00:00.47
Sam Shirazi
Hi everyone, I'm Sam Shirazi and this is Federal Fallout the 2025 Virginia Elections. Today i will be interviewing Lauren Burke, the founder of Black Virginia News. Lauren, thank you for joining me.
00:12.86
Lauren
Thanks, Sam, for having me. You're great. And I love being on your podcast.
00:17.47
Sam Shirazi
Yeah, I remember once i you had me on Pod Virginia and you were interviewing me. So I thought it'd be interesting to interview you. i follow your sub stack with Black Virginia News, and I think you do a really good job but summarizing the news and and talking about some of the things that the media doesn't always cover.
00:35.06
Lauren
That's for sure. Thanks a lot. Thanks for reading. I mean, there's a lot going on out there, as you know, and I enjoy the fact that you've got this podcast. I love it. I think really frankly, Sam, you and Fergie are the two people that, to me, really know these races like the back of your hand. So it's great. It's great talking to you.
00:52.76
Sam Shirazi
well that's good Well, thank you. And but before I you know get into the interview, I did want to note the passing of Gerald C. Jones. He is was a former delegate from Norfolk, and he later served as a state circuit judge there, too.
01:07.64
Sam Shirazi
He was a civil rights pioneer and was one of the first black students to integrate his elementary and high school. And also um his son, Jay Jones, is currently running for Virginia attorney general. I wanted to send my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
01:23.77
Sam Shirazi
Lauren, can you tell us a little bit more about Judge Jones?
01:26.60
Lauren
You know, what I know is what I know from people like Senator Lucas and Congressman Scott and the people who really know Judge Jones. I just know the basics of what I've read, and I'm probably going put together a podcast with everyone just sort of talking about him so that that history is someplace, because it is amazing to think about some of the pioneering things that he did that are not that long ago. i mean, it's always stunning to me.
01:54.37
Lauren
And really a tough blow and in the sense that you know Jay Jones, obviously running for attorney general, has this happen right before the primary. It's a tough thing to deal with. It took me so long to get over my father passing away, and I can't imagine you know what he's feeling right now, but I'm definitely thinking about him.
02:11.54
Sam Shirazi
Yeah, I think we all are and we send the Jones family our condolences. Well, Lauren, I did want to ask you about Black Virginia news. You know, what made you want to start that? And how do you see your role a little bit different than maybe traditional media like the newspapers?
02:28.74
Lauren
Well, i'm definitely not traditional media because i I've worked in politics. I've probably worked in politics longer than being in the media, but I did work in, quote, big media, ABC News and USA Today and all that.
02:41.42
Lauren
And just feel like we're having a moment here of... you know frankly, lying. ah Lying is happening a lot, and misinfo and disinfo, a lot of which is quite strategic and intentional to enact a political result sometimes and just change the world in ways that shouldn't be changed.
02:58.52
Lauren
And I think that the legacy media is failing huge, namely the Washington Post and the New York Times. so And I've seen that, i've experienced it as a communications director. I was a communications director on Capitol Hill for Congressman Andre Carson. And of course, I was a communications director for Justin Fairfax. Justin Fairfax, course, our 41st lieutenant governor in Virginia. So I've seen it. I've seen what I know what the media should be doing.
03:25.37
Lauren
I know the questions they should be asking. I know that they should, in fact, be checking the facts before publication. and then they do not necessarily do that all the time. So it has been a stunner in like the last, I guess, maybe 10 years. I think Twitter has driven a lot of the problem because people are rushing to get information into print.
03:46.98
Lauren
And the speed question is taking over the accuracy question. So the truth is taking a backseat to speed. so So Black Virginia news happened in large part because I got tired of seeing things that were not getting covered in the Black community in Virginia.
04:02.03
Lauren
in fact, when in 2017, when Justin was... when the the when justin fairfax was campaigning I mean, I couldn't believe, i could not believe the events that were not getting covered around Virginia.
04:16.85
Lauren
Some of them were black centric and some of them were not, but what doesn't get covered is just incredible. So I'm like i'm grateful to Substack and I'm grateful to see the other Substacks that I see that pop up around Virginia.
04:30.44
Lauren
I mean, there's a lot of them that are really good, really, really good. And people are just doing some basic information about what's going on and we would not know about it if it weren't for them. So it's incredible to me.
04:41.69
Sam Shirazi
Yeah. And, you know, I like to study history and I know there's a long history of independent black journalism in this country going back, you know, hundreds of years. And why do you think the traditional newspapers, the traditional media has not always been able to cover black community accurately or or get the complete picture?
05:02.45
Lauren
Well, it's a combination of racism and not caring usually. And you you might remember after George Floyd, we had the so-called racial reckoning moment. There were several papers who put out ah ah apologies apologies for their coverage.
05:15.40
Lauren
ah you know It was really interesting actually to read some of those. And they went over the fact that in the past, they had not only covered the black community very poorly, but very negatively.
05:25.04
Lauren
So part of the problem is just the basic fact that when someone else is telling your story, that doesn't have your interest in mind, it is very likely that they're going to tell that story in a very negative way.
05:36.56
Lauren
This has happened for women too, as well. You see a lot of women-centric publications coming up the 19th and a lot of them. And, and, That was happening as well. as no women in the newsroom until like the 1970s. I think Meg Greenfield was the first female correspondent for the Washington Post. She came along in like 1974 or 75, which is crazy.
05:56.54
Lauren
For black people, it's the same thing. I mean, no one is really what I find is these bigger news organizations, The Post, The Times, they're not really interested in black news. I mean, just to give you a little Virginia example, Sam, if you remember a few weeks ago, Congressman Bobby Scott endorsed Aaron Rouse for LG. And then a few days later, he endorsed Jay Jones for AG.
06:18.61
Lauren
No story in The Washington Post. and Then that same that same week, that same week, Jerry Connolly, the late, great Jerry Connolly, of course, endorses his former chief staff, James Walkinshaw, for his seat.
06:32.32
Lauren
And of course, there's a story. Now, you could say that, well, it's a no Nova, Northern Virginia thing, but I'm sitting there going, wait a minute. Bobby Scott is a dean of the delegation. He's the only member of Congress to make an endorsement. That should be a story.
06:45.21
Lauren
I don't care whether he's in Hampton Roads or in Nova, but but the Post does that type of thing all the time. you know, they do not cover the black community. I mean, they just don't. and And the Washington Post has a legacy of that in a town that used to be called Chocolate City, by the way, Washington, D.C.
07:01.70
Lauren
And so i I see it all the time and it just got frustrating. And I said, you know what, at some point, like you know, you just got to stop complaining and just do stuff, you know. But I love, by the way, the Richmond Free Press and New Journal and Guide, the two legacy black papers in Virginia, quite good.
07:16.92
Lauren
But the reasons are obvious, but you know, the black people in Virginia, 20% of the population, there should be more stories about what's happening in black communities.
07:26.95
Sam Shirazi
Well, I appreciate you being one of the voices that are bringing some of those stories out that might not be covered. I did want to shift gears a little bit to the elections this year in Virginia. You mentioned couple endorsements in the primary by Congressman Bobby Scott.
07:42.54
Sam Shirazi
I do think those were important endorsements. And I agree with you that they did not get as much press probably as they should have, because I think they really do change the dynamics of those races a little bit. So first, just generally, you know what are you seeing on the Democratic primary?
07:56.51
Sam Shirazi
side, and then we can talk about the general election after we talk about the primary.
08:00.67
Lauren
Well, it's hard to, it's going to be very interesting, June 17, I think. I mean, certainly LG race is, I think, kind of competitive because you really have like four people that quite good.
08:12.88
Lauren
i mean, I would say that. happen to think Aaron Rouse is going to win, but certainly Senator Hashmi is very good. Like there's nothing wrong Barbara Lateef. So it's like you could legitimately say there's like, you know, was some very good candidates there.
08:25.65
Lauren
And you know what's interesting, too, I think you said this in a prior podcast, Sam, was a really good point, which is that you have a regional, an interesting regional break there. You have two people in central Richmond area.
08:36.86
Lauren
Then you just have Aaron Rouse and Hampton Roads. And then you have Barbara Latif up in Nova. So it's to be interesting to see how much that matters now. you know, on on June 17.
08:48.29
Lauren
And obviously we have Shannon Taylor taylor versus Jay Jones for AG. And, you know, this is kind of an embarrassment of riches in Virginia with some of these candidates. I hate it when you have two candidates are really good. I do think Jay is going win because he ran before and you have that advantage when you when you've run before. you You just have the experience level and people are familiar with your name and all that stuff. But We'll see what happens. It's really exciting, you know, when it's a competitive primary. I am not a fan of anointing candidates or having one candidate or doing what the Democrats did in 2016 with Hillary Clinton, where you just have one candidate, effectively one candidate. I mean, I know Bernie was out there, but still.
09:27.83
Lauren
I think competition is good. And so we'll see what happens.
09:32.06
Sam Shirazi
Yeah, I agree with you. I think the Democrats have a number of very um qualified candidates. And one of the things I've been hearing is that people are having a hard time making their mind because they like all the candidates. And yeah, I think it's one of those things for both those races. We'll just have to wait and see when the votes are counted, who the nominees are going to be. And obviously, whoever wins the lieutenant governor and attorney general nominations will be on the same ticket as the Abigail Spanberger, who's the Democratic nominee.
09:58.26
Sam Shirazi
are you seeing in terms of the general election dynamics this year?
10:01.69
Lauren
Well, you know, as you can see, i mean, to me, the Winsome Sears campaign, Lieutenant Governor Sears, Winsome Earl Sears, I should say, I don't see a whole lot happening there. She had an event in Falls Church, I think it was yesterday, that nobody really knew about. I mean, I don't see the level of, like, engagement with that campaign that we saw with now Governor Youngkin in 2021, where they put the schedule online. Everybody knew where he was going to be. Then he went on a bus tour. You knew exactly where the bus was going to be. it's like very easy to pay attention to that race to see where he was. It wasn't a big secretive thing.
10:36.69
Lauren
And I don't know what they're doing. it hit with the with earl sears uh you know obviously uh former congresswoman abigail spamburger on the democratic side is is doing what she should be doing campaigning and i just saw her in portsmouth uh last week uh she was in norfolk and portsmouth uh and made a few stops it looked you know it looked like a campaign like the actual campaign and we're telling people we're doing and we're putting out ads and talking about issues So it's kind of, i don't know whether the Sears campaign is waiting for the 17th to, quote, get going. But I mean, time flies, as you know. So right now, that that poll that came out that has former Congresswoman Spanberger 17 points ahead, that seems and feels very accurate.
11:23.07
Lauren
mean, i would just say that. It just feels accurate right now. But of course, you know how politics is. It's very unpredictable.
11:29.30
Sam Shirazi
Right. And, you know, one thing I wanted to ask about ah Lieutenant Governor Winston Moral Sears is her ah attempt. Have you seen any sort of campaigning or attempts to win votes in the black community? Because I think some Republicans have a sense of, oh, well, maybe we'll be able to do better this year with her at the top of the ticket.
11:48.59
Sam Shirazi
do you think it it's just not going to matter one way or another?
11:52.34
Lauren
It matters. And I think she probably will try to do something policy-wise. You know, usually what is talked about is HBCUs. And four years ago, Youngkin did that. He basically came out and said, hey, I'm going to fund HBCUs. And if you probably remember that former governor Doug Wilder gave Terry McAuliffe hard time on the HBCU question. And then, you know, that kind of spiraled. But, you know, that's usually how, you know, if people talk about education, that's something that that Republicans can universally say. I suspect Sears will say something.
12:21.88
Lauren
I do think it's a problem when your running mate, John Reed, is putting out tweets. I say tweets because I don't like Elon Musk. I still call it Twitter. You know, putting out stuff about George Floyd.
12:34.10
Lauren
on the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's death that really is a deal breaker. Like, you know, if a black voter sends that that John Reed tweet to another black voter, it's game over. like Nobody is going to, to the extent they were considering, consider him after something like that. So I suspect that the Sears campaign didn't know anything about that. But I don't know what they're going to do.
12:56.86
Lauren
They got to do something and more than what they're doing, which that wouldn't be too hard to achieve because it just feels weird. It feels like there's almost no campaign. And you can see like on social media, you see, Sam, there's a lot of griping amongst Republicans about Earl Sears' campaign.
13:12.15
Lauren
I think that that's well earned right now, but we'll see. We'll see what happens. I can't i can't imagine that it'll be this quiet for too much longer.
13:20.33
Sam Shirazi
Yeah. I mean, i imagine at some point the ah campaign's got to pick up, but we'll see.
13:26.03
Lauren
yeah Yeah.
13:27.32
Sam Shirazi
I did want to ask you about the Democrats because, know, you mentioned that Virginia has, I think, of I think it's over 20% of the population is black. And I often tell people, you know, the base of the Democratic Party in Virginia is black voters.
13:41.43
Sam Shirazi
And, you know, there's a lot of focus on Nova and the suburbs. And obviously that's important for Democrats as well. But, you know, ah election after election, the voters that are consistently the most Democratic are black voters in Virginia.
13:53.75
Sam Shirazi
And I think sometimes there might not be a recognition of that, particularly if among some of the maybe consultant class, which is more based in Northern Virginia and is not as familiar with other parts of Virginia.
14:05.05
Sam Shirazi
So what can the Democrats do to energize black voters this year in Virginia to ensure that they are coming out and they are also valued as part of the base of the Democratic Party in Virginia?
14:15.23
Lauren
I'll show up and talk about their issues and the issues that people care about in a forthright way. But there was always this kind of, you know, pushing and pulling with the Democratic Party when it comes to the base of the party.
14:28.72
Lauren
And, you know and ah you you know, in states like, you know, Maryland and Virginia, 34 percent black and ah Virginia, I think, is 20, 21 percent. But that base of the party that shows up for you in that voting booth and 95 percent of the time votes for you, you kind of want to get their support, right? You want to get them motivated to.
14:50.52
Lauren
show up or the couch wins. And I think the couch kind of won last year with regard to Harris v. Trump. So, I mean, there is always this conflict of what issues to bring up. Unfortunately, so much of the time of the Democratic Party they kind of corner off, they they cordon off issues of, you know, justice reform. We're talking about Black people, we're talking about justice reform all the time or, you know, felon voting rights. And it's got to extend further than that.
15:19.94
Lauren
And I think it is going to be a an interesting journey for the Spanberger campaign. I think it becomes a lot easier depending on who...
15:30.61
Lauren
the candidates are for LG and AG. So this question becomes a lot easier to answer based on that. Because of course we do have an interesting moment here where could have actually three women running on the Democratic side.
15:45.79
Lauren
You also could very easily see a a ticket where you have Abigail Spanberger and two black men. So I don't know which combination it's going to be, but they do have to work on the question in this very anti-black moment that we have coming out of the federal government with regard to Donald Trump.
16:05.97
Lauren
They've got to figure out how to message black folks in a way that isn't the same old thing and it is motivating and and inspiring for people to vote because people are getting As time goes on, and I think this is in part the product of media just in our face all the time and just knowing everything, you know whether we're on social media or otherwise, people want results and they want to see results and they want to feel like there are results and that there is change out there.
16:32.43
Lauren
And they will start to ask questions, particularly in this moment where we have a historic set of African-Americans in Virginia in charge. People are going to want to know What are you doing and what how have you made my life better is the central question. So the Democratic Party, unfortunately, Sam, is not good at marketing the things they do do.
16:51.35
Lauren
And then they seem to be reticent and afraid to really talk race. And people see that. mean Black voters see that. They can see that that's happening. And that's got to be fixed at some point.
17:03.25
Sam Shirazi
Yeah, I think those are all very, very good points. And, you know, i i think the point about just meeting the voters and talking them about the issues is important. And one of the things I heard after the last election where Democrats didn't do as well as they traditionally did with Hispanic voters is they want to be talking about the normal issues with them as well and not just focus on immigration with Hispanic voters, you know, because that may not be the only thing they care about. And I think it's similar as you the issues that you've raised are really important for the Democrats to talk about in Virginia this year. So I did want to ask you about one House district district.
17:39.38
Sam Shirazi
because I know you spend a decent amount of time in Hampton Roads and you're familiar with the Suffolk area. And there is a House District, House District 89, which I believe Vice President Harris carried by about three points last year.
17:53.57
Sam Shirazi
There will be a primary on both sides because the current Republican incumbent Baxter Ennis is retiring. And so the nominees for the parties are still being finalized in that district.
18:05.42
Sam Shirazi
But can you tell me a little bit about the district? Because it's it's kind of an interesting district where it includes some of the rural parts of Suffolk, but then it goes all the way into more suburban and urban parts of Chesapeake.
18:17.66
Lauren
Yeah, it's got a part that's rural and then it's got a part that's kind of really hitting a lot of development. And Suffolk is big. like So it's sort of a little of both. You know, cotton fields and and shit know farming on one side and then all of a sudden it's sort of developed and I think getting a little bit too overdeveloped on on another side.
18:41.16
Lauren
Baxter Ennis, of course, has vacated that seat and I think that seat is actually a red seat, by the way. But but i do think in a year like this, where we have the craziness of Donald Trump in the background, frankly, I do think the Democrats going to pick up seven or eight seats. And this is one of them that I think would be a good one to pick up or one that they should be very hopeful about.
19:05.29
Lauren
one in Suffolk. And of course, Karen Jenkins had run two years ago. i think it's I do think it's a lean red, although you do say it's a plus plus blue, which you you know you're probably right. But when I'm down there, I get a very Republican feeling. But I don't know. I just i do think i think the Democrats have a shot in a lot of these closer seats.
19:26.56
Lauren
And anything that is a plus, minus you know two or three, they should have a very good shot. Because the voters are looking to say, we are tired of worrying about our health care. We're tired of you know listening to stories about federal job cuts. And that, of course, is going to impact the entire economy in Virginia.
19:45.23
Lauren
And that is going hit home in a big way. And one way they can they can you know show their displeasure is voting against the Republican Party. and So that I just think there's going to be a big pickup for the Democrats in the House of Delegates.
19:59.03
Sam Shirazi
Yeah, we'll see. and And I take your point. I mean, it's really kind of a marginal district. And, you know, in theory, it could go either way. And I think if the Democrats have a good night, it's one of those seats that could flip. So we'll see what happens there.
20:12.27
Sam Shirazi
Well, know, I really appreciate you taking the time to come on here and talk about some of these issues. And I give you a perspective. You know, I definitely encourage people to check out your sub stack and follow your social medias because I think you definitely give an interesting perspective. And as we discussed, that's sometimes missing. And, you know, I always learn something new when I look at your sub stack or I see your social media. So I really appreciate you taking the time to come on and talk to me.
20:37.76
Lauren
Oh, absolutely. lot of fun. Don't let that Michael Pope talk into music, Sam. Okay. love good i love it
20:43.33
Sam Shirazi
Well, you know, I will say, i listen, you also have a podcast as part of Black Virginia News, and I like a lot of the the sound effects you got. You got definitely have better sound effects than news.
20:53.19
Lauren
It's easy. It's epidemic sound. I probably should pay me some money for sponsorship. But I like the fact that your podcast just starts. like I like that if you just get right into it, it's fine. There's nothing wrong with that.
21:03.86
Lauren
ah Because I like things to just start and let's just get right to it. So very good job. And thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it.
21:10.13
Sam Shirazi
Yeah, no problem. Thank you so much. And this has been Federal Fallout, and I'll see you next time.
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