Politics

Winners, runners-up, and elections experts break down the good and the bad about the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election and provide insight as to what lies ahead for the new governor, Abigail Spanberger.

Despite countless frictions and hurdles, the 2025 election results swung in favor of the Democratic Party. How did they manage to do this, and what could it mean for the country? David Ramadan answers these questions with Kyle Kondik and J. Miles Coleman from Sabato’s Crystal Ball, one of the most respected election forecasting teams in the country. Together, they take a closer look at the winners (and losers) of the election, particularly in Virginia and New Jersey, to determine how this will shape the 2026 cycle. They also unpack the most surprising things about the 2025 elections, particularly the shifting political winds in key states, as well as how the government shutdown impacted voter turnout.

Catherine Read is the first woman and first Mason graduate (BA government and politics ’84) to be mayor of Fairfax City, Va., the university’s hometown, and she isn’t shy about touting a university she says helped teach her how to think critically. Want to know why it’s good to “disrupt the system,” why it’s important to get more women into policy-making decisions, and why our educational system doesn’t reward bold ideas? Read tells you.

Co-author of "Stay Woke," Tehama Lopez Bunyasi, breaks down how "woke" began and how it is being used in the run-up to 2024 elections.

The Regional Elected Leaders Initiative presented its annual awards to four local officials during a ceremonial dinner at the Schar School. Here’s who they are.

The 2022 Regional Leadership Award winners have been announced.

After two veteran politicians discussed the midterm elections, two sitting directors at the CIA divulged details (as much as they could) on how the agency operates.

Two panel discussions examine how and why Virginia voters voted the way they did in the 2022 elections.

Terry McAuliffe is back! Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe (D) returned to the Schar School classroom in late October, debuting at Associate Professor Justin Gest’s Immigration Policy and Politics class at Mason Square in Arlington, Virginia.

She’s already founded a successful PAC and raised $1.6 million to help progressive candidates in need. Now Kiera Hall wants to know how to do more, and better, as a Master’s in Public Administration student at the Schar School.