2017 General Election Elected 52 – 48
Of the candidates I have written notes about, Wendy Gooditis http://wendygooditis.com/ is the only candidate so far with whom I have communicated directly. She is running for the Virginia House of Delegates in HD 10 — one of the seventeen Virginia districts with a Republican Delegate that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016. Hillary didn’t carry the district by a lot, but enough to make this district a target as part of the effort to flip seventeen districts and give the Virginia House of Delegates a Democratic majority.
The election happens in November, 2017 because Virginia votes in odd years. This November they are electing statewide officers including a Governor and Lt. Governor and all members of the House of Delegates. They won’t be voting on members of the Senate until 2019 when a change in just one seat if there continues to be a Democratic Lt. Governor would give them a Senate majority.
I wrote to Wendy Gooditis because her literature describes her as a home schooling mom. What was she thinking when she decided to home school her kids? Was she someone I would want to encourage people to support?
Her response was helpful. Wendy Gooditis has a master’s degree in education, had the resources to be home with her kids, and loved the opportunity to be with them and to teach them. Because there are institutions that bring home schooling families together, she did get to know families who were Evangelical Christians escaping the public schools. Her motives and interests were not the same as theirs. In her campaign and before her campaign she is and has been an advocate of the public schools. She said she got to know the Evangelicals, got to like them and to develop a positive relationship with them. That’s just what you would want from an aspiring politician. What you would expect from a real estate broker, too.
Wendy Gooditis has been a real estate broker now that her children are more grown. She has also been a member of a group called Planned Parenthood Advocates. She is supported by a women’s organization called Emerge that trains women candidates for office. Wendy Gooditis‘ interest in running for office was enhanced by the Women’s March in Washington. A local right wing blog had a picture of her and a Democratic candidate from a neighboring district wearing pussy hats, mocked them both and complained: The Democrat party has destroyed the morals of our country! They have ruined our schools, killed millions of babies in the womb, taken God out of our schools and public buildings and encouraged and promoted all manner of deviant behavior. The Democrats have destroyed the moral fiber of our country!
Wendy Gooditis argues that that the spirit of our country,human rights, the environment, equality, justice – democracy itself and the spirit of our country are now at risk. Her goal is to shift the balance on issues such as corporate rights vs. human rights, environmental protection vs. corporate and personal greed, and, while she’s at it, the proportion of women in government.
If Wendy Gooditis‘ ( http://wendygooditis.com/) is going to be elected to the Virginia House of Delegates it will have to be part of a Democratic wave in November, 2017. She will need help. In previous races, her opponent has raised close to $250,000. Take a look at her website and think about whether you would want to support her. You can learn more about her at her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/friendsofwendygooditis/. You can make a contribution through her website above or through Act Blue at /contribute/page/wendygooditis
I’ll mention one unrelated, but not entirely unrelated, matter. Jim Thompson lost the special election for Kansas 04 yesterday — 53-47. That is sad and amazing at the same time. It would have been better to win, of course. But in 2016, the Republican candidate for Kansas 04 won by 27 points. In the improbable event that Democrats pick up 20 points throughout the country, that would mean a Democratic US Congress, a Democratic VA House of Delegates, and a win for Wendy Gooditis. While you are providing support to Wendy Gooditis or others worth your support, also take a minute to thank Jim Thompson for his run. http://www.votejamesthompson.com/
