Well, that was a short vacation! Cheryl Turpin went to the mattresses for this seat in a special election in January, and we gave her great support. And now she’s ready to take up the banner again for VA HD-85, and we can once again step up to help her get it done.
We all know and love Cheryl. But for those of you who are new, she is a fierce advocate, especially for Virginia. In education she wants to trim mandatory testing time and put that time back into instruction, full day kindergarten for every child, and better technology support for teachers. For the Virginia economy she wants to increase infrastructure spending, create small business loans, and increase broadband access to spur small business growth. There is plenty more.
This district is definitely within reach. It’s a slim lean R district in my view, but it has been known to change its mind, even in off year elections. In 2013, Cuccinelli only beat McAuliffe by 2 points, yet Northam won as Lt. Governor by 6 points. Granted, Northam had a terrible opponent, and even the GOP was embarrassed by him. And Kaine beat Allen by 2 points in 2012, so this gate can definitely swing both ways.
This district itself is close, but again, the opportunity is there. Going back to the Warner-Gillespie race in 2014, the winning margins in GOP precincts was striking. In 5 precincts that Gillespie won, he did so by less than 100 votes. In another 4 precincts he won by less than 200 votes. Only 2 Warner precincts were won by less than 100 votes. So, this race can be won.
Cheryl is off to a great start here, in the special election we outraised him. That’s why the next 38 days are so critical for Cheryl, she can open up a sizeable funding gap while incumbent Rocky Holcomb has to sit on his wallet. She has another advantage as well. I don’t think she’s the kind of competition Holcomb is used to, due to her hard work in 2016, she’s now a known entity with name recognition. And she has shown herself to be a very capable candidate. Rocky, meet “Apollo Cree” my boy, you’re going down.
To learn more about Cheryl, her campaign website is HERE. And to donate to her campaign and give her the boost she needs, you can click HERE. So, let’s follow up Cheryl’s silver medal in 2016 with a trip to the gold medal podium in 2017.