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The rundown
Clean Virginia has given more than $1.7 million to candidates in the month of October. Find out which Democrats (and two Republicans) they are investing their money into.
A profile of SD-31, one of the most competitive districts in the state Senate.
Youngkin’s latest appointments.
SD-31 profile
While all 140 General Assembly seats are up for reelection next week, only a handful of districts will help determine which party has control in each chamber. The majority of Virginia’s legislative districts are skewed in favor of one party — but there are some highly competitive districts where we will not know who wins until all the votes are counted.
One of those districts is SD-31 in Northern Virginia. This district is based in Loudoun County and has seen millions invested in both candidates.
This is an open district with Republican Jill Vogel choosing not to seek reelection under the newly drawn boundaries. VPAP’s analysis shows that Glenn Youngkin won this district by less than one percentage point in 2021 and Democrats won the district by five points during federal elections in 2022.
SD-31 is made up of parts of Loudoun and Fauquier counties.
The two candidates are Juan Pablo Segura (R) and Russet Perry (D).
As of the latest filing deadline on Sept 30, Segura, the son of the incredibly wealthy Enrique Segura, has raised $2,864,595 in total. Perry has outraised Segura reporting $3,398,918 invested into her campaign.
On Sept. 30, Segura only had $26,354 cash on hand while Perry reported having $461,967 to spend in the final month.
The candidates
Juan Pablo Segura
Segura, a resident of Leesburg, serves on the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority Board of Directors. His appointment came from Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2022. VIPA was created in 2020 to support the life cycle of innovation, from translational research; to entrepreneurship; to pre-seed and seed stage funding; and to acceleration, growth, and commercialization, resulting in the creation of new jobs and company formation.
Segura also founded Babyscriptz, a virtual maternity care company in 2014.
Additionally, Segura also founded District Doughnut which now has multiple locations in Washington D.C.
Russet Perry
Perry, a resident of Loudoun, was a prosecutor in the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office after completing her education.
She has also worked as a CIA officer. Her website says she “worked every day, alongside people of various ideologies for a higher cause: protecting American citizens, our nation, and ultimately our democracy.”
The issues
Abortion:
Perry says she will work to protect a woman's right to make decisions about her own reproductive health care. She believes that such decisions should remain between a woman and her doctor.
While he does not mention it on his campaign website, Segura says in a Richmond Times Dispatch article that Youngkin’s proposal for a 15-week ban on abortion is a “reasoned proposal.”
Schools:
Segura says he wants higher academic standards, transparency, parental rights, and greater accountability in Virginia’s schools.
Perry is the child of a public school teacher. She says she “believes that no child, no matter their background, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, family income level, or social status should be denied the very best education possible and will fight to get politics out of Virginia schools.”
Economy:
Segura says he wants to lower the cost of living in Virginia while returning surplus tax dollars to Virginians.
Perry says she wants to bring down costs for things like health care and child care and that she will fight to lower taxes on middle-class Virginians.
Segura’s largest donor prior to Sept. 30 was the PAC being funded by his father of which he received $940,000. He also has received several large donations from Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC. They gave his campaign $250,000 prior to Sept. 30 and $300,000 more in the month of October.
Perry’s largest donor prior to Sept. 30 was the Senate Democratic Caucus which gave her $551,000. Clean Virginia also gave Perry $370,000 prior to Sept. 30. Clean Virginia gave Perry an additional $200,000 during the month of October.
