The heated and vicious Democratic primary in Virginia’s Tenth Congressional District is finally over. After a path of destruction was left in its wake, establishment-backed candidate, State Senator Jennifer Wexton (D-Fairfax), will now face off against Virginia’s Iron Lady, Congresswoman Barbara Comstock.
This will be one of the most carefully-watched congressional districts in the nation, as the Democrats are full steam ahead in their agenda to take back the House, using the Northern Virginia area as a national bellwether. As many have seen, Democrats have been campaigning and governing on a sentiment of resistance, both nationally and within state legislatures around the country.
Partisanship will be a major factor in the Wexton v. Comstock face off. Comstock’s district has been a safe Republican seat since her predecessor Frank Wolf won election in 1980, with him serving 16 terms as representative, working for the people of the district, not a partisan national agenda. Following his tenure, Comstock has taken a district-first approach to public policy and campaigning for two terms in the House of Representatives.
Unlike her, Wexton believes that divisive, politically-charged rhetoric will be what propels her into office. She is unashamedly the candidate of “The Resistance,” as her mentor, Congressman Gerry Connolly (VA-11), alluded to at her victory party on election night. Connolly said, “The resistance has to be represented in the United States Congress,” with Wexton being the poster child.
If elected, Wexton has vowed to embark on a progressive congressional agenda of big taxes and big government spending. As a self-described “tax and spend liberal,” she has pledged to roll back the Republican-led Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which has helped all taxpayers in Virginia’s Tenth District keep more of the money they rightfully earned.
Just remember, she plans on doing all of this despite the fact that her constituents in Loudoun County will greatly benefit from the federal tax overhaul. Moreover, there is a reason why there is record-low unemployment in the U.S. – sitting at a stable 3.8 percent – it is because companies are more in control of their profits.
Though, this doesn’t matter to someone like Wexton. She believes big government officials know better than the people in the private sector.
There is a movement within the Democratic Party in Congress to replace House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) as she continues her “aloof, frenetic and misguided” agenda in the House, which, as many have now seen, is based in resistance, not results. Though, this doesn’t change Wexton’s opinion and sheer idolatry of her friend the minority leader as she has said she will support her attempt to re-gain the speakership if the Democrats take back the majority in Congress.
Pelosi’s agenda is dangerous to Virginia. Currently, around 5.5 percent of the Commonwealth’s workforce is employed, either directly or indirectly, by defense contractors. With the proposed military spending cuts Pelosi is championing, they are not only bad for the Tenth District, but dangerous to the statewide economy.
Wexton’s “tax and spend liberal” attitude, a record she has proven in her years in the Virginia State Senate, is based wholly in partisanship, not what the people of her district elected her to accomplish. At a recent appearance just before the primary election, Wexton even declared her stance out loud to the crowd of onlookers saying, “I’m a tax and spend liberal, right?”
Yes…yes, you are.
Insofar as her care for average, everyday people is concerned, let’s analyze a recent campaign ad she put out. Wexton, in an ad dubbed “Change is Coming,” put her campaign staff in fake police costumes and refused to apologize even after receiving mass criticism and being forced to take the ad off the air.
One advertising consultant remarked on Wexton’s disingenuous ad by saying, “It’s beyond stupid.”
Days later, she quietly changed the ad on her YouTube channel, dumping the fake cops. However, the damage is done. Regardless of what Wexton and her spin doctors say, she has neither a relationship with the local law enforcement community, nor the respect for them.
The Democratic candidate has already attacked incumbent Comstock over her bipartisan legislation fighting MS-13 gangs, legislation supported by real law enforcement such as the Fraternal Order of Police and the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force.
Wexton is starting her general election campaign the same way in which her primary campaign began: grasping for relevancy. The next few months will include feeble-minded attacks from the Wexton camp and high-dollar Democrats who will attempt to smear the proven record of Congresswoman Comstock.
As was previously mentioned, Virginia’s Tenth District is not a highly partisan areas as are other district around the country. The constituents have enjoyed Comstock’s tenure as she has avoided the national political rhetoric in favor of what her constituents really need. For this election, the battle will be clear: resistance versus results.