Virginia's Public Square
Virginia's Public Square
400 years to the day after George Yeardley arrived in the British colony of Virginia to assume the governorship, the House of Delegates released its ambitious, multi-year project to record and share biographical sketches and legislative information on the men and women who have served as Burgesses or Delegates since 1619.
Northam’s cash haul this quarter? $2,500 — that’s it.
With roughly 200 days until the election, every Republican needs to make a serious commitment to small dollar fundraising, writes Eric Wilson.
D.J. Jordan, the Republican candidate for the 31st House of Delegates District, will face Delegate Elizabeth Guzman (D-Dale City) at the ballot box in November.
Over two months after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) came out with his wholehearted support of a highly controversial late-term abortion bill, his subsequent “infanticide” comments on the matter, and was hit with the release of racist photos from his past, the national media has packed up and left Richmond, but Virginians across the Commonwealth have not forgotten.
In the latest fallout from his scandals, Northam’s appearance at a fundraiser in Northern Virginia for a Democratic state senator ahead of the 2019 elections was cancelled after dozens of protesters showed up.
Last week, it was announced that Northam would be attending a campaign kickoff event for State Senator Dave Marsden (D-Burke) in the legislator’s home district.
Even though Marsden backed widespread calls for the governor to step down from office beginning February 1 in order to allow Virginians heal from the emergence of the shocking, racist photos, he completely flipped on his position to place a stark condemnation on Northam.
Just days after the announcement of the event, the Fairfax County NAACP and the Virginia GOP started to organize a protest as photos reportedly showing the governor appearing in blackface or dressed in KKK robes remain unexplained.
Although the two groups are on different sides of the political aisle, they have found one thing they can agree on: their dislike for Governor Northam.
Less an one hour before Northam was scheduled to appear at the fundraiser, his presence was cancelled due to “safety concerns.”
In a short interview in defense of the embattled governor, NBC 4 reports that Marsden, after having the headliner of his reelection fundraiser drop out because of protesters, still does not see Northam as a liability.
“He’s been an effective leader, and we want to work with him,” Marsden said.
When asked about his blatant flip flop on his call for Northam to resign, Marsden added, “Politics is a tough business…We made a recommendation to the governor that he might step aside…he chose to stay and do what the people elected him to do.”
What Marsden actually means is that in an election year, lawmakers have principles, but if they are not conducive to getting reelected, they can be changed.
Regardless, as always, financing is set to become the main problem to improve traffic congestion on Interstate 95.
Where Virginia Governor Ralph Northam goes, protesters shall follow.
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke is scheduled to make appearances all over Virginia next week as the Commonwealth becomes a 2020 battleground state.
Speaker Kirk Cox leads with this heartfelt ad that tells you precisely what is at his core and why he is a conservative in the first places — the honor of public service.
Pretty powerful ad.
One of the key things Cox touches on the advertisement is his elevation to Speaker of the House, a role he entered as Republican fortunes nosedived across Virginia.
Nevertheless, Cox has not only brought a steady hand to the wheel of government, but he has also shored up support back home — who need few reminders that Kirk is still working for them.
A textbook ad… but one that shows you how lucky Virginia is to have Speaker Kirk Cox behind the dais.
Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) teased his intentions about jumping into the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential primary by using Twitter to go after President Donald Trump.
In a series of strange tweets, McAuliffe posted a meme of a crab on top of an alligator, which is supposed to represent Trump, for some reason. This would also imply that the crab represents McAuliffe, which is also interesting.
On Wednesday, McAuliffe, a man who will do anything for money, also told attendees at the North America’s Building Trades Union (NABTU) conference an amusing story about his alligator wrestling skills and how that would play into his 2020 bid for the White House.
“[Out] of all the candidates running, how many have actually wrestled a 280-pound, eight-foot alligator for a political contribution for $15,000?” he said. “If I can wrestle an alligator, I can sure as hell wrestle Donald Trump, boy, and that would be worth it. And you’d pay money to watch that debate.”
McAuliffe also posted a picture of himself on Twitter from 1980 in which he wrestled an alligator in exchange for a contribution to President Jimmy Carter’s campaign, which is juxtaposed with a picture of Trump.
McAuliffe’s comments about wrestling President Trump are not the first time he has spoken in an aggressive fashion about the commander in chief.
In January of last year, McAuliffe fantasized with fellow liberal Chris Matthews during an interview on MSNBC’s “Hardball” when Matthews asked the outgoing governor about what he would do if President Trump ever “got in his space.”
McAuliffe replied, “You would have to pick him up off the floor,” adding, “That would be the last time Donald Trump ever did that.”
Recently, McAuliffe told conservative radio host John Fredericks that he is “very close” to making his decision on whether or not he will run for president. If his pre-campaign teasers are any evidence of what he will do in the next 19 months, McAuliffe is set to campaign weird, quickly.