Candidates

Six Finalists for Vacant City Council Seat

Posted on February 2, 2023

photo of empty Charlottesville City Council chambers

There were 20 applicants for Sena Magill’s former seat on Charlottesville City Council (this Daily Progress article gave short profile information about each) and today the City announced that it has narrowed the field to six.

There’s no election for this opening; the current City Council members will choose one of the six finalists to serve out Sena’s term on Feb 21. A public community input session will take place this Monday, Feb. 6; you can go to City Council’s meeting page if you want to sign up to get a seat at the live meeting, to get a link to watch virtually, or to register to participate or speak.

Here’s the alphabetical list of the all the applicants, with asterisks by the 6 finalists:

Kate Bennis	*Alex Bryant
Michael Cusano	Philip B. d’Oronzio
Donald J. Dunham III	*Kathy Galvin
Margaret Elaine Gardiner	James Louis Guidry Sr.
Sam Gulland	John Edward Hall
*Lisa D. Larson-Torres	Carla J. Manno
Sarah Moniz	*Natalie Oschrin
Rosia Parker	*Leah Puryear
John Santoski	Maynard Sipe
*Kristin Szakos	Christopher Charles Valtin

Three VA Early-January “Must-Win” Special Elections

Posted on January 6, 2023

Get out the Vote graphic reading "Calling All Democrats! Get out the Vote! Knock Doors Make Calls (for) Jand Harris Special Election Tuesday January 10" The image shows a January 2023 calendar with Saturday 7th - Tuesday 10th blacked out.

The three races below are critical to protect the progress we’ve made and for the upcoming legislative session. We have just a few days left to elect candidates who will support reproductive and voting rights, environmental protection, rule of law, etc. These aren’t our districts, but Democrats are all on one team and we need to show up for each other!

photo of State Delegate candidate Jade Harris 1. Our friends at Rural GroundGame need our help for the final 4 days of District 24’s 1/10 Special Election that will helpfully see Jade Harris win a seat in the House of Delegates!

Jade is the only candidate in the race with solid, local, political experience (she was Vice Mayor of Glasgow, VA) and has worked on funding for community infrastructure and gun violence prevention.

At this point she really needs physical and virtual “boots on the ground” for the final GOTV:

January 7, 8, & 9 — In-person AND virtual at 10am/Noon/3pm
Election Day 1/10 — In-person AND virtual at 9am/Noon/3pm

In-person meet-up locations:

Lexington: 11 S. Jefferson St. Lexington, VA 24450

Amherst: (location TBA)

For more details, please reach out to harris4va@gmail.com

2. Aaron Rouse, former Virginia Beach City Councilman (and Hokie/NFL football player) is running for VA-07 State Senate (Virginia Beach area). The election is Jan. 10th. Visit https://rouseforsenate.com to find out more about this excellent candidate, and donate here.

3. VA-35 (Fairfax County) has a January 7th Special Election. Holly Siebold is a progressive Dem (and Mom and Educator), and this is an important seat for us to keep blue! Visit hollyseibold.com for info about this excellent candidate, and donate here.

Aaron Rouse in group photo with people holding "Aaron Rouse for Virginia Senate" signs Holly Siebold photo with text reading "Delegate. Educator. Mom. Advocate. Progressive Democrat for Delegate. When I see changes needed in our community I don’t sit on the sidelines. I roll up my sleeves and get to work. That’s what Democrats do. I’ll do it every day."

Josh Throneburg Campaign: Final Election Day Push!!

Posted on November 3, 2022

Bob Good photo with "No" Slash mark across circle symbol over it

If you (rightly) think that Bob Good is a horrible extremist and a terrible Congressman, please invest a few hours to be the change you want to see!

You have lots of good ways to pitch in during the Get Out The Vote (GOTV) push that makes all the difference (ideally sign up at https://www.mobilize.us/joshforvirginia, but OK to just come out):

Josh Throneburg campaign poster showing Josh, his wife, and two children standing in a meadow

Thursday (TODAY): Former Democratic CD-5 Rep. Tom Perriello will be at Josh’s Headquarters for the start of the 1-4pm canvass; stop by to say hello and then canvass with us! We’ll meet at Josh’s Pantops office at 302 Hickman Rd. in the parking lot at the back of the building, where the office entrance is! Before you arrive, it’s a big time saver if you download the “Minivan” app we use to take down and input our canvassing data!
Thursday (TODAY): “Turn Out the Vote Thursdays” (see below)
Thursday (TODAY): Virtual Phone Bank (6:30-8:30pm) led by J4VA & Generation Ratify Virginia
Saturday: Canvassing in Charlottesville (10am, 1pm, 4pm), see Thursday above for details
Sunday: Canvassing in Charlottesville (10am, 1pm, 4pm), see Thursday above for details

Dr. Ivy Hinton: We Need to Vote!

Posted on November 3, 2022

Headshot photo of Dr. Ivy Hinton

[Dr. Hinton, our co-chair 2015-2020, posted this on Facebook yesterday]

It’s taken me a while to say this, I think because I can’t fathom the need to do so, but it’s not too late to say: we need to vote.

Not voting puts almost everything we value at risk. We’ve heard over and over the Republican plans for our future: impeach Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer, even Dr. Fauci (yes, they don’t value Dr. Fauci’s good work keeping most of us alive and well during a pandemic). These are not serious solutions to real problems.

We need to vote.

I too feel the concerns about the price of gas and food, but those are short term things; I feel an even greater distress about our democracy being at risk, and that’s not short term, that’s something we may not get back if we lose it. Racism and sexism are also on the ballot. We need to do better than shake our heads and shrug our shoulders: we need to vote.

The Democratic candidate Josh Throneburg is an ordained minister and owner of a small business, a husband and father. He said, “As the father of two young girls, and both of them are young women of color, you want to make sure that they’re going to have a future that is happy and healthy.” I believe him. I trust him. I want his way of thinking to represent me in Congress.

For that to happen… we need to vote.

Larry Sabato said that “VA-5 is a safe Republican seat this year”. But it doesn’t have to be a safe seat! The 5th District is the third most competitive district in the state; if we have a big turnout of Fifth District Democratic voters, Josh will win.

It may be asking a lot for everyone to go vote, but there’s a great deal at stake:

• Please make a plan for when you’ll vote (Early Voting is now through Saturday, polls open on Tuesday 6am-7pm).

• Please take a friend or two or three.

• Please save our democracy.

• Please: go vote.

Josh Throneburg campaign poster showing Josh, his wife, and two children standing in a meadow

If you want to help Josh’s Campaign #FlipThe5th and unseat Bob (No)Good, you have lots of good ways to pitch in these critical last 19 days of GOTV:

GOTV TIME (Help Get Out The Vote!!)

Lots of options, sign up at https://www.mobilize.us/joshforvirginia:

Wednesdays: Virtual Phone Bank (6:30-8:30pm)
Thursdays: “Turn Out the Vote Thursdays” 4:30-6:30pm at IX
Thursdays: Virtual Phone Bank (6:30-8:30pm) led by J4VA & Generation Ratify Virginia
Saturdays: Canvassing in Charlottesville (10am-Noon, 1-3pm) — meet at Josh’s Pantops office at 302 Hickman Rd. in the parking lot at the back of the building, where the office entrance is! Before you arrive it’s a crucial time saver that you download the “Minivan” app we use to take down and input our canvassing data!
Sundays: Canvassing in Charlottesville (1-3pm, see Saturday above for details)

2. Josh Throneburg-Bob Good Candidates Forum– Wednesday night 7pm on October 26th at Hampden-Sydney College’s Crawley Forum building. Space is extremely limited, so most of us will be watching remotely: you can stream it from Josh’s campaign website or look for it WSET (Lynchburg ABC 13). Note: if the Campaign announces anything special (watch parties??) for the debate last-minute we’ll let everyone know through our website, Twitter, Facebook, and email. Be thinking about undecided voters who you/we might invite to watch with you/us!

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