When I moved to Virginia in 2008, the 32nd district here in Loudoun County was represented by David E. Poisson, a Democrat. Delegate Poisson served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2006 - 2010. In November of 2009, in an electoral bloodbath for the Democratic Party in Virginia, he was defeated by Thomas "Tag" Greason, a republican. in 2011, Greason was reelected when he ran without opposition.
When the Democratic Party in Loudoun did not have a candidate to run against Greason early in 2013, Elizabeth Miller filed to run as an independent and soon after she was endorsed by the Loudoun County Democratic Committee. I was thrilled to see a Democrat running against Greason. I looked her up on facebook and sent her a message saying I wanted to help her defeat Tag Greason. This summer I hosted a meet and greet at my house to introduce her to people in my neighborhood.
She introduced herself to the 20+ neighbors. "I'm Liz Miller and I'm running against Tag Greason. Tag Greason voted for the trans-vaginal ultrasound bill and against the extension of the silver metro line into Loudoun. I think, those votes should have been reversed."
I looked around the room and noticed a lot of blank looks. The trans-vaginal ultrasound bill isn't that high on everyone's radar here in my over 55 community. But most of the group liked the idea of the metro extension and during the question and answer session, Liz demonstrated a comprehensive grasp of Virginia, past and proposed legislation and how it affected our county.
Liz has been going door to door in Loudoun, introducing herself to voters. She always opens similarly to the way she did at the meet and greet, explaining that she thinks Tag Greason's votes on the Trans-vaginal ultrasound and metro bills should have been reversed and that she hoped the voter agreed. I've gone with her and saw that when a man answered, he usually got a blank look when she said "trans-vaginal" but then were back in the game with the mention of metro. I suggested that if a man answered she might want to lead with the metro bill, and she tried that a few times.
Liz is passionate about her opposition to the Trans-vaginal ultrasound bill and women's reproductive rights and her passion is contagious. Truthfully, this was an issue that wasn't high on my radar until hearing her talk.
I've lived in Maryland all my life and had taken women's reproductive rights for granted. Living in Virginia, I've become more aware of how fragile these rights are. A friend here in Virginia told me about her daughter who had a heterotopic pregnancy (where both extra-uterine (ectopic pregnancy) and intrauterine pregnancy occur simultaneously). Her doctor wouldn't perform the abortion on the ectopic pregnancy which was necessary to save the intrauterine pregnancy, probably because he feared if he did he could face criminal prosecution. Fortunately, nearby Maryland was an hour away, and Maryland law allows decisions about a woman's life and reproductive health to be made by the woman and her doctor. The daughter went to Maryland where a doctor performed the abortion, saving the intrauterine pregnancy, and most probably the woman's uterus.
Terry McAuliffe is doing very well in recent polls and is likely to win the governorship, but he won't be able to undo the oppressive legislation the republicans have enacted in the past four years by himself. To roll back this legislation, we need to put Democrats in the House of Delegates. The 32nd district was won by President Obama both in 2008 and 2012. The seat is winnable.
If you live in the district, or know anyone who lives here, please help get the word out. Here's her campaign page
http://millerhousehold.com/...
and if you can contribute, here's her Act Blue page:
https://secure.actblue.com/...