Last week, The Virginian-Pilot published the results of their campaign surveys for the House and Senate races in Southeastern Virginia. I thought I would take a few moments to translate/rebut my opponent’s answers so people know what is actually going to happen in Virginia if the Republicans retain control of the House of Delegates and gain control of the Senate.
The Pilot asked three questions of every candidate:
- What is your top legislative priority?
- Do you support or oppose Governor Youngkin’s proposed 15-week abortion ban?
- How should flooding and resiliency programs be funded if Virginia exits the RGGI agreement?
In an unsurprising stark contrast, my answer focused on revising the Virginia Constitution to remove the ban on same-sex marriage that is (currently) overridden by the Obergefell decision. In the 2023 legislative session, there was bipartisan support to begin this process that was stifled in committee by House Republicans.
My opponent focused on taking Virginia’s budget surplus and, as the GOP spent the entire summer attempting to do, introducing tax rebates and incentives that would have helped the wealthiest Virginians. According to Democratic Minority Leader Don Scott, “Every single Republican voted to give tax breaks to corporations” during budget negotiations (Source: Washington Post). Funding for education and mental health resources was listed as a secondary afterthought in his answer.
As for the second question regarding abortion, my opponent echoed the Republican rallying cry around Gov. Youngkin’s abortion ban. After the Dobbs decision last year, Gov. Youngkin declared that he would “happily and gleefully” sign “any bill that comes to my desk” regarding abortion bans. Jay Leftwich, like all Republicans in Virginia, are attempting to bait-and-switch a 15-week ban knowing full well that they have a governor who would be happy to sign a total ban once the Republicans have full control of the legislature.
As for the final question, my opponent’s true colors and loyalty shone brightly. Regarding RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative), a multi-state agreement to have energy companies provide financial resources for flooding and resiliency programs, Jay Leftwich demonstrated why Dominion Energy has donated over $120,000 to his campaigns over the years when he stated that taxpayers should be responsible for funding these programs so that “elected individuals rather than corporate utility companies remain accountable to the public.” In short, my opponent doesn’t think that corporate utility companies (like Dominion Energy, which is a *public* utility monopoly) should be accountable to the public!
The thing that people need to know is this: my opponent is not an extremist within his party. He represents in these views the standard platform of Virginia Republicans. We need support to continue to hold the line for abortion care, environmental protections, and funding for public education within our Commonwealth.