Tag: virginia democrats

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Time to vote for politicians who support gun safety

By Karen Kirk:

“VOTE THEM OUT” was the rallying cry of speakers and protesters as more than 100 people gathered outside of the NRA Headquarters in Fairfax Saturday in support of gun safety.

“This nation breathes the oxygen that is the promise of liberty and right now, our people are suffocating,” said speaker Micaela Lattimer, a 17-year-old Latina from Maryland. “We’re not free when gunshots pierce classrooms. We’re not free when people are criminalized just for being black or brown. We’re not free when gun violence in Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore and Detroit goes ignored,” said Lattimer, speaking in English and Spanish.

“We point cameras to schools whose windows are shattered but muffle the voices who cry black lives matter. When black activists protested police brutality they were met with full riot gear and teargas,” said Lattimer, who helped organize the rally.

“To my fellow young people, it is now our job to actively urge those around us to vote and to lobby legislators and question authority,” she said. “Eternal vigilance is necessary to protect our freedom.”

“To elected officials, we the people are calling on you to develop and carry out policy that prevents a firearm from getting into the cold grip of a domestic abuser, policy that prevents the phone call telling a family their child was gunned down at age 16, policy that protects black youths from the shackles of criminalization and policy that keeps hateful people from committing a massacre. Most of all, policy that promotes humanization and education.”

“If you wish to stay in office, we demand that you actively protect our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Lattimer said.

Read the rest at The Blue View

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College students need to apply for absentee ballot

The author’s son Ben, preparing to return to college

By Stephanie Witt Sedgwick, from The Blue View

If it’s August, it’s time to start getting ready to send your college student back to school.

The No. 1 item on the To Do List: Have them apply for an absentee ballot or register to vote ASAP and wait a week or two until they are registered and then have them apply.

It’s fast. It’s easy.

Go to: Register to Vote and Apply for Absentee Ballots

Documents: Your student will need their social security number and driver’s license number

Reason for applying to vote absentee: Student attending college or university outside of locality of residence.

Address: Your student can receive their ballot at their home address or college address.

Plans change. Don’t count on your student coming home to vote or voting in person absentee during fall break.

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Kavanaugh will support Trump’s march toward autocracy

                      Judith Shamir

By Judith Shamir:

Donald Trump has always made it abundantly clear that his choice for the Supreme Court would be someone who, like him, is staunchly determined to overturn abortion rights as well as many other civil and human rights. In picking Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee, he is fulfilling that promise.

Kavanaugh’s pick is the most frightening of all the prolific steps toward autocracy that the Trump regime has taken so far. Seeing Trump’s cozy conversation, just concluded, with his Russian puppet master in Helsinki highlights the danger of picking a nominee with so little regard for rights and rule of law.

Whatever he might say about respecting precedent and giving due consideration to the facts of each case, Mr. Kavanaugh has demonstrated that he will not hesitate to bend the law to serve his views.  In a dissenting opinion on a recent DC Circuit Court decision, Kavanaugh argued against allowing a young undocumented woman to access abortion care, putting her health at risk by delaying the procedure. In another dissent, he argued that the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage requirement places a “substantial burden” on religious employers who seek exemption from this mandate.

Some might say that we dodged a bullet – that Kavanaugh is actually more “moderate” than other potential nominees. Should we feel relief then? Certainly not. Kavanaugh believes the President should not be subject to subpoena or charged with a crime while in office. His writings indicate that he would favor dismissing the independent counsel’s investigation as unconstitutional, making the prospect of his participation in Supreme Court rulings regarding the Mueller investigation yet another dramatic threat to American democracy.

Read the rest at The Blue View

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Photo Essay: Thousands rally in Washington, D.C., to bring families together

Tens of Thousands of demonstrators rallied Saturday in Washington, D.C., to protest the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy and separating children from their parents.

On a sweltering day in the capital, the crowd gathered at Lafayette Square across from the White House to protest separating thousands of children from their parents at the border and the new plan to detain families together. Some 600 “Families Belong Together” rallies were held around the country.

The rally began with Sebastian Medina-Tayac of the Piscataway Indian Nation addressing the crowd in Spanish and English, reminding people that this is a nation of immigrants. Then he beat the drum.

Then Jocelyn, an undocumented immigrant who didn’t want to give her full name, told of how she was separated from her son when she came to the United States from Brazil last August and she was held at a detention facility in Texas. She said that she was told that her son could be adopted. It took 9 months for them to be reunited.

Celebrities Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the smash musical “Hamilton,” singer Alicia Keys and actress America Ferrera were among the rally speakers. Miranda sang a lullaby from “Hamilton,” Keys read a letter from a mother separated from her son and Ferrera talked about being a new mother, her Honduran roots and her duty to defend justice.

After the rally, protesters marched down Pennsylvania Avenue past the Trump International Hotel to the Department of Justice.

Read the rest at The Blue View

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Wexton ahead of Comstock by 10 points in new Monmouth University poll

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%.

Read the rest at The Blue View

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Jennifer Wexton draws stark contrasts with Comstock on issues

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.

Read the rest at The Blue View

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Former opponents pledge support to Jennifer Wexton

By Stephanie Witt Sedgwick:

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.

Read the rest at The Blue View!

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Meet Maddy from the Coordinated Campaign

Maddy is a Field Organizer for the Hunter Mill District with the Virginia Democratic Coordinated Campaign and will be the point of contact for all volunteer events with the coordinated campaign. She graduated from James Madison University in 2017, and is excited to be back in her home turf for this campaign! She grew up in Reston so she has a spot in her heart for this region, and is incredibly excited to hit the ground running and really ramp up the grass-root efforts in this area.

The coordinated campaign is currently seeking “influencers” to recruit, train, and launch volunteers for canvassing, phone banking, and voter registration drives in the Hunter Mill district.

If you’ve done this for past campaigns, or are interested in learning more, contact Maddy at maddy.white@virginiavictory.org or call/text at (571) 299-9490.

If you are unable to lead events but would still like to volunteer, please sign up at TimKaine.com/events or by contacting Maddy directly. She is looking forward to meeting Hunter Mill volunteers and working together to Keep Virginia Blue and flip some seats with this blue wave!

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Stopping the ICE Deportation Pipeline in Fairfax County

Tomorrow, June 6, four outstanding panelists from Fairfax for All will discuss the current situation and their past and current efforts to keep the county from assisting ICE in deportations. It is not over with the end of the jail detention agreement. The event will be a report from the Fairfax for All Coalition of 10 immigration groups that have been working with the county. The panelists will discuss what Democrats should know and what we should do.

When: Wednesday June 6,  7 – 9 PM

Where: Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) Headquarters

Sponsored by the State and Local Committee of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee

Free. Sign up here. Space is limited.

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Medicaid Expansion, Huge Win for Virginia

You may have heard that yesterday the Virginia legislature approved a budget that includes an expansion of Medicaid, making it the 33rd state in the country (including the District of Columbia) to do so since passage of the Affordable Care Act.

It is hard to overstate the impact of this victory. In Fairfax County alone, 15,000 families will be eligible for health coverage. At least 27,000 individuals could receive health care. Throughout Virginia, over 400,000 people are eligible for coverage.

Thank you to every member of the Hunter Mill Democrats for your part in helping make life better for everyone in Virginia. Your work will literally save lives. Check out Fairfax County Democratic Committee Chairman Dan Lagana’s statement on this incredible victory.