“It’s a strategy designed to weaken the Democratic party, nominating less competitive candidates for the general election can only help Republicans,” University of Mary Washington political scientist Stephen Farnsworth said.

GOP urges Republicans in Fairfax and Loudoun counties to vote in Democratic primary (NBC 4)

In a 2019 story in the Virginia Mercury, Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, called Virginia’s primaries in general “something of a free-for-all,” where parties have the power.

A Primer On Primaries (Daily News-Record)

“That’s a big change from the way it used to be in Virginia,” said Stephen Farnsworth, political science professor and director of the University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies. “Where most of the votes were cast on election day, that’s just no longer the case here.” ‘Virginia has made it a lot easier’: Early voting underway through June 17 (RVA HUB)

The post Reform-minded prosecutors in northern Virginia face primary challenges (The Washington Post; NBC 4; U.S. News; WTVR; WMAL) appeared first on EagleEye.

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and international affairs at University of Mary Washington, said much of Youngkin’s agenda — tax cuts, calls for abortion restrictions, and putting pressure on public schools — falls in line with mainstream Republicanism. But he added it’s somewhat challenging to define what’s mainstream because the Republican Party itself is undergoing an identity crisis. “The Republican Party of today is not the Republican Party of 2015,” he said. “One of the decisions that the party will have to make going forward is whether the adjustment to Trump’s vision is retained or discarded.” What Kind of Republican Is Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin? (governing.com)

“The Republican Party of today is not the Republican Party of 2015,” said Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science at the  University of Mary Washington. “One of the decisions that the party will have to make going forward is whether the adjustment to Trump’s vision is retained or discarded.” What kind of Republican is Gov. Youngkin? Here’s what political experts had to say. (Daily Press)