Leading in Monmouth poll, Jennifer Wexton has plenty to smile about. (Photo by Karen Kirk)
Jennifer Wexton is leading U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock among all potential voters by 10 points, 49 to 39, with 12 percent undecided or supporting someone else in Virginia’s CD-10 race, according to a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday, June 26.
Half of the voters in CD-10 identify themselves as independents, and Virginia Democratic State Sen. Wexton leads among this group by 45% to 36%. She also has stronger support among her fellow Democrats (97% to 1% for Comstock) than Comstock has among her fellow Republicans (85% to 10% for Wexton).
Comstock’s prospects appear to be hampered by voters’ negative views of President Trump – 53% disapprove of the job he has done compared to 42% who approve in the latest Monmouth poll.
Voters also express a preference to have Democrats (42%) rather than Republicans (34%) control of Congress.
Wexton is leading among white college graduates by 50% to 41%. She also leads among black, Hispanic, and Asian voters regardless of education level by 62% to 21%.
Jennifer Wexton says it’s time for Democrats to take back the House. (Photo by Karen Kirk)
By Karen Kirk:
“With Donald Trump in the White House, Scott Pruitt heading the EPA, Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education and Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, I am very concerned about how much damage is going to be done to our country in the next couple of years and the only way we’re going to stop it is to take back the House,” said Jennifer Wexton at a breakfast Monday sponsored by Dulles Area Democrats.
And there’s a good chance that Virginia State Sen. Wexton, the Democratic candidate will defeat U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock in CD-10 this November.
According to a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday, Wexton is leading Comstock by 10 points — 49 to 39, with 12 percent undecided or supporting someone else — even though most voters said they had no opinion of Wexton. Comstock’s prospects are weighted down by voters’ negative views of President Trump – 53% disapprove of the job he has done compared to 42% who approve in the latest poll.
Wexton drew stark contrasts with her opponent on the issues.
“I have been fighting down in Richmond for gun violence prevention legislation for years,” said Wexton. “I never received a dime from the NRA nor will I. I have received failing grades from them every time. Barbara Comstock has an A rating from the NRA. Despite her relatively short tenure in Congress, she is one of the top recipients of funding from them.”
“She is terrible on the environment. She has a zero from the League of conservation voters, and I have 100%,” Wexton said. “On women’s health, the same thing. She is zero, she’s voted to defund Planned Parenthood. I am a NARAL champion and have been supported by them and have fought in Richmond to eliminate unconstitutional restrictions on a woman’s right to safe, legal abortion.”
“So there are great contrasts here and the stakes are pretty high and I need your help because she is not going to be an easy person to beat, said Wexton, who beat five other Democratic candidates by a wide margin in the Democratic Primary June 10.
Wexton answered questions from the audience at the Amphora Diner in Herndon about her chances of winning in November. She said the day she announced her candidacy, the Cook Report moved its rating for the CD-10 race from lean Republican to a toss-up, citing her entry in the race as their reason.
The Fairfax County School Board Thursday night approved changes to the Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum that are more inclusive of LGBTQ students, thwarting opposition from a national right-wing media campaign.
The proposed changes include using the term “sex assigned at birth” rather than “biological sex” and informing high school students about “pre-exposure prophylaxis” or “PrEP,” a treatment to protect against HIV. The FDA in May approved Truvada for adolescents to reduce the risk of HIV transmission.
Supporters of the proposed changes outnumbered opponents in a packed auditorium at Luther Jackson Middle School in Falls Church, and several of them addressed the board.
The Virginia CD-10 primary candidates gathered today in Sterling, Va., to pledge their support for Tuesday’s primary winner, state senator Jennifer Wexton (D-33).
The CD10 Unity event fulfilled a pledge all candidates had taken to support whoever won the primary. Moderator Zach Pruckowski, Chair of the 10th Congressional District Democratic Committee, declared all the candidates winners for living up to their promise and joining the event.
In the march to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there were few dissenting voices. Most of the news leading up to the war was about the Bush administration’s false claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein could unleash on us at any time.
But at the Knight Ridder Washington Bureau, there were a few journalists who discovered the truth — that there wasn’t evidence of weapons of mass destruction. They wrote stories that most newspapers, even those owned by Knight Ridder, wouldn’t run, preferring to reprint reports from Judith Miller of the prestigious New York Times, who was being fed, and repeating, misinformation from high government officials and sources inside Ahmad Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress.
A couple of years later, Miller spent 85 days in jail protecting her source, the recently pardoned Scooter Libby, who had identified Valerie Plame as a member of the CIA. Miller was forced to resign from the Times in 2005 after persistent questions and concerns about her actions.
Now, in the new movie “Shock and Awe,” director Rob Reiner is telling the story of how reporters Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel and veteran war correspondent Joe Galloway, under the direction of Bureau Chief John Walcott, got to the truth.
Don’t forget that there is a Democratic primary election TOMORROW, Tuesday June 12, 2018.
Two of Hunter Mill’s precincts—Fox Mill and Colvin—are within Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, and will therefore vote to determine the Democratic opponent to take on the incumbent, Republican Barbara Comstock.
The Fairfax Democrats’ news publication, The Blue View, has done a fantastic job of chronicling the Democratic candidates’ positions on various issues, and obtained a set of closing statements from the candidates’ campaigns. It is a great way to make sure your vote is an informed one.
No matter who you support, if you’re in a precinct with a primary election, make sure you get out there and vote. Primaries are critical in making sure the party’s nominees represent the will of its voters. Your vote makes a difference in the future of the party.
Since going live on 3 April, The Blue View has posted 52 stories, an average of 1 a day. FYI, we also post links to stories on Facebook (both FCDC Group and a dedicated page) and Twitter.
The success of the publication depends on the efforts of volunteer writers and photographers, whether inside or outside FCDC. We need more contributors to keep up the pace, and, hopefully, accelerate it. For encouragement, and in response to some queries, we have put together a guide for writing for The Blue View. We hope you find it useful. Please feel free to circulate to others who may be interested in writing or taking pictures for us.
Karen Kirk (Blue View deputy editor) and I are happy to discuss story ideas and content guidelines at any time. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.
The Fairfax County School board heard spirited comments both for and against changing the public school sex education curriculum to make it more LGBTQ inclusive at its regular meeting Thursday, May 24.
The discussion was a precursor to the vote on June 14 on changing wording in the Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum. The proposed changes include using the term “sex assigned at birth” rather than “biological sex” and informing high school students about a pill that was recently approved for adolescents to reduce the risk of HIV transmission.
Paul Wooldridge, who has two children who attended the Fairfax County Public Schools system, one of them transgender, spoke movingly of his son’s experience. “Now FCPS has many teachers and administrators who recognize the rights and needs of transgender students. However my son’s experience showed that there are plenty of students and a few teachers that were not so understanding and accepting of the person he is.”
“He was teased and degraded in the halls by fellow students,” continued Wooldridge. “He was also intimidated by a few faculty members in apparent attempts to make him feel shame or lesser of a person. This unsolicited treatment was dished out in spite of my son’s attempts to proactively educate the faculty and fellow school students about the transgender issues and human rights.”
Immigration has helped Virginia rise from poverty to affluence, notes Sen. Tim Kaine.
Kaine does the numbers: In 1968, only 1% of Virginians were immigrants and the state ranked 38th in income per person. Today, immigrants make up 11% and we have shot up to become the 12th richest state in terms of per capita income.
Although correlation is not necessarily causation, Kaine believes that “people from other nations have found Virginia to be a place where they can come and find opportunity” and that this “has been such a huge part of our success.”
Kaine was speaking at a press conference for Asian and Latino news outlets on May 21 at the Fairfax County Democratic Committee headquarters.
The Democratic Asian Americans of Virginia (DAAV) honored former Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) Chair Sue Langley and President of the Korean American Society of Virginia Tae Chang Woo at its Fourth Annual Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Awards Dinner on Sunday May 20, 2018 at the Pakistani restaurant Sapphire in Tysons. Elected officials including Gov. Ralph Northam spoke at the award ceremony.
Sue Langley and Tae Chang Woo were presented with the 2018 Joe Montano Community Engagement Awards. Joe Montano was a prominent Virginian community organizer and activist who served as Northern Virginia Regional Director of Constituent Services for Senator Tim Kaine, and worked on a number of campaigns for the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Sue Langley was FCDC Chair for two terms, from 2014 to 2017. She started in politics as a volunteer with the Wesley Clark campaign in the 2004 primary and then worked for John Kerry in the general campaign. She was active with the Hunter Mill Democrats and served as FCDC Vice Chair for Precinct Operations. Sue has hosted numerous canvasses, phone banks, picnics, and fundraisers at her home in Flint Hill precinct. Sue Langley grew up in Thailand, received her Ph.D. in economics from Iowa State University and was a senior economist and branch chief at the Department of Agriculture.
