nardo published a letter on Virginia Legislative Information System that he would not formally publish the vetoes because they are unconstitutional under Virginia’s constitution. | Read more

5.

After years of vetoes, Virginia poised to launch adult-use cannabis market by Markus Schmidt, published Nov. 17, 2025

6.

Virginia overhauls SOL testing to boost student achievement

by Nathaniel Cline, published May 12, 2025

(Photo courtesy of Chesterfield County Public Schools)

In a rare moment of bipartisan agreement on education policy, Virginia leaders have enacted sweeping changes to the state’s K-12 testing system, aiming to raise student performance and make the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments more meaningful. | Read more

7.

Election Day 2025: live updates

by Virginia Mercury staff, published Nov. 4, 2025

A polling place in Chesterfield County on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Marcus Ingram for the Virginia Mercury)

As Virginia’s momentous 2025 gubernatorial and House of Delegates elections unfolded, Mercury reporters tracked the action at the polls and candidate watch parties, keeping readers updated as the results rolled in. We captured highlights and photos from across the state. | Read more

8.

Spanberger, Earle-Sears deadlocked in tight Virginia Governor’s race, new poll finds

by Markus Schmidt, published Jan. 9, 2025

Then-candidates in Virginia’s 2025 gubernatorial contest former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Prince William (left) and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, R (right). Spanberger won the election. (Spanberger photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury, Earle-Sears photo by Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)

Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears were in a neck-and-neck race for Virginia governor at the start of the year, according to the first Emerson College Polling/The Hill poll of the 2025 election. Spanberger led Earle-Sears by a razor-thin margin, 42% to 41%, with 4% of voters supporting another candidate and 13% undecided, the survey found. Spanberger won the election in November and will be the first woman governor in the state’s history.| Read more

9.

COMMENTARY: Virginia’s second-largest city is finally building a pool; it shouldn’t have taken so long

by Roger Chesley, published Nov. 21, 2025

Local, state and federal officials, including U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, fifth from left, hold a ceremonial groundbreaking of the Cuffee Aquatics Center in Chesapeake, the city’s first public pool, on Friday, Nov. 14. (Photo by Roger Chesley/Virginia Mercury)

Local, state and federal leaders recently broke ground on Chesapeake’s first-ever public pool, an event more than a half-century in the making. The $27 million Cuffee Aquatics Center, set to open in late 2027, will be an expansion of the existing community center at the site, and the 28,628-square-foot indoor complex will include 25-yard lanes for competitive swimming, diving boards, and a therapeutic pool.

Public pools provide opportunities for people of all races and income levels to learn how to swim, prevent drowning, and acquire a skill that will last a lifetime. That the commonwealth’s second-largest city(population 253,000 today) resisted this practical amenity for so long has been stupefying. | Read more

10.

After months of hearings, Virginia panel set to roll out blueprint for legal cannabis market

by Markus Schmidt, published Dec. 1, 2025

After months of hearings and study, the legislature’s Joint Commission on the Future of Cannabis Sales rolled out a final proposal that would launch a legal, regulated adult-use cannabis retail market in Virginia — potentially ending five years of economic and legal uncertainty since the commonwealth legalized possession and cultivation in 2021. | Read more

Which of the Mercury’s stories did you find most useful, captivating or surprising this year? What are the top issues you’d like us to cover in 2026? Let us know: info@virginiamercury.com

This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury. For more stories from the Virginia Mercury, visit VirginiaMercury.com.