Welcome to the Thursday, June 19, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- A look at election results in Virginia from June 17
- Forty-six bills related to Juneteenth have been introduced in state legislatures so far this year
- Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoes bills to require voter ID and open primaries to unaffiliated voters
A look at election results in Virginia from June 17
As we continue our coverage of elections throughout 2025, today we’re taking a look at the results of the June 17 primaries in Virginia.
Heading into the election cycle, Virginia is one of 12 states with a divided government. Democrats control both legislative chambers, while the Gov. Glenn Youngkin is a Republican.
Virginia is holding elections for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and all 100 seats in its House of Delegates this year. Here’s a look at the results of those primaries.
State executive offices
Both the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial primaries were canceled since Abigail Spanberger (D) and Winsome Earle-Sears (R) ran unopposed for their respective parties’ nominations. However, primaries did happen for two other executive offices.
Ghazala Hashmi (D) defeated five other candidates in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. As of 3:00 p.m. on June 18, Hashmi had 27.4% of the vote to second-place finisher Levar Stoney (D)’s 26.6%. The Republican primary was canceled because John Reid (R) ran unopposed.
Jay Jones (D) defeated Shannon Taylor (D) in the Democratic primary for attorney general. As of 3:00 p.m. on June 18, Jones had 51% of the vote to Taylor’s 49%. The Republican primary was canceled because incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) ran unopposed.
House of Delegates
There were 17 contested state House primaries, including nine Democratic and eight Republican primaries.
Ninety-six incumbents ran for re-election, leaving four open seats. That’s the fewest open seats in the state House during an election cycle since we started following that data in 2011. The election cycle with the most open seats in the state House was 2023, with 25.
No incumbents lost re-election in this year’s primaries. This election cycle is the third time since 2011 that no incumbents have lost re-election in a primary election or nominating convention.
Click here to see all election results from June 17.
Forty-six bills related to Juneteenth have been introduced in state legislatures so far this year
Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, commemorates the day in 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to deliver the news of the end of slavery and the Civil War. In 2021, it officially became the United States’ 11th federal holiday.
Today, we’ll look at recent state-level legislative activity related to Juneteenth and the legislative journey that led to it becoming a federal holiday.
State-level legislative activity
We began following state legislation related to Juneteenth in 2020 with the help of our partners at BillTrack50, which aggregates legislative data from all 50 states. Between 2011—when our data begins—and June 17, 2025, state lawmakers introduced 475 bills or resolutions related to Juneteenth. They have approved 184. These numbers include bills signed into law or resolutions legislatures have approved commemorating, establishing, observing, or recognizing the Juneteenth holiday or local Juneteenth celebrations. This figure does not include resolutions memorializing or recognizing individuals or groups.
State lawmakers have introduced 46 Juneteenth bills or resolutions this year and have approved 11.
Path to becoming a federal holiday
Previous presidents, including Barack Obama (D) and Donald Trump (R), recognized Juneteenth before it became a federal holiday in 2021.
In June 2018, the U.S. Senate passed SR 547, a bipartisan resolution “designating June 19, 2018, as ‘Juneteenth Independence Day’ in recognition of June 19, 1865, the date on which slavery legally came to an end in the United States.” U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) introduced a similar resolution, H.Res.948, in the U.S. House of Representatives that month. However, lawmakers took no further actions on the bill after it was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
On June 19, 2020, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced S.4019, a bill to make Juneteenth an official federal holiday. Jackson Lee also introduced corresponding legislation in the House that day. The bills were referred to committees, and lawmakers took no further action.
On June 15, 2021, the Senate unanimously passed S.475, a bill establishing June 19 as a legal public holiday called Juneteenth National Independence Day. The House voted 415-14 to approve the bill on June 16. President Joe Biden (D) signed the bill on June 17, 2021.
There are currently 11 federal holidays. The last federal holiday established before Juneteenth was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which President Ronald Reagan (R) signed in 1983.
Click here for more information about legislative activity associated with Juneteenth.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoes bills to require voter ID and open primaries to unaffiliated voters
On June 12, Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) vetoed two election bills that passed in the final days of the 2025 legislative session. The bills included AB 499 which would have established new voter ID and drop box requirements. The other, AB 597, proposed changes to rules for unaffiliated voters in primary elections.
AB 499 would have required in-person voters to present a valid photo ID and the last four digits of a qualifying ID when returning an absentee ballot. The bill also would have expanded drop box availability, which Lombardo vetoed as AB 306 in May.
Lombardo supported legislation increasing voter ID requirements. On the last day of the session, legislators agreed to amendments that combined the voter ID changes with drop box provisions that Democrats sought. The Nevada Senatepassed the bill 16-5, and the Nevada General Assembly passed it 30-12.
In his veto message, Lombardo wrote, “I wholeheartedly support Voter ID and am appreciative of the effort to codify it into statute. […] Because AB 499 would apply voter ID requirements unequally between in-person and mail ballot voters and fails to sufficiently guarantee ballot security, I cannot support it.”
Speaker of the Assembly Steve Yeager (D) said, “Lombardo was for AB499 before he was against it, encouraging all legislative Republicans to support it, which they did.”
Voters in Nevada will consider a constitutional amendment in November 2026 on a voter ID requirement for in-person voting. Nevada is one of 14 states where a voter is not required or requested to provide ID before voting.
AB 597 would have allowed unaffiliated voters to vote in major party primaries. These voters would have remained unaffiliated after voting in a party primary. However, the bill would have required county clerks to record voters’ ballot choices in the statewide voter registration list.
In his veto message, Lombardo said Nevada voters rejected Question 3 in 2024, which would have made multiple changes to the electoral system, including allowing unaffiliated voters to vote in primaries. “Because AB 597 would undermine the will of Nevada’s voters by creating open-primaries,” Lombardo wrote, “I cannot support it.” The Senate passed the bill 12-9, and the Assembly passed it 27-15.
Seven states allow unaffiliated voters to vote in primary elections. Meanwhile, in at least four other states, an unaffiliated voter can affiliate on the day of a primary election and vote in that party’s primary. Fifteen other states hold truly open primaries, where a voter may vote in the primary of their choice regardless of their current or previous affiliation.
Unaffiliated voters make up the largest share of registered voters in Nevada (36.4%).
On June 12, Lombardo vetoed at least eight bills, bringing his total number of vetoes as governor to 161, the most of any Nevada governor.
Click here to read more about voter identification laws and here for more on primary election types.