Friday, Jr., yay!

🌧️ Today's weather: Mostly cloudy then slight chance of rain showers, with a high of 78 and a low of 64.

🎧 Sounds like: "I'm Still Standing" by Elton John.

⚡ Situational awareness: Public testimony before Virginia utility regulators on the proposed $67 billion Dominion–NextEra merger begins today.

• The formal evidentiary hearing starts Nov. 17.

Today’s newsletter is 1,065 words — a 4-minute read.

Democrats largely held onto their 2025 gains across the Richmond region in Tuesday's midterms, while Republicans maintained some traditional strongholds, per an Axios review of preliminary election results.

Why it matters: While much of the nation saw a "blue tsunami," Richmond got more of a spritz.

The latest: Two competitive Richmond-area congressional races remain uncalled — with Democrat Shannon Taylor maintaining her lead in the 1st District and Republican John McGuire still ahead in the 5th.

State of play: Democratic congressional candidates improved their vote shares across Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and even traditionally red Hanover compared with 2024, per preliminary election results.

• Yes, but: Compared with Gov. Spanberger's performance in the same localities in last year's governor's race, voting patterns were largely unchanged.

By the numbers: In the closely watched 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover, Democrats gained significant ground compared with 2024.

• Chesterfield: Taylor carried the recently purple county's portion of the district by nearly 12 percentage points, reversing Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman's 3-point advantage in 2024.
• Henrico: Taylor won by more than 25 points, nearly triple the Democratic margin in 2024.
• Hanover: Wittman still carried the county's portion of the district, but his margin shrank from nearly 32 points in 2024 to about 18.5 points this year.

The intrigue: Nearly half of voters in deep-red Hanover — 49.63% — supported Virginia's constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights, even as the county backed Republican congressional candidates by wide margins.

• The amendment fell just 446 votes short of passing in Hanover.

Zoom out: All three amendments passed with at least 58% support in Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield.

Meanwhile: Democrats also improved their performance in the region's two other congressional districts.

• In the 4th: Rep. Jennifer McClellan expanded her support across Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield compared with 2024.
• In the 5th: Democrat challenger Tom Perriello won 34.9% of the vote in Hanover's portion of the district, up 4 points from 2024 but slightly below Spanberger's 2025 performance.

The bottom line: Blue RVA may be the new normal.

Full story

Richmond and Chesterfield bucked the trend of rejecting the 1% sales tax, becoming two of 15 Virginia localities to approve it out of 47 that voted.

Why it matters: The victories set up decisions over when residents will pay more, whether they'll get other tax cuts and a potential Chesterfield recount.

When it takes effect:

• Chesterfield: At least 120 days after supervisors approve it.
• Richmond: No earlier than July 2027, pending City Council approval.
• But neither locality had scheduled a vote to enact the tax as of yesterday.

What it could cost you: $1 for every $100 in taxable purchases.

• Chesterfield estimates an average home- and car-owning household would pay $162 more annually, or $68 with proposed tax cuts.
• Richmond hasn't released an estimate.
• But City Council will weigh a 4-cent real estate tax cut Monday that could save homeowners $140 annually on a $350,000 home, starting January 2028.

The catch: The 4-cent cut, quadruple Mayor Avula's proposal, could cost Richmond about $16 million annually.

Friction point: Chesterfield's referendum passed by less than 1 percentage point, qualifying it for a recount.

• County officials didn't tell Axios whether a recount had been requested, but state law requires at least 50 voters to petition within 10 days of certification.

Keep reading

📸 Flock says it won't reimburse Henrico for the cost of removing the license plate cameras after the company failed to take them down, and the county says it won't fight for reimbursement. (Times-Dispatch)

• Flock did say it's working with the county to remove the poles the cameras were affixed to.

🏫 Anne Holton, Virginia's former education secretary, conceded Richmond's 6th District School Board race yesterday morning and congratulated winner Jackie McDonnough. (Instagram)

👀 Richmond's insurance company is suing the city over a $2 million jury award to a man injured when a library railing collapsed. (The Richmonder)

• Their argument: The city admitted liability without the insurer's permission.

🍰 Shyndigz's dessert vending machine is finally serving cake and pie slices instead of just whole cakes — 24/7. (Instagram)

From a burlesque festival to fighting robots, Richmond's first full weekend of November has a little bit of everything and a lot of bit of weird.

Friday

💃 Richmond's three-day RVA Burlesque Festival is back, featuring performers from across the country at a different venue each night. Thursday–Saturday. Tickets start at $25 for Friday.

🎨 Check out local artist Noah Scalin's "Record Collection" featuring album covers Scalin recreated using stickers. The exhibition is at Vinyl Conflict. Friday reception, 5–8pm. Through Sunday. Free.

Saturday

🤖 The robots are fighting at Fall Brawl, where local builders pit miniature combat robots against each other at Regency Mall. 11am–6pm. Free.

🕵️ Go on a Richmond scavenger hunt with "From the River to the Rooftops," a citywide adventure. 7am-7pm. Free.

🍻 Raise a glass to history at Hops in the Park, with Virginia craft beverages, live music and food trucks at Henricus Historical Park. 11am–5pm. Free.

Keep reading for even more things to do

The Richmond area is in its peak fall foliage window, according to multiple seasonal forecasts.

Why it matters: This might be your last week to catch the brightest colors, though some late-turning oaks could extend the show.

Where to see them: Monument Avenue, of course.

• Then there's Libby Hill Park, Hollywood Cemetery, Virginia Capital Trail and the Buttermilk Trail.
• If you're up for a drive: James River National Wildlife Refuge, about 50 minutes from Richmond.

Pro tip: Make a day of it with our post-election Richmond de-stressing guide.

👀 Karri awoke yesterday to learn that the blue tsunami apparently extended to Lynchburg — home of Liberty University — where the council flipped blue and half of voters backed the reproductive rights amendment.

🔍 Sabrina is fascinated by Goochland voting for abortion rights and marriage equality while voting Republican for Congress.

• On marriage equality, it came down to 300 votes!

Thanks to Alexa Mencia Orozco for editing today's edition