KEYRIS MANZANARES: This is VPMs special coverage of the 2025 State of the Commonwealth Address.

Joining me now is VPM News Political Analyst, Rich Meagher.

Thank you for being here, Rich.

RICH MEAGHER: Great to be here, Keyris.

Rich, what stood out to you in the governor's speech?

RICH MEAGHER: Well, certainly the themes.

Right.

So, particularly the words “soaring” and “winning.” Now “soaring,” we've heard before from Governor Youngkin, you know, his sort of positive vibes, kind of attitude.

But the idea of “winning,” I mean, it sounds almost a little Trumpian.

I mean, so here is a chance for the governor to combine his kind of positive spirit, you know, the spirit of Virginia soaring, but along with some possibly divisive rhetoric.

[The] kind that's more familiar to folks from the national Republican Party and from its leader.

So I think here we're seeing Youngkin do what hes tried to do the last few years, which is kind of find a middle ground between his own sort of moderating instincts and what his party is all about.

So I think that's a little bit of what he's trying to do with that winning idea.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: Do you think for people listening at home, do you think this message will resonate with Virginians?

RICH MEAGHER: I mean, I certainly think for Republicans it will.

It's not so bad in terms of reaching out.

And Governor Youngkin is a very, you know, sort of popular even among some Democrats.

And I think, if he's able to kind of carry it forward.

I mean, the problem with calling out winners is that sometimes you might have losers, right?

And so if the idea here is that anyone is opposed to us, are folks are who are on the losing side.

That might be more of a problem, a little more divisive than he wants it to be.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: And what can we expect from this year's General Assembly?

What issues do you think will receive bipartisan support?

RICH MEAGHER: Yeah, I mean, so the governor has already laid out what his agenda is and whether it's bipartisan or not, I think we saw with some of the standing ovations.

Right.

Democrats were standing for some things, but not others.

One thing I thought that was interesting was the idea of a gaming commission, right?

That, brought up some Democratic support, but on key issues that the governor really is making the centerpiece of both this speech and probably his agenda this year: education and tax cuts.

I think he's going to have some tough fights with the Democrats who control the legislature on those issues.

So bipartisan support, you know, obviously there's lots of bills that get passed, but I think it's going to be some odd things that we're not sure about.

Things like data centers that the governor mentioned, which leads to odd bedfellows because it's not quite so partisan an issue.

But on the big kind of big ticket partisan issues that have often come up in the General Assembly, tax cuts, education issues, I don't think we're going to see some bipartisan coming together on that.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: And let's take a moment to talk about last week's special elections.

What is the impact of that, in this year's legislative session?

RICH MEAGHER: Sure, I mean, besides the chance for the governor to reach out to those folks who are newly elected and to mangle the name of poor Senator Srinivasan, I'm not sure that, that's exactly the best way to offer an olive branch to the new Democrats in the General Assembly.

But I do think that it's led a kind of restoration or a support of the status quo.

Right?

The three seats that were open were all seats that were either one solidly red or two solidly blue.

Nothing happened to kind of change the balance of power in the General Assembly.

So certainly more new faces means, you know, more new ideas and more rookies in the General Assembly.

But I think the balance of power remains the same.

And it's that partisan balance of power that's really driving how things worked here in the General Assembly these days.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: And, you know, with this being Youngkins last year in office, how would you sum up his legacy?

RICH MEAGHER: I mean, he certainly wants, I think, to take some big swings this year.

Taking down the car tax, something that has defeated numerous governors before.

Everyone hates the car tax, but Democrats are unsure if we can afford to give up the revenue that comes with it.

So taking a big swing like that, I think he wants to leave behind some big lasting effects.

I think actually, though, what's most likely going to be his legacy is like the legacy of his- the person he defeated, Terry McAuliffe, which is his veto record.

Now, Glenn Youngkins actually already set a record for the number of vetoes.

And I think more likely the thing we're going to remember him for is being that red wall blocking the things that Democrats were trying to do more than any kind of positive agenda that he wanted to pass.

KERYIS MANZANARES: Thank you, Rich, for your insights, and thank you for watching our special coverage of the 2025 State of the Commonwealth Address.

The governor, as you know, spoke tonight and you can stay up to date with our news coverage of the legislative session by heading to VPM.org/GeneralAssembly.

For VPM News, I'm Keyris Manzanares.