September 6, 2018 Meeting (Includes Audio)
Posted September 10, 2018 at 2:26 PM, Filed Under: All News, Front Page, MeetingsThe guest speaker for our September 6, 2018 meeting was Mr. Jeff E. Schapiro, politics columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, who spoke on: Virginia’s politics merge with those of the nation.
Mr. Schapiro has covered campaigns and government for more than 35 years, a period during which Virginia has emerged as a decisive swing state prized by the national political parties.
Schapiro joined the Times-Dispatch in 1987 after reporting from the state Capitol for United Press International and Virginia Business magazine. He has covered 10 gubernatorial campaigns, 11 governors, every session of the General Assembly since 1981, 12 presidential primaries and conventions, as well as dozens of congressional and legislative elections.
Schapiro has been recognized by the Virginia Press Association for his coverage of the Bob and Maureen McDonnell corruption scandal, attempts to dismantle the state’s monopoly on liquor sales, the political influence of the tobacco industry, and the historic renovation of the Jefferson-designed state Capitol. He is a 2015 inductee of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Before moving to Virginia in 1979 for a position in UPI’s Richmond bureau, Schapiro worked on daily newspapers on the Louisiana Gulf coast and in the northern New Jersey suburbs of New York City. He is also an analyst for WCVE-FM, the Richmond public radio station, and has discussed Virginia politics on numerous national and regional television and radio programs.
A native of New York City, Schapiro was graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor’s degree in history. His wife, Clare, occasionally writes about food for the Times-Dispatch.