DNC launches a multi-state ad highlighting Democratic COVID-19 response
The latest in Virginia politics.
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The DNC launches a new multi-state ad campaign highlighting Biden’s COVID-19 response
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is launching a multi-state ad campaign this week highlighting the Democratic response and policies to COVID-19 in 2021. The ad will be airing in the Richmond media market.
The ad highlights the return to normalcy after the pandemic. “July Fourth.The American holiday. A celebration of freedom. And this year, there’s more to celebrate. The freedom to hug a grandchild. To see a baseball game in person. To come back together, again. America, leading the world out of a global pandemic, with honesty and compassion. America’s journey continues. Through fireworks and parades, to build a better future. A future that only we the people can make, together. America -- we’re coming back.”
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison says are running the ad across the country because they wanted to tell Americans that they believe the reason the country is able to reopen now is due to the newly-elected Democratic government. “After 16 months of isolation and uncertainty, thanks to President Biden and Democrats, America is finally coming back together,” Harrison said. “Because of the American Rescue Plan, shots are in arms, checks are in bank accounts, small businesses are reopening, and our country is getting back on track. As Americans get together this July 4 to celebrate our independence, the DNC is making sure they know that President Biden and Democrats are delivering for them.”
Attorney General Herring joins calls for FBI to add non-binary gender designation to Uniform Crime Reporting system
Attorney General Mark R. Herring has joined a coalition of attorneys general in urging the FBI to add a new, non-binary gender designation to its Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system. Herring’s office says that this will protect non-binary individuals’ interests by affirming their gender identity and improve the accuracy of federal and state crime data collection.
“The rate of violence or harassment against non-binary individuals is already high, but too often, they may choose not to report an incident for fear of being misgendered throughout the process,” said Attorney General Herring. “We must make sure that non-binary individuals feel comfortable coming forward if they have been the victim of a crime, which is why I am joining my colleagues in calling on the FBI to immediately make this change, sending a strong message to non-binary Virginians and Americans that they are recognized and protected.”
The FBI generates national crime statistics by asking law enforcement agencies across the country to submit crime data to the UCR program, which currently allows only male or female gender designations. As a result, law enforcement agencies encounter errors if they attempt to submit crime incident data in which individuals have been identified as non-binary.
In the letter to FBI Director Christopher W. Wray, Attorney General Herring joined 20 other attorneys general in asking that the FBI act swiftly to add an “X” gender code, which indicates that an individual is non-binary, to the UCR system to allow the states to affirm non-binary individuals’ gender identities when collecting and sharing crime data.
The letter acknowledges that the FBI has already begun to consider the addition of adding a non-binary gender designation to the UCR and calls on the FBI to promptly make this change.
In sending the letter, Herring joins the the attorneys general of California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
Republican lawyers interviewing for Va. redistricting job say Biden was rightful 2020 winner - Virginia Mercury
by Graham Moomaw
As the Virginia Redistricting Commission held three interviews with lawyers that might be hired to help redraw the state’s political districts this year, one question stood out from the rest: Who won the 2020 election?
For the two Democratic lawyers, saying President Joe Biden won was never in doubt. But a pair of Republican lawyers agreed with that assessment, even though one of their firms, Taylor English, represented the Trump campaign in its efforts to challenge the result in Georgia.
Petition against Louise Lucas seeks to do the unprecedented — recall a Virginia lawmaker - Virginian-Pilot
A group of Hampton Roads voters filed a petition against powerful state Sen. Louise Lucas last week and triggered something never done before: the potential recall of a Virginia lawmaker.
Experts say this is likely the first time a group of voters has tested the state’s law for a recall trial against a state legislator. At least five political science experts interviewed by The Virginian-Pilot couldn’t remember it happening before.
Stay tuned for another update later this morning. I am hoping to have an explanation from Politifact today after they announced that they are retracting an article from Tuesday that accused McAuliffe of misleading people in an ad.
