Cville Dems

This Saturday, February 28th, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center is hosting its annual Liberation Day walk/run. The event route highlights the Black history of Charlottesville, and the money raised will benefit Black led organizations.

The Jefferson School is looking for volunteers to pass out race packets and other items to participants. The hours are 6 AM to 12 PM, and you will be located either at the Jefferson School or points along the route. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Nancy Damon at (434) 953-6890.

Looking for ways to help in the Vote YES! referendum fight? You can get everything from videos and graphics to share to postcards to messaging points here at VoteYes.us. Click on “Learn more / Help” and push back to level the playing field before it’s too late.

As campaigning across the Commonwealth ramps up before the April 21st election, there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer to fight for fair maps. Options include in-person canvassing, phonebanking, textbanking, and petition signing–all of which are great ways to make your voices heard. Below are links to sign up:

Weekly Text Banks — Sign up

Daily Phone Banks — Sign up

Charlottesville Canvassing, February 28th @ 9 AM – 3 PM (you may sign up for 3-hour shifts) — Sign up

Charlottesville Canvassing, March 1st @ 12 PM – 6 PM (you may sign up for 3-hour shifts) — Sign up

Petition Signing — Link

Redistricted Map Update

Over the weekend, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the proposed April 21st referendum to vote on new congressional maps can still be held. This comes after a lower court judge ruled that the referendum violated rules set forth by the state constitution. As the state gears up for this referendum, expect more information to be posted on our website in the weeks to come! Read more at this link.

Contacting US Senators

Currently, the United States Senate is considering the SAVE Act, a controversial bill that takes aim at voting rights across the nation. Most Democrats in the Senate have voiced their opposition, but more vocal opposition is needed. To read more about why this bill is bad, the Bipartisan Policy Center released a useful article, linked here.

The Brennan Center for Justice created a useful email and phone template that can be used when reaching out to representatives. At the end of this email, you can find the number for Senator Warner and Kaine’s offices. Make your voices heard!

“As your constituent, I urge you to oppose the SAVE Act. Studies show that requiring Americans to produce documents like passports or birth certificates to register to vote could block millions of eligible U.S. citizens from voting.

Current federal and state law already makes clear that only American citizens can vote in elections. And the National Voter Registration Act already requires citizens registering to vote to confirm their citizenship status. The SAVE Act would merely disenfranchise the more than 21 million Americans who don’t have documents like passports and birth certificates readily available.

We should be protecting the freedom to vote, not restricting it. Please reject this anti-voter bill.

Thank you,

[First Name] [Last Name]”

As some of you may have read, Speaker Scott and Senate President Lucas released the proposed redistricting maps for Virginia’s House of Representatives districts. This has been in the works for quite some time and will be voted on in a referendum on April 21, 2026 (more information to come). To read more about what the maps say, how it affects Charlottesville, and what a referendum will look like, this article by the New York Times provides a good overview.