Juanita Jo Matkins lobbied her delegate in Virginia’s General Assembly with high hopes that he would support ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. During the 2018 session, Republican Delegate John McGuire co-patroned a resolution which sought to make Virginia the 38th state - and the final one needed — for the ratification process to move forward. After decades of trying, ERA advocates were about to take an important step toward finally enshrining gender equality in the US Constitution.
That resolution died in committee, never making it to a floor vote.
John McGuire likes to park his truck (illegally) along the side of the road while he stands nearby holding a sign advertising himself. It’s weird.
Matkins was hopeful McGuire would support the ERA again in the 2019 session and, perhaps, cast a critical vote to get it passed. To her dismay, McGuire flip-flopped. He voted against the ERA five times and, in constituents’ many conversations with him, was unable to provide any consistent or sound reasons why. He first claimed he didn’t understand the resolution he had agreed to co-patron a year earlier. He later offered a variety of other excuses.
The ERA died in Virginia’s House of Delegate by a razor thin margin. McGuire’s flip was one reason why.
Fed up, Maktins decided to take matters into her own hands and run for delegate herself.
A former public school teacher and college professor, Matkins has lived in the heart of Virginia’s 56th District for more than forty years, educating its young people and serving her community through her church and various volunteer organizations.
As a lifelong educator, Matkins is committed to fully funding public schools and raising teacher pay. She spent much of her career teaching science and later trained aspiring science teachers at the College of William & Mary. She is determined to improve climate science education to better prepare students to deal with the challenges of our climate crisis.
In Louisa, Virginia, her hometown, Matkins founded a chapter of Spread The Vote, a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding voting rights by helping folks get IDs for voting and to access other opportunities and services. She has been endorsed by Kat Calvin, Spread theVote’s founder.
“I have been lucky enough to know Juanita Jo as a dedicated volunteer, tireless advocate for the most vulnerable members of her community, and boundless source of energy and enthusiasm. I can’t imagine anyone better suited to represent her district in the Legislature!” Kat Calvin, Founder, Spread the Vote
Matkins supports no-excuse early and absentee voting, automatic voter registration, repealing Virginia’s discriminatory voter ID law, and ending felony disenfranchisement, a relic of the Jim Crow era.
And Matkins understands that one fundamental way to change state politics is through campaign finance reform. She isn’t accepting donations from large corporations or corporate PACS. Her campaign is powered by grassroots support from her community and beyond. Meanwhile her opponent pulls in thousands of dollars from Dominion Energy, Verizon, Pfizer, Altria, Comcast and other corporations whose only interest is their bottom line.
From his perch on the House Privileges and Elections committee, McGuire is a consistent voice against safeguarding and expanding voting rights. Last session, he voted against bipartisan legislation to allow one week of no-excuse in-person absentee voting in Virginia, a state with some of the country’s most restrictive voting laws.
As a member of the House Education committee, McGuire is an advocate for siphoning money from public schools, taking thousands of dollars from school voucher advocates. And when it comes to environmental science, McGuire even voted against a program that promotes reusing and recycling to elementary school students.
Juanita Jo surrounded by supporters
McGuire’s five votes against the ERA delivered a death blow to the resolution in 2019 but it inspired Juanita Jo Matkins to run for office.
With your help, she’ll deliver positive change and real solutions for her neighbors in 2020.
And, of course, cast a vote to ratify the ERA.
Help Juanita Jo clean House in November!
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