10 Things Every Virginian Has Strong Opinions About

Ask a Virginian whether they’re a Hokie or a Hoo, and you won’t wait long for an answer.

Everyone else in the room will probably jump in, too. Virginians don’t always keep their strong opinions to themselves.

Here are the topics that get them talking, and the history behind each argument.

1. Smithfield Ham

Virginia passed a law in 1926 because competitors outside the town of Smithfield were calling their hams Smithfield ham.

That’s a century-old law.

If you pick up a “genuine Smithfield ham,” state law says it was cured and aged for at least six months inside Smithfield’s town limits.

If you knowingly sell a different ham under that name, you’re breaking state law.

In 2024, Smithfield Foods said it would stop making its Genuine Smithfield Hams and focus on its mild-cure ham, which has only four months of aging.

The town’s mayor said the mild-cure ham doesn’t meet the letter of the law, but he still considers it a Smithfield ham.

2. Hokies vs. Hoos

Are you a Hokie or a Hoo?

Virginia Tech’s teams are the Hokies, and many UVA fans call their Cavaliers the Hoos.

If you pick a side, you’re joining a football rivalry more than 130 years old.

The 2025 game was the 106th meeting.

Going in, the Hokies led the series 62-38-5.

That’s a 24-win lead.

Their all-sports rivalry, the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, covers the 22 sports in which the two schools compete head-to-head.

3. Express Lane Tolls

You’ve been able to use the Capital Beltway’s express lanes in Virginia since November 17, 2012.

In November 2025, the lanes were extended 2.5 miles to a point near the American Legion Bridge.

If you use an electronic toll device, a 2025 House bill would have capped your tolls at $200 a month.

The bill’s sponsor, Del. Candi Mundon King, pointed to commuters who often pay $25 to $65 each way between the Pentagon and Dumfries, about 29 miles.

The bill cleared the House Transportation Committee on a 12-10 vote, then died in Appropriations.

A lobbyist for Transurban, the Virginia Department of Transportation’s partner on the Beltway extension, said it could affect financing for projects like the Long Bridge.

4. Brunswick Stew

Who gets credit for Brunswick stew?

Both states say they do.

If you’re from Virginia, your side points to a historical account from 1828.

If you’re from Georgia, yours points to a historical marker in Brunswick, Georgia, that claims the first pot was made there in 1898.

That’s a 70-year gap.

Virginia lawmakers joined the fight in 1988.

In 2025, Georgia passed a law making Brunswick stew its official state stew.

The bill even says that, contrary to claims by other states, Brunswick, Georgia, is the birthplace.

5. State Song

Lawmakers have argued over Virginia’s former state song, “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia,” since at least 1970.

That year, state Sen. Doug Wilder objected to its references to slavery and tried to abolish it.

His bill failed.

If you’re wondering how hard lawmakers tried, they introduced bills to replace it every year between 1988 and 1994.

In 1997, the General Assembly named it state song emeritus.

In 2015, the General Assembly named “Our Great Virginia,” based on the folk song “Oh Shenandoah,” the official traditional song.

That same year, lawmakers named “Sweet Virginia Breeze,” a 1980 song by Robbin Thompson and Steve Bassett, the official popular song.

A 2026 law removed the emeritus title after a 79-18 House vote.

Today, you’ll find only those two songs listed in the Code of Virginia.

6. Where Northern Virginia Starts

Northern Virginia has no border that everybody agrees on.

If you live in Fredericksburg, Stafford or Fauquier County, the Virginia Places website puts you in Northern Virginia.

But the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, a regional planning agency, serves only four counties and five cities.

That’s a three-jurisdiction gap.

If you live in one of those three, whether you’re in Northern Virginia depends on the list.

7. Elizabeth River Tunnel Tolls

Elizabeth River Crossings, a private company, has charged tolls on the Downtown and Midtown tunnels between Portsmouth and Norfolk since 2014.

If you’ve paid them, the money went toward a new Midtown Tunnel tube and the Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway.

The company’s contract with the state allows tolls until 2070.

That’s up to 56 years.

In 2025, lawmakers announced that more than $36 million in toll debt would be forgiven, helping an estimated 25,000 drivers.

For drivers in Norfolk and Portsmouth, it also meant removing any registration holds at the Department of Motor Vehicles tied to unpaid tolls from 2014 through 2023.

As of mid-2025, if you lived in Norfolk or Portsmouth and earned less than $50,000, you could take up to 14 free trips a week.

State Sen. Louise Lucas has said she wants to eliminate the tolls someday.

A 2024 report from Hampton Roads TV station WAVY put the cost of buying them down at roughly $2 billion.

8. Mother of Presidents

Virginia’s nickname, the Mother of Presidents, rests on a count: eight U.S. presidents were born in the state.

You can run the list from George Washington to Woodrow Wilson.

Ohio is second with seven and vies with Virginia for the same title.

The caveat is William Henry Harrison, who was born in Virginia and later settled in Ohio.

If you count strictly by birthplace, Virginia comes out one ahead of Ohio.

Ohio also claims Harrison, which would give it eight, too.

9. School Start Dates

Virginia's Kings Dominion law, passed in 1986, required public schools to start after Labor Day unless they got a waiver.

The tourism industry has long said the rule lets attractions stay open longer and attract more customers.

Lawmakers who wanted to repeal it argued that local school boards should decide when school starts.

By 2017, a Richmond television station's investigation found that 65% of public school students already began the year earlier.

In 2019, Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation that effectively repealed it.

It lasted 33 years.

Today, your school board generally can't set a first day earlier than 14 days before September 1 under state law.

If your school division opens before Labor Day, its schools have to close from the Friday before Labor Day through Labor Day.

The state Board of Education can waive that closure for divisions that run year-round schools.

10. Data Centers

In June 2026, lawmakers passed a budget that kept the data center sales tax exemption and added a tax on data centers' electricity use.

The Data Center Coalition, an industry group, says the new taxes will hurt Virginia's reputation as a business-friendly state.

Environmental advocates say the deal didn't go far enough because it kept the exemption.

If you're a Dominion Energy customer, data centers and other large energy users will pay a new rate class starting January 1, 2027.

A summer 2026 poll from Virginia Commonwealth University's Wilder School found that 72% of registered voters oppose a sales tax exemption for data centers.

Nearly half, 49%, strongly oppose it.

Meanwhile, 81% of registered voters support requiring data centers to pay additional fees to offset increased electricity demand.