Election 2026

Fredericksburg

UMW says voter registration table with Democratic literature followed campus rules

By Potomac Local News
Courtesy photo.

A table on the University of Mary Washington’s Campus Walk that advertised voter registration while displaying Democratic campaign literature was permitted under the university’s rules, a UMW spokeswoman said.

A reader who contacted Potomac Local News reported seeing the table in front of Lee Hall on Oct. 22. It carried a “register to vote here” banner, and two men were staffing it, according to an email the reader sent that evening to UMW’s director of student activities and the president’s office.

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Manassas

Brescia posts signed Manassas school board settlement on Facebook; board drops investigation, she dismisses FOIA case

By PLN News
Sara Brescia, Manassas City School Board member. Courtesy campaign photo

School Board member Sara Jane Brescia on Thursday posted a one-page settlement to her school board member Facebook account showing the City of Manassas School Board agreed to withdraw and not start an investigation of her, restate limits on student transfers, and end the court fight she opened six weeks earlier.

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Manassas

School board war ends in secret deal — no court, no dollars, no apology

By Uriah Kiser
Sara Brescia, Manassas City School Board member. Courtesy campaign photo

A public fight that began with accusations of a secret vote, an investigation of a sitting school board member, and a claim that colleagues discussed pulling her children from Baldwin Elementary ended Tuesday night in a closed-door settlement.

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Fredericksburg

They’re debating without him: UMW slates Ollivant, Ahrar and Lopez — no Vindman

By PLN News
Democrat Eugene Vindman and Republican Doug Ollivant — UMW debate Sept. 15 graphic
Democrat Eugene Vindman, left, and Republican Doug Ollivant. Photo: Campaign files

The University of Mary Washington will host a public debate for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium.

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Prince William

Ebony Lofton Returns to Dumfries Ballot, Presses for Accountability After Rose Revenue Surge

By Uriah Kiser

Ebony Lofton is running again for Dumfries Town Council, bringing a decade of local experience, a banking background, and a blunt critique of how the town has handled its sudden influx of gaming revenue.

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Politics

Ollivant Wins GOP Nod in Competitive 7th District; Beckwith Advances in 10th as Mizusawa to Face Warner

By Uriah Kiser

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Doug Ollivant won the Republican nomination for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District on Tuesday, positioning him to challenge first-term Democrat Eugene Vindman in a seat that has tightened over the past two election cycles and could flip in November.According to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections, Ollivant received 56.58% of the vote (13,337 votes). Philip A. Harding finished second with 30.67% (7,229 votes), and Rick S. Smithers received 12.75% (3,005 votes).

“Thank you,” Ollivant said in a statement Tuesday night. “We have been at this for over a year and the support we have gotten from every part of the community has been incredible. I got into this race because I looked around at my neighbors — veterans, small business owners, families working hard and still falling behind — and it was clear Virginia isn’t working for a lot of them. Washington has spent a decade making promises it can’t keep and sending the bill home. That ends when we send someone who has actually managed hard problems under pressure.”

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Politics

Can a Blue-Collar Pastor Flip Virginia’s 7th District?

By Kelly Sienkowski

Rick Smithers is not currently a resident of Virginia’s 7th District—but he says he’ll move the day after the primary if voters choose him. In this Potomac Local News interview, the pastor, veteran, construction business owner, and recent public-policy doctoral graduate lays out why he’s running in the Republican primary for the seat that includes Stafford, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Prince William and surrounding localities.

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Politics

Fed-up families, $100 trillion debt, and a primary in 5 days

By Kelly Sienkowski

Philip Harding, Harvard grad, Republican, former presidential fellow and founder of Impact Junkie, is running in the August 4 Republican primary for Virginia’s 7th District against Eugene Vindman, a Democrat.

In this Potomac Local interview, he hammers on government overreach, rising taxes under the current state leadership, parental rights in schools, and the moral case for cutting waste rather than piling more debt on our kids. He wants stronger families, less red tape, and a return to the American dream he says the rest of the world still envies.

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Manassas

Manassas School Board candidate shared posts supporting school prayer, biblical authority on gender and evolution

By Uriah Kiser
Dove [Photo: facebook.com/Dove 4 Manassas City School Board]

A Manassas City School Board candidate seeking the Democratic Party endorsement has publicly shared a series of Facebook posts between 2024 and early 2026 that support prayer and Bible reading in public schools, reject evolutionary science in favor of a biblical narrative, affirm traditional marriage as “one man and one woman,” and declare that cultural opinion does not override what the Bible calls sin.

Murina V. Dove’s public Facebook page lists her association with Manassas City Public Schools. Nearly all of the posts are shares of third-party Christian memes and images rather than original long-form writing. Examples include:

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