Virginia emerges as South progressive leader under Democrats

FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2018 file photo, Virginia Gov.-elect, Lt. Gov Ralph Northam, center,...
FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2018 file photo, Virginia Gov.-elect, Lt. Gov Ralph Northam, center, walks down the reviewing stand with Lt. Gov-elect, Justin Fairfax, right, and Attorney General Mark Herring at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. The political crisis in Virginia exploded Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, when the state's attorney general confessed to putting on blackface in the 1980s and a woman went public with detailed allegations of sexual assault against the lieutenant governor. With Northam's career already hanging by a thread over a racist photo, the day's developments threatened to take down all three of Virginia's top elected officials. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) AP
Updated: Feb. 15, 2020 at 10:00 AM EST
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Democrats in Virginia are using their newfound legislative control to refashion the state as the South’s progressive leader on racial, social and economic issues.

Legislators are rewriting laws at a breathtaking pace, with landmark legislation on guns, LGBTQ protections, abortion and other key issues advancing nearly every day in a state that was once synonymous with the Old South.

Many of the Confederate monuments scattered around the state could soon be coming down. The state holiday honoring Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson is going away.

The legislature is set to give final passage to most pieces of landmark legislation ahead of the March 7 adjournment.

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