Check out the website: https://lenspoliticalnotes.com Look at the recent Political Notes and Len’s Letters on the website. Political Note #380 Seven Vulnerable Virginia Democrats
June 30, 2021 Four More Vulnerable Virginia Democratic Delegates
2021 General Election
Incumbents
Kelly Convirs-Fowler Elizabeth Guzman. Chrs Hurst Martha Mugler
Not that long ago, Republicans controlled Virginia’s politics. Today, Democrats do. Virginia has an elected Democratic Governor, an elected Democratic Lt. Governor, and an Elected Democratic Attorney General. The Virginia House of Delegates has a 55-45 Democratic majority. The Virginia State Senate has a functional 21-19 Democratic Majority.
Will that control exist tomorrow? Will it continue after the election in November? Barring unforeseen events, the state senate will remain the same. State Senators are elected every four years. They will be up for election in 2023, not in 2021. The three state-wide elected officers are up for election in 2021. So is the House of Delegates. I have already asked you to support seven Members of the House of Delegates who Virginians see as vulnerable: Alen Askew HD85, Josh Cole HD28, Wendy Gooditis HD10, Nancy Guy HD83, Dan Helmer HD40, Roslyn Tyler HD75, and Rodney Willett HD73. Today’s Note is about four more incumbents who are vulnerable. These are Kelly Convirs-Fowler HD21, Elizabeth Guzman HD31, Chris Hurst HD12, and Martha Mugler HD91.
Kelly Convirs-Fowler HD21 https://www.delegatefowler.com was first elected in 2017 as part of the wave that made Virginia Democrats competitive. Her district is east and southeast of Norfolk. It extends south from Virginia Beach to Chesapeake. Of Filipino and Mexican descent, the daughter of a Navy sailor, Kelly Convirs-Fowler grew up in Virginia Beach and graduated from high school there. She went to Virginia Wesleyan which is also in Virginia Beach. She got her Master’s in Education at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. She taught school for a while and then began a real estate business specializing in supporting relocating military families. She and her husband, who is a Deputy Sheriff, have three daughters.
Kelly Convirs-Fowler won in 2019 by a 9 point margin. She is particularly proud of participating in Medicaid expansion, the 5% pay increase for teachers, helping Virginia Beach become part of American Flood Coalition, passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, and her commitment to free and fair elections. She is endorsed by Emily’s List, education groups, pro-choice groups, and groups interested in addressing the climate crisis.
Elizabeth Guzman HD31 https://www.elizabethguzmanforvirginia.com was first elected as part of the 2017 wave. Her district is southwest of Washington, DC, southwest of Alexandria, and south of Manassas. The eastern border of this east-west district runs along Route 95. Elizabeth Guzman was born and grew up in Peru, came to Virginia and the US as a single mother. She worked three minimum wage jobs at the same time for CVS, Wendy’s and a department store in order to get by. She got an Associates Degree from Northern Virginia Community College, an online BA from Capella University, an American University Master’s Degree in Public Administration, and, ultimately, an online Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California. She is currently head of Alexandria’s Department of Adult Services. She and her husband have four children. Her mother lives with them in Dale City.
Elizabeth Guzman won by 5 points in 2019. She is particularly proud of having been elected president of the 2017 freshman class of Democratic Delegates. She considers herself an advocate for labor unions and for working-class Virginians. She was named legislator of the year by educator groups after having helped pass legislation to end Virginia’s ban on public sector collective bargaining as well as legislation that ensured sick leave and a minimum wage. She advocated for decriminalization of marijuana and raising the age at which juveniles are automatically tried as adults from 14 to 16. She was a Bernie supporter during the 2020 campaign and earned the endorsement of Elizabeth Warren.
Chris Hurst HD12 https://www.hurst4delegate.com was first elected as part of Virginia’s 2017 Blue Wave. District 12 is southwest of Charlottesville, just west of Roanoke and Route 81. This is southwest Virginia where they don’t usually elect Democrats and don’t usually love outsiders. Chris Hurst was an outsider. He was born and grew up in Philadelphia and went to college in Boston – Emerson, a school focused on media. He came to Roanoke to work in television and became an anchor for Channel 22 there. In 2015, he became part of the news instead of reporting it. An angry ex-employee killed a photojournalist and a reporter, wounding the head of the local chamber of commerce who was being interviewed live for the local morning show. The reporter was Chris Hurst’s fiancee. Chris Hurst turned to politics as the best way to work for gun safety,
Chris Hurst was elected by 9 points in 2017, 7 points in 2019. In 2017, he was an early endorsement of Everytown for Gun Safety. In addition to his interest in gun safety, he worked on environmental issues, sought to delay construction of a controversial pipeline, worked on transportation issues including improvements in Route 81, and worked to improve local economies by ending the option for towns to choose to be dry. Other priorities include support for greater access to mental health care and special education services. He remains unmarried.
Martha Mugler HD91 https://www.muglerfordelegate.com is running for her second two-year term as Delegate. Her district includes a substantial part of the city of Hampton and the smaller city of Poquoson. The entire area, including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Newport News makes up a metropolitan area with 1.7 million people. Martha Mugler grew up in Poquoson where she went to middle school and high school. She went to college at Radford University in the far west of Virginia and worked there in admissions for three years. She returned to Hampton, worked as a paralegal, worked in the sheriff’s office, and ultimately worked in various roles in banking. She is the mother of three children and a grandparent.
In 2019, Martha Mugler was elected by nearly 10 points to replace a retiring Republican delegate in a district considered to be a fairly safe Republican district. Her impetus to run for political office was her experience on the Hampton School Board where she had served for 12 years. She was well integrated into the leadership of the local community. She had been involved in a variety of civic activities ranging from the Junior League to a program called No Kid Hungry. Her husband has served for many years as Hampton’s Commissioner of Revenue. Martha Mugler’s particular legislative interests include education (she was particularly pleased with the pay raise voted for teachers) and environmental issues (with particular concerns for protecting the Chesapeake Bay area).
I urge my readers to consider providing some support for each of these four candidates as well as the vulnerable Democratic incumbents listed below:
Previously Reported Vulnerable Incumbents in Virginia’s House of Delegates
District 10 – Wendy Gooditis https://www.wendygooditis.com
District 28 – Joshua Cole https://jgcole.org/about/
District 40 – Dan Helmer https://danhelmer.com
District 73 – Rodney Willett https://www.rodwillett.com
District 75 – Roslyn Tyler, https://www.delegatetyler.com
District 83 – Nancy Guy. https://guyfordelegate.com
District 85 – Alex Askew https://alexaskew.com
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Some 2021 Election Results
Texas 06 May 1, 2021
Multiparty Primary Susan Wright (R ) 19.2%, Jake Elizey (R ) 13.8%, Jana Lynn Sanchez (D) 13.4%. Sanchez eliminated for the run off
New Mexico 01 June 1, 2021
Special Election Melanie Stansbury (D) 60.3%. Mark Moores (R ) 35.7%
Stansbury elected. Will run again in November 2022
Female District Party Leader, Part A, Assembly District 76 June 22, 2021
Democratic Primary, Preliminary, but insurmountable results
Rebecca Weinbraub (D) 55.12%. Esther Yang (D) 44.49%.
Thank you to those who supported Rebecca
