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Winning in November, Option #2 — Canvassing Locally

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We’re partnering with the Albemarle Dems to ensure we win all our local races; with several uncontested City races, it makes sense to shift some of our energy.

Creigh Deeds 2023 campaign headshot. Creigh is wearing a light blue shirt and red tie

  • State Senate: Incumbent Senator Creigh Deeds is favored to win our crucial Senate District 11, but the district has some very conservative areas, and we can’t be complacent if we’re going to keep this seat. His opponent, Philip Hamilton, is quite a piece of work; among other claims to fame, he’s publicly misgendered his own 12-year-old, claiming that school teachers had poisoned his child’s mind into being non-binary. And he favors schools outing gay students to their parents (see below in “Preaching Beyond the Choir”). This is not someone we want representing us; please donate to or canvass for (or both) the Deeds campaign!
  • House of Delegates: Amy Laufer (our Albemarle County neighbor running in a competitive District #55 race) and Katrina Callsen (running unopposed in our District #54)
  • Charlottesville City Council: Natalie Oschrin, Michael Payne, and Lloyd Snook (running unopposed)
  • Charlottesville School Board: Amanda Burns, Shymora Cooper, Chris Meyer, and Nicole Richardson
  • Albemarle County Board of Supervisors: Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, Ann Mallek, and Michael Pruitt
  • Albemarle County School Board (ACSB): Rebecca Berlin, Judy Le, Ellen Moore Osborne, and Allison Spillman. A few notes about Allison’s race: she’s running against Meg Scalia Bryce, the daughter of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia-Bryce is (a) very concerned that the ACSB has been treating LGBTQ kids with respect and support, and (b) is very offended by its anti-racist curriculum. Scalia-Bryce has been winning the fundraising race by a wide margin, and we can’t let extremists like her (e.g. a big fan of the Moms for Liberty book banners) start taking over our local schools (per Forward Albemarle, all her kids attend private schools). Please help Allison’s campaign any way you can, especially via donations and canvassing help.

If you’d like to canvass locally (figure a shift is roughly 3 hours):

  1. On a weekday, please email karencombs6522@gmail.com .
  2. On a weekend, use SignUp Genius to participate in one or more of these coordinated canvasses:

Spreadsheet screenshot showing dates + start times + cities + locations of Fall 2023 Democratic canvasses as of 8-31-2023 - Some rows are highlighted in yellow

Combs’ Office map  Mudhouse Crozet map yellow=Weekends of Action emphasis

Please tell your friends and social media connections how important it is to vote (and maybe even volunteer!); we need to hit high vote counts in our area to offset more conservative areas!

Local Elections: Canvassing with the Albemarle Dems

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We’re partnering to ensure we win our local races (with several uncontested City races, it makes sense to shift our efforts!):

  • Photo of Creigh Deeds in a suit and tie talking with constituents. Caption is "Deeds State Senate"State Senate: Creigh Deeds is favored to win our crucial Senate District 11, but the district has some very conservative areas, and we can’t be complacent if we’re going to keep this seat. His opponent, Phillip Andrew Hamilton, is quite a piece of work; among other claims to fame, he’s publicly misgendered his own 12-year-old, claiming that school teachers had poisoned his child’s mind into being non-binary. This is not someone we want representing us; please donate to or canvass for the Deeds campaign!

 

  • Photo of Amy Laufer 2023House of Delegates: Amy Laufer (our Albemarle County neighbor running in a competitive District #55 race) and Katrina Callsen (running unopposed in our District #54)
  • Charlottesville City Council: Natalie Oschrin, Michael Payne, and Lloyd Snook
  • Charlottesville School Board: Amanda Burn, Shymora Cooper, Chris Meyer, and Nicole Richardson
  • Albemarle County Board of Supervisors: Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, Ann Mallek, and Michael Pruitt
  • Albemarle County Board of Education candidate Allison Spillman wearing her campaign t-shirt holding a microphone
    Allison Spillman

    Albemarle County School Board: Rebecca Berlin, Judy Le, Ellen Moore Osborne, and Allison Spillman. A special note about Allison’s race: she’s running against Meg Scalia Bryce, the daughter of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia-Bryce is (a) very concerned that the ACSB has been treating LGBTQ kids with respect and support, and (b) is very offended by its anti-racist curriculum. Scalia-Bryce has been winning the fundraising race by a wide margin, and we can’t let extremists like her start taking over our local schools. Please help Allison’s campaign any way you can, especially via donations and canvassing help.

If you’d like to canvass locally (figure roughly 3 hours):

  1. On a weekday, please email karencombs6522@gmail.com .
  2. On a weekend, use SignUp Genius to participate in one or more of the coordinated canvasses we’re doing with the Albemarle Dems, see the table below.

Spreadsheet screenshot showing dates + start times + cities + locations of Fall 2023 Democratic canvasses as of 8-18-2023. Some rows are highlighted in yellow.

Sign up using this Signup Genius link!

Maps:  Combs’ Office  Mudhouse Crozet

Note: yellow highlights show “Weekends of Action” emphasis

Big Picture: Winning Locally Is NOT Enough

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1-panel cartoon — a female white elementary school teacher holds a textbook called "DeSantis History", and on her blackboard is written "Florida African-American Studies". The teacher says "Slaves developed skills that could be used for personal benefit... like picking cotton, outrunning bloodhounds, waiting on white people, and Mandingo fighting." A white students, wearing a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt, says "Thank God they banned Critical Race Theory".Republicans control the House of Delegates and the Governor’s mansion, and Dems barely hold the Senate; if Republicans take the Senate, then Virginia will become Florida, which means forced childbirth laws, schools teaching whitewashed history, “don’t-say-gay” laws, and other measures to erase LGBTQ youth.

We can’t let this happen; all Dems need to help in some way. Here are four non-local races where our help can make a difference:

 

  • 2023 Clinton Jenkins headshot wearing suit and tie with American and Virginia flags in background Monty Mason 2023 headshot The state party’s political staff say that two must-win races are Senate District 17 (Delegate Clint Jenkins looking to move up) and Senate District 24 (incumbent Senator Monty Mason running in a redrawn district). These races aren’t in the neighborhood, but if you can send a few bucks, it can help us retain the Senate!

 

  • 2023 headshot of Susanna Gibson in her nurse practitioner medical gownIn not-too-distant HD-57, Western Henrico/Eastern Goochland, Charlottesville native Susanna Gibson is running in a no-incumbent, competitive district; we need to win this seat to have a chance at a House of Delegates Democratic majority. January 6 insurrectionist John McGuire represented about 55% of current HD57 voters in the old HD56, so we have MAGA voters to beat!

 

  • 2023 headshot of Lily FranklinLily Franklin is running for the HD-41 seat, around Blacksburg. Charlottesville Dems know her well from her excellent work on the Josh Throneburg campaign, and she’s exactly the sort of person we need in the House! She’s in a right-leaning district, but we believe Lily has a fighting chance if we pull together. The “Turn Out the Vote Thursdays” group will be helping her campaign, possibly including a road trip to knock on doors there.

Whatever you choose to do, please do something to help the good guys hold the Senate and regain the House! Thank you!

2016 headshot photo of Tom Garrett wearing a checkered dress shirt and holding a microphoneAnd re: bad guys (elections matter!): our former 5th District Representative, Republican Tom Garrett, now running unopposed for VA House of Delegates District 56, was back in the news yesterday re: his bitter divorce proceedings with allegations of spousal abuse, attempted suicide, and thoughts of having his chief of staff killed.

Successful “Summer Fun in the Sun” Picnic with the Albemarle Dems (7/30/23)

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photo of people sitting at picnic tables listening to speeches75 people turned out on July 30 and did have a lot of fun… and got to hear good, short speeches from most of our local candidates!

The Albemarle Dems were super well-organized and had everything running smoothly and brought plenty of good food; thank you Karen Combs and crew!

John McLaren coordinated getting gas grills (thanks to Rodney Beard and Jules Tatum for providing the equipment and transportation) and Martha Donnelly (game buyer extraordinaire), Emily Little, and Dan Doernberg organized the games, with cornhole provided by Josh Throneburg and Jason and Tom Vandever.

Erin Monaghan took the games and miscellaneous other things to our storage locker for the next picnic (everyone said we should do this again, and hold more joint events with Albemarle!).

 

photo of Creigh Deeds speaking and holding a microphone wearing informal shirt and slacks

Creigh Deeds

 

Photo of Amy Laufer wearing a white blouse and blue skirt and sunglasses at the picnic

Amy Laufer 

Albemarle County Board of Education candidate Allison Spillman wearing her campaign t-shirt at her booth under a tent
Allison Spillman

 

Photo of Lloyd Snook, Sheila Haughey, and Madison Cummings at the Albemarle+Cville Dems Picnic 20230730
Lloyd Snook, Sheila Haughey, and Madison Cummings

 

Dems standing in the food line at the Albemarle+Cville Dems Picnic 20230730
The food line

 

Photo of grill cooks Lewis Combs and Rodney Beard making meat and plant-based hamburgers at the 20230730 picnic
Grill cooks Lewis Combs and Rodney Beard

 

Photo of Tom Vandever and Brian Pinkston at the Albemarle+Cville Dems Picnic 20230730
Tom Vandever and Brian Pinkston

 

Photo of Karen Combs wearing a blue "Get Vocal Vote Local" T-shirt at the Albemarle+Cville Dems Picnic 20230730
Karen Combs

 

Photo of Carrson Everett wearing sunglasses and a blue "Get Vocal Vote Local" T-shirt at the Albemarle+Cville Dems Picnic 20230730
Carrson Everett

Photo of Dems at the at the Albemarle+Cville Dems Picnic sitting around before the speeches began

 

Report: June Primary Results

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Round graphic saying "Virginia is for Voters" put out by Virginia Department of ElectionsWe held our primary on June 20th. As Democrats, we believe in competition, and as a sign of our healthy, vigorous party, we had plenty of competition on the 20th! Our candidates for state and local races ran vigorous campaigns, full of positive ideas and proud Democratic values.

This is good for our party and for the Commonwealth, because it allows voters to see Democrats debating how best to move our economy forward to include everyone; to protect rights to healthcare; to increase access to housing; to prevent gun violence; to protect our environment; and to provide a better future for all Virginians. Republican primaries, on the other hand, tend to be contests to see which candidate can best attack the most vulnerable minority scapegoat of the moment; voters see this and notice the difference. Thanks to all of our candidates for making it clear what Democratic Party values are all about.

In the city council primary, Natalie Oschrin, Michael Payne, and Lloyd Snook won the nominations, congratulations to them… and thank you, Dashad Cooper and Bob Fenwick, for running and campaigning with honor and making us all proud.

In the 54th House of Delegates District primary, Katrina Callsen won the nomination; congratulations Katrina, and thank yous to Dave Norris and Bellamy Brown for running and consistently promoting beautiful Democratic values.

In the Senate District 11 primary, Creigh Deeds won the nomination. Congratulations, Creigh, and thank you Sally Hudson for running and standing for good government for all.

A SPECIAL WORD OF THANKS to the volunteers at the polling stations on primary day, who greeted voters and provided useful information, as well as to the precinct chairs who organized them. And to all the campaigns’ staff members and volunteers who knocked on countless doors and spread their candidates’ messages; you’ve all helped our party grow!

The voters were the real winners of this affirmation of the democratic process. Now we look forward to the general election in November, where we need to ensure that our excellent candidates win the offices we nominated them for!

VOTING IS TODAY (6/20!), Meet the Candidates

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Round graphic saying "Virginia is for Voters" put out by Virginia Department of ElectionsHere are the candidates running in all three Democratic Primary races (see a sample ballot here):
Vote any time from 6am-7pm at your (maybe new as of May 1) local polling place; find where to go here (and you can still register same-day!). If you have any questions about voting or your voting status, call the City of Charlottesville Registrar at 434-970-3250 (Albemarle readers should call the County Registrar at 434-972-4173).
Here are the candidates running in all three Democratic Primary races (see a sample ballot here):

State Senate District 11

(vote for only 1)
• Sally Lindquist Hudson (sallyforvirginia.com) — overview info
• Robert Creigh Deeds (senatordeeds.com) — overview info

House of Delegates District 54

(vote for only 1)
• Katrina Elizabeth Callsen (katrinacallsen.com) — overview info
• David M. Norris (votefordave.org) — overview info

Charlottesville City Council

(3 seats, vote for no more than 3)
• Natalie Oschrin (nat4cville.com) — overview info
• Robert F. Fenwick Jr. — overview info pending from candidate
• John Lloyd Snook Jr. (lloydsnookforcouncil.com) — overview info pending from candidate
• Dashad Lorenzo Cooper (dashadcooper.com) — overview info

Related Primary Notes

• Thanks to everyone who’s taken part in the process — candidates, campaign staff members and volunteers, Election Board members and election officials/volunteer poll workers, donors, the Registrar’s Office, and (most important) the voters. As Democrats and democrats (capital and small “d”), we care that American and Virginia elections are fair, efficient, transparent, and accessible to all our citizens!
• This has already been an exciting election (historically high early voting!) due to the hard work all of our excellent Democratic candidates have put in; they’ve all made us proud and are to be celebrated! Please show consideration and empathy to all the candidates and their staff members and supporters, regardless of who you supported; we need unity for future contests starting with the November general election against our Republican opponents!
• In that vein, some local Dems have organized a Primary Day watch party and invite all the campaigns to join in; it will start at 7pm when the polls close (cash bar, with some live music and limited appetizers provided) at Rapture on the Downtown Mall.
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