Article by Sarah Tocco
There is no need to rehash the election or the rippling wave of distressed citizens resulting from it. The heaviness that fell upon the nation, soliciting a consciousness unparalleled in current history, serves well enough as its own reminder – the world now feels dark. Perhaps we took it for granted that this outcome would never actually come about; a surreal sense of privilege that our victory was ensured. Regardless, we woke November 9th to a sobered view of this reasoning, with a desperate plea for a mistaken outcome, with the burden of reticent remorse. Regret turned to sorrow turned to anger, and the taciturn to a wave of pink hats usurping the streets of every major city in America (and beyond). The emergence of a matured electorate, chastened by the dampness of defeat’s cloying embrace, took to the internet in a feverish zeal.
We became active, energized, and fastidious, laboriously tracking down our local congressmen and congresswomen, often times to no avail. We began to organize, penetrating every possible form of resistance, leaving nothing unscathed. Postcards in waves, phone calls, emails, faxes, signs, protests, articles, secret groups, anything that would release us from that swinging pendulum of power that had landed us on the side of impotence. What can we do?
Two years is a long time to reconcile this mess. Two years until the midterm elections. Two, long, years until we have to lure the democrats out of their pink hats and back into the voting booths. Every day, the President or his Administration inserts another falsity into the airwaves of American gullibility. Fallacies are nothing new to politics, but they seem more didactic when presented via Twitter at the tiny hands of our Commander-in-Chief. And so, lest we allow truth to collide with desertion, we scream from the tips of our fingers as we angrily type out a Facebook post, or press “share” on an article with unmistakable conviction; we welcome a new set of logical “facts” that reinterpret the naiveté of the past. And we wait – two years –until midterm elections.
Except in Virginia.
This is what we can do. Virginia has off-season elections and here is why all of America should care. Only two states have an off-season election this year, Virginia and New Jersey. New Jersey is considered a foregone conclusion and leaves Virginia alone as a swing state that solicits time, money, and a lot of attention from political parties.
While consistently swinging far to the right in its state representatives, most damage can be averted by the blue seat at the Governor’s level, but all of them are up for re-election this off-year cycle. It has largely been assumed that no one can win the presidency without winning Virginia, a theory which obviously fell flat this last November. Nevertheless, Virginia remains competitive; a former red state turned purple with its blue status for the past three elections, its 13 electoral votes are coveted by both parties. If the Governorship turns red this year, a Republican measure splitting how our electoral votes are distributed could pass, and if it is passes, it will be much harder for the Democrats to win Virginia, and therefore the presidency – and this why every Democrat in America should care.
Chesterfield County, one of the largest jurisdictions in the Commonwealth, is typically a Republican pillar; most elections can be called for the state in a presidential election if the Republican candidate receives over 55% of the vote. In 2012, Mitt Romney only received 53%, a sign that trouble lie ahead for the candidate in Virginia, and therefore the country as a whole. In 2016, however, no candidate made it over 50%. Donald Trump received just 48% of the vote, with Hillary close behind at 46%. Chesterfield was not excited about any candidate; a microcosm of the whole of America.
Virginia overall is pretty equal in electoral sway from red to blue, but due to surgical political gerrymandering, the state House is overwhelmingly Republican. Many Delegates have not only been in their position for decades, but often run unopposed. That’s about to change. Kirk Cox (R, H.D.66) The Majority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates, who represents a large portion of Chesterfield County, has been in office for 27 years, and for the first time in 22 years he has a Democratic opponent. Katie Sponsler may have a steep road to oust the long-time incumbent, but that isn’t stopping her, nor is it stopping the other challengers that have awakened within Virginia to face a battle seemingly impossible to win. In some districts, there are three democratic challengers vying for the candidacy. One district that has recently come into play is House District 72, where the Republican incumbent, Jimmie Massie, has just announced his decision not to seek re-election. Schyuler VanValkenburg, a passionate progressive and an educator, is the Democrat running in this district against a new Republican opponent, and without an incumbent in this next election, his district is winnable. Out of all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, the Democrats will now challenge 45 in red-leaning districts.
Even Newt Gingrich has been rallying his conservative base with letters stating that “even if you don’t live in Virginia, this race impacts you. If the Democrats are able to say they won in 2017, it will have huge implications for 2018.” He is right. The whole country is looking for the “Trump effect,” and if they see it in Virginia’s elections, his devoted conservatives may begin to change their tune – and that affects every state. Newt warns that “Dems are enraged and engaged,” and he is focusing on distributing massive Republican funds into our Governor’s race. Virginia is a state that Hillary won by five points, if we can’t flip some House seats this year, and elect another Democratic Governor, then the Democrats have huge problems moving forward.
So here it is, all you itchy and motivated Democrats. Here is your opportunity to do something before the mid-term elections. Pour your resources, your talent, your ideas, your motivation, your articles, and your attention into the Commonwealth’s off-year election. Come all you PBS-watching, NPR-listening, Meals-on-Wheels-receiving, bleeding heart progressives and support Virginia’s race of underdogs. The Republicans are watching, the country is watching. Help us deliver the first electoral back-handed slap-in-the-face, unarguable defeat to this Trump Administration, by contributing to as many Virginia Democratic campaigns as you can muster. Put down the protest sign and pick up the checkbook. Put your feet to the ground and your fist to every door in Virginia. This is one election we cannot afford to lose. With Presidential elections only receiving a mere 55% voter turnout and midterm elections at low 37% turn-out, we must face the very real problem that off-year elections typically run as meager as 28% voter turnout. This simply cannot stand this year. Democrats have to embrace all of their groups – the Democratic Party, Indivisible Groups, TWW, March Forward VA, LWCC,etc. – and mobilize the biggest voter turnout in history. Rent some busses, get folks to the polls, turn it into a festival (I will make pastries), whatever it takes, Democrats need to vote.
To keep up to date on all the Virginia races, check out The Full Slate Project.
Donate to Ralph Northam in his run for Governor
Donate to Tom Perriello in his run for Governor
Donate to Katie Sponsler in H.D. 66
Donate to Schuyler VanValkenburg in H.D. 72