The audio at the top of this email is from a canvass rally for the Democratic House candidate in HD-66, Katie Sponsler. She is looking to replace Kirk Cox in the House of Delegates. (Background on the district)
Del. Jay Jones (Norfolk) and Sponsler addressed a group of supporters ahead of a canvass launch, which can be heard in the audio.
The Lincoln Project claims credit for the stunt in Charlottesville Friday
Democrats are denying any involvement in what appears to be an attempted trolling attempt by individuals in Charlottesville who stood with tiki torches next to a Glenn Youngkin campaign bus. The protesters resembled the white supremacists that marched through Charlottesville in 2017 chanting “Jews will not replace us,” on the night before the deadly rally where Heather Heyer was killed by a white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd. Two Virginia State Police officers also died that day while monitoring the events from their helicopter.
The Lincoln Project claimed credit for the stunt at 5:16 p.m. They are a group of former and current Republicans that opposed Donald Trump and now oppose Youngkin.
“Today’s demonstration was our way of reminding Virginians what happened in Charlottesville four years ago, the Republican Party’s embrace of those values, and Glenn Youngkin’s failure to condemn it,” The Lincoln Project said in their statement.
Youngkin, the Republican nominee for governor, accused his opponent Terry McAuliffe of sending the individuals to stand next to his bus Friday. “I think they work for Terry McAuliffe, and I’m sure he sent them,” Youngkin said in a statement to NBC29. “They’ll do anything to win, and he’s doing anything to win, and so he’s paying people to show up and act silly at our rallies.”
Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Andrew Whitely issued a statement on social media Friday afternoon denying any involvement. “The Democratic Party of Virginia, along with its coordinated partners and its affiliates, did not have any role today in the events that happened outside of the Youngkin campaign bus stop today,” Whitley said in the statement. “For anyone to accuse our staff to have a role in this event is shameful and wrong.”
Terry McAuliffe’s campaign manager commented on the incident in a tweet. “What happened today in Charlottesville is disgusting and distasteful and the McAuliffe campaign condemns it in the strongest terms. Those involved should immediately apologize,” said Chris Bolling, McAuliffe’s campaign manager.
The Lincoln Project did not apologize for invoking traumatic memories for many people in Virginia. Instead, they dug in on their stunt. “We will continue to hold Glenn Youngkin accountable. If he will denounce Trump’s assertion that the Charlottesville rioters possessed ‘very fine’ qualities, we’ll withdraw the tiki torches. Until then, we’ll be back.”
The campaign manager for McAuliffe’s campaign denounced the act in a tweet. “What happened today in Charlottesville is disgusting and distasteful and the McAuliffe campaign condemns it in the strongest terms. Those involved should immediately apologize.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns for Terry McAuliffe
Vice President Kamala Harris and recording artist Pharrell joined Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe on the campaign trail in Norfolk as the heated race for governor nears its end.
“Don’t Texas Virginia,” Harris said as she stumped for McAuliffe Friday while also noting that due to the bellwether status of this race in representing America’s response to a Joe Biden presidency, Virginia’s voters will determine “how the country will move,” towards the congressional midterm elections.
She also talked about the new legislation that has been enacted by a Democratic majority across Virginia in recent years.
“Tuesday will determine whether we turn back the clock on move forward,” Harris said about electing McAuliffe, the governor who served as governor from 2014-2018, and then was succeeded by his lieutenant governor Ralph Northam. Virginia Democrats made huge gains during the last two years gaining the majority in the General Assembly which allowed Northam to sign hundreds of pieces of progressive legislation that has been blocked for decades by the Republicans in control of the General Assembly.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin has campaigned on turning back the Democratic overreach that he says has happened during their two years in power.
“The power is in your hands and elections matter,” Harris told the crowd Friday.
Recent polls have shown a dead heat between McAuliffe and Youngkin. The tightening of the race has surprised some who believed Virginia to be a blue state, but Mcauliffe, the former governor who won his first election in 2013 by a slim margin, has said from the start of this campaign that it is a purple state.
Historically, Virginia has always elected a governor from the opposite party of who is controlling the White House at the time. McAuliffe broke that trend in 2013 and now he is trying to do it again this year.
President Joe Biden joined McAuliffe earlier this week in Northern Virginia and Democratic heavyweights Jaime Harrison and Stacey Abrams stumped across the commonwealth for him as well in recent days.
In a state that Biden won by 10 points one year ago, Democrats seem hopeful that they just need to motivate enough of their voters to overcome the apparent wave of enthusiasm behind the Youngkin campaign.
“We have got to do everything in our power to reach out to everyone we see and know and remind them that not only this election matters, but that they matter, that we matter, that Virginia matters,” Harris said Friday night. She talked about Democrats being complacent in 2016 and expecting Hillary to win, a relevant point in a commonwealth that has started to be considered a Democratic stronghold by some because Republicans haven’t won statewide since 2013. “We can take nothing for granted,” she told the crowd.
In addition to electing a new governor, Virginians will be choosing a new lieutenant governor, attorney general, and House of Delegates.
Harris finished the speech Friday night by emphasizing the importance of a governor, something that has become more apparent during the pandemic as governors across the country enacted life-altering restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19. “Who is governor, matters,” she said several times. “This election matters.”
Virginians head to the polls on Nov. 2.
Youngkin and McAuliffe release closing ads for their gubernatorial campaigns
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From the trail: Jones and Sponsler at a canvass rally in Chester