Earle-Sears has several meetings scheduled in Richmond today
Plus a look at SD-07 and the incumbent, Sen. Bill Stanley.
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Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has several meetings scheduled today in Richmond.
10:00 AM: LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR EARLE-SEARS DELIVERS REMARKS AT THE INTERNATIONAL FRANCHISE ASSOCIATION'S "OPEN FOR OPPORTUNITY" ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION.
1:00 PM
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR EARLE-SEARS RECEIVES A BRIEFING FROM SECRETARY OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY, ROBERT MOSIER.
3:00 PM: LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR EARLE-SEARS RECEIVES A BRIEFING FROM SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND TRADE, CAREN MERRICK.
4:00 PM: LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR EARLE-SEARS RECEIVES A BRIEFING FROM SECRETARY OF LABOR, BRYAN SLATER.
At the Chesterfield County Fair, both state Sen. Amanda Chase and former state Sen. Glen Sturtevant have a table talking to potential 2023 primary/convention voters. They are both seeking the GOP nomination in SD-12. Tina Ramirez is also seeking the Republican nomination.
Governor Glenn Youngkin is planning to attend the Chesterfield County Fair tonight.
Former Secretary of State for President Donald Trump endorsed Hung Cao in VA-10
Cao is running against Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D).
A reminder of the new VA-10 electorate profile after analysis from VPAP:
Terry McAuliffe won VA-10 with 50.5% of the vote in 2021
Tim Kaine won VA-10 with 58% of the vote in 2018
Ralph Northam won VA-10 with 54% of the vote in 2017
The Obscenity Pivot: Virginia Republicans are testing a new way to ban books and restrict their sales. In the long run, it might just work. - Slate
BY DAN KOIS
At the end of August, in a courtroom in Virginia Beach, a judge will decide whether to put two books on trial for obscenity.
This is a strange sentence to write, and I expect a strange sentence to read, because these days books don’t go on trial for obscenity. Books haven’t really gone on trial for obscenity since landmark 20th-century cases determined that first James Joyce’s Ulysses, and then Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, could not be banned by the government. Like most Americans, you might believe books have a settled status in our culture—that even if they contain sexual material, they’re protected by the First Amendment.
Tim Anderson disagrees. He’s the man trying to get the books declared obscene—and, in the process, change obscenity law in the United States. Anderson, a lawyer and Republican Virginia state delegate whose district includes Virginia Beach, will argue the case later this month. (Another Republican, Tommy Altman, filed the petition; Altman recently lost his primary for a House seat in Virginia’s 2nd district.) The petition is a new twist on recent right-wing attacks on materials that address sexuality, gender, and race. Rather than demanding that school boards or librarians remove books, the current case takes the books to court, using an obscure Virginia law that would allow the judge, if she found the books obscene, to ban bookstores, libraries, and even private citizens from selling or sharing them, everywhere in Virginia.
Axiom Strategies Acquired Pennsylvania’s Hallowell, Brooks & Pontarelli Consulting
The political consultant firm behind Glenn Youngkin’s 2021’s gubernatorial run acquired Hallowell, Brooks & Pontarelli (HBP), a Pennsylvania-based political consulting firm. Hank Hallowell is joining Axiom as a senior consultant, Rob Brooks as vice president and political director, and Anthony Pontarelli as a senior associate.
“We are thrilled to bring Hank, Rob, and Anthony on board the growing Axiom team,” said Axiom founder and CEO Jeff Roe. “Their vast experience in Pennsylvania Republican politics is key to serving Axiom’s extensive network; and their political skills will fuel our continued success and growth, as we keep succeeding in electing Republicans at all levels of government across America.”
“It is an honor to join the Axiom Strategies team, as we strive to increase the number of Republican officeholders in Pennsylvania and expand our footprint in the tri-state region,” said Rob Brooks. “Axiom is the premier campaign service provider and their unsurpassed national connections will enable us to further our growth. We’re excited to put those resources to work in the Commonwealth and bring our clients and candidates to victory.”
Over the next month, I will be highlighting each Senate and House district ahead of the 2023 Virginia legislative elections. The elections are over a year away but candidates are making moves to try and get a leg up on potential primary opponents. This will be a guide for each district as we get closer this November when the state legislative races will begin to really heat up after the midterms.
Republicans are hoping to take the majority in the state Senate and keep the majority in the House of Delegates to enact Governor Glenn Youngkin’s full agenda. Senate Democrats with their 21-19 majority are the only thing stopping Youngkin and Republicans from achieving every goal and 2021 campaign promise.
SD-07
SD-07 encompasses Franklin County, Henry County, Carroll County, Patrick County, Grayson County, Floyd County, part of Wythe County, Martinsville City, and Galax City. The district is 82% White, 11% Black, 5% multiracial, and 0.4% Asian. The incumbent is Republican Bill Stanley.
According to an analysis from VPAP, Republican Glenn Youngkin won this district by 50 points during 2021’s gubernatorial election.
Stanley has been serving in the state Senate since 2012.
He serves on the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources - Judiciary - and Local Government Committees
He started a law firm with his mother in Franklin County.
He went to Hampden Sydney and received a law degree from the University of the District of Columbia.
The Money
Stanley raised $10,950 during the first six months of this year leaving him with $99,199 cash on hand.
During the last 3 years, Stanley’s largest donors have been Dominion Energy ($35,000), The Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (9,500), The Virginia Auto Dealers Association ($6,000), Allen Allen Allen & Allen (5,000), and John Newberry ($5,000).
Stanley has no Democratic or Republican challengers at this time.
A day without us
In response to the overturn of Roe v. Wade, Organizers from across the country announced the upcoming DAY WITHOUT US, National Teach-In via a full-page New York Times ad. The ad calls on all women and allies to stay home on Friday, September 30, which is also the 46 anniversary of the Hyde Amendment.
Organizers are asking participants to “stop business as usual and remove themselves from their daily routines to demonstrate power and autonomy over how they use their bodies.”
Instead of work and school, individuals can participate in an online teach-in and other local events across the country. The campaign will kick off with a live launch event this evening, Tuesday, August 30 at 7pm ET/4pm PT online at daywithoutus.com.
“Day Without Us is a day of disruption, learning, activation and community building. The current conditions require that we exercise our power in both new and familiar ways,” said the campaign director Tiffany Flowers. “Our bodies that our government exerts more control over daily- fuel and drive all of the systems that keep this country running. We will remove ourselves from our daily routines and join a mass teach-in to understand how the fight for reproductive justice is a fight for all of our freedoms -- and learn how to plug into the fight from where you are.”
Supporting organizations include Ford Foundation, Black Trans Fund, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, National Birth Equity Collaborative, National Lawyers Guild, Working Families Party, Movement for Black Lives, Ben & Jerry’s, Color of Change, Moms Rising, Advancement Project, MoveOn, Black Voters Matter, and Black Men Build.
What the Census Reveals About Your Locality - VPAP
VPAP has launched a new demographics dashboard that allows you to see trends in population, racial diversity, educational attainment, home ownership and more in your community. You can see how your locality measures up with the surrounding region and Virginia as a whole. This dynamic page resets for each of the 133 cities and counties in Virginia.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will campaign with Paul LePage in Lewiston - Bangor Daily News
by David Marino Jr.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican whose victory last year sent shockwaves across the political sphere, will campaign with LePage at a “special campaign fundraiser” in Lewiston on Sept. 7.
Youngkin’s appearance is part of efforts to help Republican gubernatorial candidates Democratic-leaning and politically mixed states, Kristin Davison, his political advisor, said. Such assistance was helpful for Youngkin’s own campaign last year, she said.
Youngkin's affordable housing comments miss mark, advocates say - Washington Journal
"The solution to this problem is not more subsidies or loan programs," Virginia's governor recently said. The Virginia governor’s recent comments favoring land-use deregulation toward making housing more affordable are partly correct, but fall short of what’s required to serve the Commonwealth's lowest income households, housing activists say.
At a joint address to General Assembly money committees Aug. 19, Gov. Glenn Youngkin lamented that “the cost to rent or buy a home is too expensive.”
“The solution to this problem is not more subsidies or loan programs,” he said. “Instead, we must tackle root causes behind the supply and demand mismatch," namely, "unnecessary regulations, over-burdensome and inefficient local governments, restrictive zoning policies and an ideology of fighting tooth and nail against any new development.”
