|
Keep Virginia close
2018 Special Election Elected 70 — 30
……We recoil at the behavior of Republicans at the national level. Democrats recoil. Those who believes in civic order recoil. At the refusal to consider Barack Obama’s appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. At electoral fraud. Voter suppression. Gerrymandering. Phony absentee ballots.
……The states are a laboratory for Republican misbehavior. North Carolina has been distinctive. A veto proof legislature has taken authority away from an elected Democratic Governor. The legislatures of Wisconsin and Michigan are trying to do the same.
……At the root of these efforts are gerrymandered legislatures. After the widespread defeat of Democratic candidates in 2010, Republicans created voting districts to ensure Republican control for a decade. Forever if they could.
……Voted districts in Virginia were gerrymandered. Democrats in Virginia found a way to defeat the gerrymanders. They won elections anyway. In 2017 (Virginia votes in odd years), they needed to flip 17 seats to gain control of the House of Delegates. A lot in a body with 100 seats. Democrats contested almost every seat. They didn’t quite get there. They flipped 15. The House of Delegates is divided 51-49.
……Actually, 51-50. There is a vacancy. In a district that is so Republican that it is one of the few Democrat did not contest.……Virginia Democrats running for Congress were as successful in 2018. Republicans had 6 seats to the Democrats 5. After the election, Democrats had 8 seats to the Republicans 3.
……The state Senate was close after the 2015 election — 21R to 19D. Virginia Senators are elected every four years. They come up for a vote in 2019. Democrats are aiming at gaining control of both the House and the Senate.
……A special Senate election is scheduled for January 8, 2019. Jennifer Wexton, the SD 33 incumbent, was elected to Congress. Jennifer Boysko is running to replace her.
……As Virginia Democrats move toward the November, 2019 election, they want to have at least 19 incumbents. Jennifer Boysko should be one of them.
……Jennifer Boysko lives in Historic Downtown Herndon. Has done for more than twenty years. With her software engineer husband and two daughters. She’s been a Sports Booster. She’s been a PTSA member. Her church is there. Civic clubs, too.
……Jennifer Boysko grew up in Alabama. She went to college in Virginia — Hollins University. Still a women’s school. With a reputation for gentility. And for literacy, for writing. For personal attention. Fewer than eight hundred undergraduates.……Her first political job was for an Alabaman. She was an aide to Senator Richard Shelby – when he was a Democrat. She became a policy maven. Federal policy and local policy. She worked for a township supervisor in Virginia. She did particular work with homeowners groups. Governor McAuliffe appointed her as a Citizen Member of the state Real Estate Board.
……Jennifer Boysko was becoming a politician, not just a policy wonk. She was the Statewide Director for Howard Dean’s Presidential campaign. She ran for the House of Delegates in 2013. Lost by 32 votes. She completed the transition through training with Virginia Emerge’s first class.
……Jennifer Boysko ran for HD 86 again in 2015. The incumbent retired. Maybe he knew she was coming back. Other Democrats knew. No one opposed her in the primary. She won the general election 54 — 42 despite being outspent. This was expensive. She spent more than $475,000 for a Delegate seat. her opponent spent more than $650,000.
……Jennifer Boysko runs for the state Senate from a position of strength. She was finance chair of the Democratic caucus, a leader in the most important Democratic triumph in the House of Delegates. Virginia voted to extend Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
……Boysko’s campaign manager explaines they are focused on telling the people of SD 33 about Jennifer Boysko. They are not focused on her opponent Joe May. That’s OK if it is rhetoric. SD 33 may have become a Democratic district after Jennifer Wexton’s election (It certainly was not before.). Joe May is a former Delegate, a founder of a Tech Company. He has been defeated in Republican primaries because he is too moderate, too willing to work with Democrats. Moderate Republicans can succeed were extremists are out of place. Think about the Governors of Maryland and Massachusetts.
……Help Jennifer Boyskohttps://www.jenniferboysko.com/ introduce herself to all of SD 33. This is a brief campaign. The election is January 10. She will need resources for this brief campaign. People have been and are preoccupied with Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. Money counts. It gets attention. Will they spend over a million dollars in a couple of months? Help her out.
……The special election for HD 24 is a long shot. The Republican Delegate from HD 24 was also elected to Congress. The Special election is almost immediate — December 18. The Democratic nominee is Christian Worth https://www.worthfordelegate.com/. An undergraduate at Washington & Lee, she fell in love with Lexington, VA and with Ben Worth who was a Lexington local. While he taught and then served as an administrator at the local community college, she practiced law as a sole practitioner. She has been a volunteer in Democratic Party politics and in charities like the United Way.
……Christian Worth offers a five point plan for Virginia to support rural communities:
- Health Care — protect medicare expansion, expand mental health services, increase the authority of nurse practitioners
- Schools — return funding to pre-recession levels, bring school buildings to 21st century levels, and increase pay for teachers
- Workforce Development — more career and tech ed, a living wage for workers, and support for the small businesses that hire these workers.
- Broadband as infrastructure — broadband access to all.
- Clean energy — resist pipelines, invest in solar and wind energy, keep rural Virginia attractive for rural tourism and recreation
Does Christian Worthhttps://www.worthfordelegate.com/have a chance? This district is so Republican it is one of the very few for which Democrats did not field a candidate in in 2017. You can’t win if you don’t try. Democrats win when they contest everywhere. You become part of the grassroots support that creates unease among Republicans. Consider making a donation to Christian Worth. Now. The election is on December 18.
……One more thing. I have written a couple of Letter’s (Len’s Letters) which are more general. They discuss issues rather than urge support for Democratic candidates. I will write more. I’ve invited readers to submit Letters of their own. The invitation is still open. I would love to have Letters from other people. I will continue writing Notes about candidates though. Give money to candidates. If we are going to preserve a country with democratic and Democratic values, we must contribute to the cause.
|
