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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.

2023 Juneteenth Celebration Events

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1. At the Jefferson School (Saturday June 17)

2023 Juneteenth poster                 2-panel graphic: the white left side lists the concert musicians and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the right side in dark red gives date, times, and location of the 9am parade, 11am libation, and 12pm concert. in the middle is a rectangular black graphic showing the back of male slave, shirtless and chained arms outstretch, with the words "Emancipation and Celebration" underneath.

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center (JSAAHC) is celebrating Juneteenth this year on Saturday June 17th with a full day of events:

  • 9am Parade
  • 11am Libation ceremony
  • 12pm-3pm Concert (3 bands!)
  • 7:30pm CPG’s presentation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

For more information and to sign up (to walk in the parade, to get tickets for the evening play) click here.

2. Other Community Events

• 6/18 7:30pm Concert: Rock & Reel: Monticello’s Folk Traditions Sunday, June 18 | 7:30 pm | UVA Rotunda (register for limited in-person tickets or stream it live)
• 6/19 11am & 4:30pm historic River View Farm Juneteenth Tours (Ivy Creek Natural Area, 1780 Earlysville Rd.)
• 6/22 6:30pm Northside Library screening of The Lives Between the Lines documentary (Reclaim, Honor, Repair: Descendants of Enslaved Communities at the University of Virginia)

Primary Time = Voter Registration Time

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picture of a red white and blue colored button with a big red checkmark in the middle and the words "Voting Registration"

  • Early voting for the Democratic Primary (which in Charlottesville more or less determines the winners of the November General Elections!) continues through June 17 (Mondays-Fridays, and there will be Saturday voting on 6/10 and 6/17).
  • Do same-day registration when you early vote now through 6/17 at your Registrar’s Office.
  • Vote on Election Day 6/20 any time from 6am-7pm at your local precinct (when you use same-day registration at your precinct, you vote with a provisional ballot, which will be counted unless there’s some other problem).

Related Notes

  • As of Thursday morning, only 2 candidates had turned in paperwork to run for School Board (non-partisan seats)… and no others appear to be in the pipeline per the City Registrar. Anyone who might be interested in running can visit the State Board of Elections website, or call 434-970-3250, or email vote@charlottesville.org.
  • As of last week, Charlottesville led the state in early voting!!
  • City Council approved some changes to precinct boundaries and polling locations that took effect on April 7, in time for the June primaries. Around May 1 the Registrar’s Office sent postcards to all registered Charlottesville voters; if you didn’t get one, or if 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).
  • Whenever you cast your ballot, bring an ID that meets Virginia’s criteria (see lists of acceptable IDs in English, Spanish, Korean, andVietnamese). If you don’t have an ID, or forget to bring one, you can sign a form affirming your identity and you’ll still be able to vote a regular ballot.

Voter Registration Time = VR Team Time!

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Graphic showing 5 fingers, index finger pointing at the viewer, with 4 blocks of rectangles reading "We" "need" (both white letters on blue background) "You" (white letters on red background) "To Register Voters" (black letters on white background)Our wonderful voter registration team, led by Suzanne Michels and Barbara Shenefield, registered voters for the Democratic Primary up to the last minute; now registration moves to the Registrar’s Office (see above for times). The VR team will be at the Ix Market the next two Saturdays to educate folks about where to vote and who’s on the ballot.
There are few things more satisfying than signing up a new voter! You can visit this online signup form to see what dates we need people. We’d love to have more folks pitch in, and if you’re even a little bit of an extrovert, you’ll enjoy it! Or email suzemichels@gmail.com if you might be interested.
On a related front… we’re looking for volunteers for the June 20 primary so we can staff a table at each polling location (and the two discontinued ones, Tonsler and Alumni Hall), to thank voters for coming out and hand out information about upcoming events, newsletter, volunteer opportunities, etc.

Bon Voyage Bekah Saxon!

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photo of Bekah Saxon holding her VEA namebadgeBekah Saxon has moved from Charlottesville to take a job with the Connecticut Education Association, after many many years of great work here:
  • Her “day job” was organizing teachers with the Virginia Education Association, where she earned a major victory in March when the Charlottesville School Board became only the fourth division in Virginia to give its employees collective bargaining rights.
  • She served for years as Secretary (a stalwart on the Executive Committee, providing context and history whenever she could), as party co-chair 2020-2021 with Sharon Cannon Webb, and a fierce Voter Protection advocate who helped organize our local efforts in recent years (and our ace logistics person on Election Days, spearheading the gathering of materials to give to arriving voters and water bottles and other supplies for our volunteers).
We wish her and her very civically engaged wife Charlene Green (leaving later this year) and their amazing son Max the very best in this new phase of their lives… but both will be terribly missed locally!
Anyone who might be willing to help cover Bekah’s Voter Protection duties (even very short term!) should contact John McLaren at cvilledemschair@gmail.com .