Virginia is holding massively important elections this year. At stake are majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and many local races (including control of counties that will factor into Democratic performance in 2020). Republicans hold razor-thin majorities in both houses and we Virginia Democrats are determined to change that reality. To keep Medicaid Expansion (which we barely got passed) and to make any progress at all on gun control, school funding (we are below Mississippi in how much we spend on each child), infrastructure, and protecting reproductive and LGBTQ rights, we have to win back both houses. A key race is that between two Amandas: Chase (incumbent, R) and Pohl (D).
Amanda Chase is a real piece of work whose bad behavior may have damaged her campaign. First she nearly deals herself a “Go Directly to Jail” card with her fat-shaming racism-tinged altercation with Capitol Police, wherein she tries to insist on parking in an area reserved for pedestrians.
UPDATE: Chase was recorded at a TEA Party meeting saying that the Police pretty much now let her park wherever she wants and that she should have let them now earlier that she was carrying a weapon (which she regularly does, sometimes openly in the General Assembly, but otherwise concealed).
Then, in a perverse interpretation of “sisterhood is powerful,” she blames unarmed rape victims for being rape victims- because, well, they go around unarmed. And THEN she just about shoots herself in the foot defending a gun ad that borders on a call to violence as I wrote about here.
Now the Richmond Times-Dispatch (RTD) reports that Chase is pouring her crazy over ICE and drinking it down. She’s accusing Chesterfield County Sheriff Karl Leonard, a fellow Republican up for re-election, of having turned Chesterfield into a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants. Hmmm… Well, for starters, Chesterfield County is a county and not a city, so it can’t be a sanctuary city. But that’s just the first sip of the Chase crazy cocktail.
Chase cites this RTD 2017 article as her proof. The article, however, shows that Leonard is following the law. He is notifying ICE when an undocumented detainee is going to be released, but is refusing to detain that person for an extra 48 hours as ICE (and the Trump Administration) would like him to do.
Small problem: A federal judge has ruled that the ICE/Trump policy is in violation of the Constitution. Surprise, surprise!
Sheriff Leonard said:
“They know it is illegal yet they insist I do it,” Leonard said of ICE. “They, ICE, want me to violate constitutional rights to make it easier for them to pick people up, but they would not be the ones being sued.” (from RTD article by Vanessa Remmers, June 14, 2017)
But the RTD has missed a few rounds in the Chase-Leonard showdown. Chase seems to have taken another long pull on that drink and is insinuating on her Facebook page that in 2003, Leonard illegally used workforce inmates to repair damage to his home after Hurricane Isabel, something he flatly denies, pointing to the fact that he was a) not Sheriff; b) not in the country, but serving in the Middle East.
Finally, just in case Chase isn’t already too fringey for suburban Republicans, let’s recall her alliances with Sen. Dick Black and Philip Van Cleave.
Black’s praise for war criminal Bashar al-Assad, with whom he has met, was picked up by Russia propaganda machine RT here and here (and elsewhere — check out YouTube). That didn’t stop Chase from using him as a draw for fundraising.
“Gunimals” Van Cleave is President of the extremist gun group, Virginia Citizens Defense League (Chase has a 100% rating from them). You can see his hilarious/scary take-down by Sacha Baron Cohen HERE, where he was led (quite easily) into agreeing that toddlers should be armed with guns disguised as toy animals so they could defend against school shooters.
So, please do take advantage of VA 7th for Progress’s matching fund opportunity and donate to the GOOD Amanda – Democrat Amanda Pohl! Let’s make sure Amanda Pohl has the resources she needs to fight the good fight and help us flip the Virginia Senate blue! Just think how that energy will carry over into 2020 and bring Virginia into the blue column!
Contribute HERE. Thank you!