Cville Dems

The Charlottesville Democratic Committee

Winning in November, Option #3 — Supporting Other VA Races

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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:

  • 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!
  • In the not-so-far-away HD-57, Western Henrico/Eastern Goochland, Charlottesville native Susanna Gibson is running in a no-incumbent, competitive district against a Republican who on Sept. 5 was secretly recorded talking about abortion saying he’s pro-life and “further restrictions might not be possible unless Republicans gain more seats in the legislature.” 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 HD57 voters in the old HD56, so we have MAGA voters to overcome!
  • Lily 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 Thursdays at Ix 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!

Winning in the November 7 Local Elections: Thursdays 4-7pm at Ix Art Park

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Poster using a wide variety of different letter and background colors used with the words "Turn out the Vote Thursdays phone bank grab a bite at a food truck write postcards to voters"We’ll be meeting every Thursday 4-7pm for “Turn Out the Vote Thursdays” at the Ix Art Park on the Brazos Tacos lawn, weather permitting. Come when and for how long your schedule and mood dictate; it needn’t be every week or the entire three hours! This week we’ll be writing postcards to newly registered City and County voters; if you can, bring a chair to sit on and a clipboard or something similar to write on.

There are lots of different ways to help over the next few months, do what’s most comfortable for you: door knocking, phone calling, voter registration, postcard writing, etc. For questions, please contact Mary Ann Harris: harrisma49@gmail.com .

For the past three years, we’ve been fortunate to have so many dedicated people join us at Ix Art Park to eat, drink, chat, and pitch in together to help our Democratic candidates win. In 2022, we had 100+ volunteers who attended at least one time, with many attending almost every week. If you’ve joined us before, please join us again. If you haven’t tried it yet, come on down and meet fellow Dems and enjoy yourself while working for a big win on November 7!

Mary Ann Harris, Nancy Damon, Suzanne Michels, Noemi Paz, and John Shepherd have been planning goals and volunteer opportunities to help hold the Senate and win back control of the House of Delegates! As in the previous years, the group will be:

  • Writing postcards and making follow-up phone calls to newly registered voters. That combination has been very successful, resulting in this group voting at a consistent 75-80% rate in 2021-2023.
  • Distributing “walk sheet” name and address lists of Dem-leaning people for our campaign canvassers to visit.
  • Sending some specific issue-message postcards (a new idea we’re considering).
  • Writing postcards and phoning Albemarle residents we’ve registered.
  • Writing postcards and phoning for campaigns near Charlottesville.

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