Chase was exposed to COVID-19 but says she didn't know, Northam calls for special election, and more from VA politics

Chase has been exposed to COVID-19, Youngkin pledges to not raise taxes, and more endorsements for McAuliffe.

Feb 05, 2021

It is finally Friday. Here is the news.

*This newsletter is sponsored by the Legal Aid Justice Center. They partner with communities and clients to achieve justice by dismantling systems that create and perpetuate poverty. Justice means racial justice, social justice, and economic justice.*

Amanda Chase volunteer upset over not being notified that they were exposed to COVID-19 - Virginia Scope

Volunteers for Amanda Chase’s Republican gubernatorial campaign say that they were not notified of possible exposure to COVID-19 at an event with the senator last weekend.

A volunteer who attended a campaign event on Saturday at a gun show in Fisherville said she received a positive COVID-19 test on Wednesday. She then texted Chase’s executive assistant, Debbie Gwynn, notifying her of the result at 3:08 p.m., Wednesday afternoon.

Other volunteers and staff at the same event said that they were never notified of their possible exposure.

Gwynn told Virginia Scope on Thursday afternoon that she did not receive a text message informing her of a volunteer’s positive COVID-19 test on Wednesday, calling it “fake news.” Gwynn reiterated that in a second phone call, saying she “100%” did not receive the text.

Chase, who was among the crowd of volunteers that were exposed, initially denied having any knowledge of the text.

She told Virginia Scope that she asked Gwynn after our inquiry and her assistant responded with, “NO I HAVE NOT. Brandon Jarvis has contacted me twice and I have unequivocally told him, NO THEY DID NOT [send a text].”

Chase said that a few minutes before Virginia Scope reached out to her, a member of the Senate clerk’s office informed her on the Senate floor that someone called to let the clerk know that they were at a gun show with Chase and had tested positive for COVID-19. Chase said she responded with, “That’s news to me.”

Governor Ralph Northam calls legislative special session

Governor Ralph Northam called for a special session of the General Assembly to begin on February 10. This is happening because the Republicans in the House of Delegate and Senate chose to vote against extending the normal legislative the 16 days that they traditionally do in off-years.

Northam’s office said this special session will coincide with the conclusion of the current 30-day session that began on January 13, and will ensure the legislature can complete its work on the state budget and pandemic relief.

“People across our Commonwealth are facing tremendous challenges, and they expect their elected officials to deliver results,” said Governor Northam. “I look forward to continuing our work together to move Virginia forward.”

Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn released the following statement after Northam’s announcement: "Now more than ever, Virginians need their elected officials to work overtime to address the economic and public health crises caused by this pandemic. I thank Governor Northam for working with us and for calling a Special Session to extend the legislative calendar to 46 days as House Democrats originally supported. I look forward to working with our counterparts in the Senate and the Governor to continue doing the people's work and delivering on our promises to protect families, keep Virginia healthy and rebuild our economy stronger."

Virginia House Advances Guzman’s Paid Leave Bill for Essential Workers

The Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill on Thursday which would provide paid leave to essential workers.

House Bill 2137, introduced by Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Woodbridge, would require essential businesses to offer paid leave to their workers, according to the bill. Employees must be offered a minimum of one paid hour off for every 30 hours they’ve worked, although the bill does not prevent employers from offering additional paid time off. A qualifying employee must work at least 20 hours a week.

Businesses can apply for a hardship waiver, which would allow companies to opt-out of offering paid sick leave to employees if they can prove doing so would jeopardize business. The bill was amended to include an exemption for retail businesses with less than 25 employees, according to legislative records.

GOP candidate for Governor Glenn Youngkin Pledges to Not Increase Taxes as Governor

“Our government in Richmond has runaway budgets, and I believe in small government and efficient government,” Youngkin said on Thursday. “So today I’m going to sign a pledge to take care of Virginians as opposed to taking care of big government,” said Youngkin as he became the first Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia to publicly sign Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge. “As your governor, I’m going to look out for you and we’re going to get the cost of living in Virginia down.”

A firm that works for Attorney General Mark Herring released a poll on the primary race

Finally, we’ve got some polling on the Virginia Attorney General’s race…by “Global Strategy Group,” which works for Attorney General Mark Herring’s campaign. Herring is facing a primary challenge from Delegate Jay Jones (Norfolk).

Delegate Carter Joins Six House Candidates in Lawsuit on Safe Petition Circulation

On Tuesday, Delegate Lee Carter joined six other 2021 House of Delegates primary candidates in filing suit in Richmond City Circuit Court against the Virginia Department of Elections to allow mail and electronic submission of candidate petition signatures.

This comes a week after Carter and LG candidate Paul Goldman settled a separate suit, resulting in an agreement allowing mail and electronic submission of petition signatures and reducing the required 10,000 petition signatures for candidates for statewide office to 2,000.

Carter joins 2021 House of Delegates candidates Jennifer Adeli (HD 34), Patrick Fritz (HD 26), Rachel Levy (HD 55), Karishma Mehta (HD 49), Jennifer Kitchen (HD 25), and Dr. Mark Downey (HD 96) on Tuesday’s lawsuit.

“Fresh off the heels of my successful lawsuit with Paul Goldman to provide a COVID-safe petition collection process for statewide campaigns, I'm joining these candidates in insisting on the same protections for House of Delegates campaigns,” Carter said. “This is a matter of public health - campaigns should not become COVID-19 superspreaders.”

Spanberger Votes to Remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from Committee Assignments

U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today voted with a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives to remove U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) from her committee assignments.

“Congresswoman Greene has trafficked in hateful rhetoric and dangerous conspiracy theories that stoke division, impassion hate, and deny reality. That dangerous conspiracy theories are now welcome in the halls of Congress should concern every American, especially in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on our democracy,” said Spanberger. “Today, I voted to remove Congresswoman Greene from her committee assignments. No person who would deny the reality of Sandy Hook – where six-year-old children huddled with their teachers as they were murdered in their classrooms – or Parkland – where the lives of teenagers were violently ended – should serve on the House Education and Labor Committee. No person who would stalk and torment a young survivor of a mass school shooting and then proudly post the video of said torment on social media should serve on the House Education and Labor Committee.”

Charlottesville Area Leaders Endorse Terry McAuliffe for Governor

Former House Minority Leader and Charlottesville Mayor David Toscano
Former Congressman Lewis F. “L.F.” Payne (VA-05)
Former Charlottesville Mayor Rev. Alvin Edwards
Former 5th CD Congressional CandidateRoger Dean Hufstettler
Best-Selling Author John Grisham
Food Security Advocate Renee Grish

“As Minority Leader in the House of Delegates, I worked closely with Terry, and I saw firsthand how dedicated he is to improving the lives of Virginians every day. I’m proud of the fights we took on together, especially fighting to expand Medicaid coverage to more than 400,000 Virginians,” said Former House Minority Leader and Charlottesville Mayor David Toscano. “I know Terry will continue fighting boldly for all Virginians as our Commonwealth recovers from the economic and public health crises brought on by this unprecedented pandemic.”

Virginia Political Newsletter

Discussion about this post