A field of six candidates is competing to be the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Virginia’s June 17 primary election.
It’s a job that, at first blush, doesn’t appear to have as many responsibilities as other elected offices. The lieutenant governor is first in the line of succession for the governor, and shall assume the position if the governor is not able to complete his or her job duties, according to the Constitution of Virginia.
But the office also presides over the Virginia Senate, and casts tiebreaking votes. It’s a distinct possibility in the chamber, which currently has a 21-19 Democratic advantage.
Additionally, several former lieutenant governors, such as Doug Wilder, Tim Kaine and Ralph Northam, have used the office as a springboard to successfully run for governor.
This year, retired attorney Alex Bastani, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef, state Sen. Aaron Rouse, former prosecutor Victor Salgado and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney are Democratic primary.
The winner will face Republican nominee and former talk radio host in the November general election.
Meet the candidates
At least by campaign fundraising amounts and endorsements, the candidates can be divided into two groups: three longtime Virginia Democrats with years of governing experience and three relative newcomers to politics. Leading the money race this year is Stoney with about $1.4 million raised as of March 31, Rouse with $1.2 million and Hashmi with $1.1 million, according to the .
During the same time period, Lateef has raised about $970,000, Salgado has raised $204,000 and Bastani $134,000.
In cash donations of less than $100 — a metric that campaigns often tout as an indication of grassroots support — Hashmi leads with 1,721 donations as of March 31, followed by Rouse with 994 donations, Lateef with 374, Stoney with 210, Salgado with 117 and Bastani with 14.
In the endorsement game, Stoney has the backing of former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Rouse has endorsements from U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott and state Sen. Louise Lucas. Hashmi has endorsements from Rep. Ro Khanna of California and the Sierra Club. Lateef has been endorsed by the Move Chamber, a Muslim chamber of commerce, and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 51. The list is compiled through campaign announcements and websites and is not definitive.
Standing out from the field
Several candidates say their government experience helps them stand out, while others touted their outsider status.
Rouse, a former professional football player and Virginia ӽ紫ý City Council member, touted his experience in local government and the Virginia Senate. He noted his track record of moves such asfor seniors and in a 2023 special election that a GOP effort to enact a 15-week abortion ban. That bill however, was and Rouse did not vote on the legislation.
Rouse, who was , said he would continue to showcase the values the region taught him.
“I look forward to making my hometown proud,” he said.
Hashmi is the first Muslim elected to the Virginia Senate and spent 30 years as a college professor. She took office in 2020 and touted her experience in the state legislature. She serves as chair of the of the Senate Education and Health Committee.
“I think it’s really important to have someone in this position that’s ready on day one to start taking on the critical areas that are impacting Virginia,” she said.
Stoney, who was Richmond mayor for eight years and secretary of the commonwealth under McAuliffe, touted his experience as well.
“For eight years, I’ve had to make bold, consequential decisions in the daily lives of Virginians,” Stoney said.
During his time as mayor, Stoney Confederate monuments after 2020 protests triggered by the police killing of George Floyd. However, he over the of peaceful protestors, unrealized development projects and supporting two failed casino referendum votes.
Lateef is an ophthalmologist and has served as chair of the Prince William County School Board since 2018. He touted student improvement during his time on the school board, and said he would focus on kitchen table issues like the economic prosperity for all Virginians.
He also said he would advocate for using the state’s to invest in Virginia school capital improvement projects.
Salgado, a former federal prosecutor with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, said he had anticipated the federal government’s incursion into states’ rights and would help advise the governor and attorney general on how to fight back against the Trump administration.
He’s also made campaign finance reform a central pillar of his campaign, saying he would withhold votes in the Virginia Senate if a campaign finance bill was not passed by lawmakers. Salgado is pushing for limits on personal and corporate campaign contributions, to forbid conduit contributions — where a straw donor is used to hide the identity of the actual donor — and to create a watchdog agency to investigate violations.
Bastani, a former U.S. Labor Department lawyer, is presenting himself as the progressive choice for the office by supporting universal health care and repealing the state’s right-to-work law, which lets workers choose whether or not to pay union dues. All six candidates say they would like to repeal the measure, but Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger .
Bastani said his potential win would signal that voters want to repeal the law and put additional pressure on Spanberger to sign a bill.
He also believed universal health care could be implemented at the state level, saying the program could save billions if implemented in the entire country.
Combating the Trump cuts
The candidates also offered differing solutions to standing up to President Donald Trump’s cuts to, and services .
Hashmi said she would move for Virginia to quickly rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, saying it could provide millions of dollars in climate program funding to plug holes from federal cuts. Gov. Glenn Youngkin directed Virginia to leave the 12-state carbon emissions reduction program in 2022. A l in November, but the state is appealing the ruling.
Rouse said he would attempt to not only push back but work together with federal officials to try and reverse the cuts.
Stoney said he would continue to speak out about the cuts, and called out Youngkin and current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP candidate for governor, for not doing more to resist the federal actions.
Salgado said the state must be ready to combat Trump’s bill in court immediately once it is signed into law. Additionally, he called for looking into whether state funding sources could be used as stopgap measures.
Lateef also supported taking the Trump administration to court, and advocated for civil disobedience if the administration did not comply with court orders.
Bastani also advocated with working together with federal lawmakers to reverse the cuts, and said he supported raising Virginia’s corporate tax rate to create more revenue to support affected communities.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
