McAuliffe and Youngkin campaigns spar over KKK comments, bullet points on part of Youngkin's education plans, and Ramirez talks about running for Congress
The latest in Virginia politics
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The McAuliffe and Youngkin campaigns spar over KKK comments
The campaigns for the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial nominees sparred over comments about the Ku Klux Klan Thursday.
It began during a press call Wednesday when Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker called on GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin to “grow a backbone” and stand up to the Ku Klux Klan after they passed out flyers in Loudoun County pushing back against transgender policies.
Youngkin’s campaign responded Thursday with a statement through spokesperson Macaulay Porter. “Do these people have any shame? Virginia’s Democrat governor, who they all support, was in a photograph with a KKK hood and robe. Glenn Youngkin thinks he should have resigned because the KKK is repulsive and detestable, but Terry McAuliffe and Hala Ayala gladly accepted and still tout his endorsement. The only person in this race associated with the KKK is Terry McAuliffe.”
Renzo Olivari, McAuliffe’s spokesperson then responded to Porter’s comment. “Terry stood up to the KKK and white supremacists in Charlottesville while Donald Trump - who Glenn said represents why he is running - cowered and called them very fine people. Maybe they should sit this one out.”
You can read Virginia Scope’s coverage of the press call and rally in Loudoun County for more context on these comments.
Key points from Youngkin’s education plan rollout
Youngkin said that the first part of his education plan will focus on schools, students, and studies. Below are actions that he believes can be taken:
SCHOOLS
Restore the standards by which our schools are measured to actual standards of excellence.
Improve school measurement metrics so we can all see how our schools are doing and where help is most needed.
Increase the number of Academic-Year governor’s Schools, like the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, with a variety of subject areas.
Ensure schools are never again closed unnecessarily for extended periods of time.
STUDENTS
Ensure all children can read, write, and understand math by third grade.
Equip our students to be the top performing students in the country.
Ensure students with disabilities receive all of the services, support, and procedural protections they are entitled to – and listen to parents and students.
Put the power back in the hands of parents by providing them with the information they need to make the best decisions for their children.
STUDIES
Offer more advanced math opportunities instead of holding students back from achievement.
Direct the Department of Education to preserve advanced math classes and the use of advanced diplomas.
Teach kids how to think, not what to think. Encourage critical thinking instead of Critical Race Theory.
Remove politics from the classroom and teach all U.S. history — the good and the bad.
Tina Ramirez is again seeking the Republican nomination to face Spanberger
Tina Ramirez is once again seeking the Republican nomination to run against Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger. Ramirez narrowly finished third in a field of six at the 2020 Republican nomination convention. Now, less than one year since that convention, she is announcing her candidacy and hitting the campaign trail again.
“I am a pro-life, single mother,” Ramirez said in an interview Thursday with Virginia Scope. “I also run a global nonprofit organization that does human rights work around the world — so my day job I always say is dealing with dictators. I feel like politics is nothing after that.”
After announcing her candidacy on the same day that marijuana became legal in Virginia, Ramirez said she does not support legalization for recreational use. “It’s really just not good for Virginia,” she said in an interview. She cited a fear of people driving their cars while high increasing the dangers. “I think this is really a bad policy that was rushed through.” She does support using it for medical reasons, however.
Ramirez also cited her opposition to Critical Race Theory (CRT) when discussing freedoms that Democrats are allegedly taking away — a key talking point for her campaign. CRT is the education ideology that is based on America’s foundation being built on systemic racism. Republicans have turned the topic into a campaign talking point, saying it will teach kids to view the world through a racial lens or provide kids with a reason to feel it is okay to fail.
No public school systems in Virginia have claimed to be teaching CRT and there has yet to be any substantiated proof that it has been taught.
Ramirez said that there is “plenty of information out there about this that anyone can find.”
The 2020 election results are still a sensitive subject in the Republican base but Ramirez says everyone moving forward is a sign that the results have been accepted. “I think we are all here today because I think we all accepted them,” Ramirez said in an interview.
She didn’t back down, however, from citing alleged fraud in the election — even though Trump’s Justice Department found no evidence of election fraud. “I definitely believe that there was fraud in the election and there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed,” Ramirez said. She also noted the number of days that Virginia voters are allowed to vote early, expressing opposition to the new laws that Democrats passed to increase access to early voting.
As far as holding hearing about than Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, Ramirez said the FBI should be the ones to investigate so Congress can move forward. “There has already been justice being served in that, I don’t think we need to go back and rehash it,” Ramirez said. “The FBI, our justice system is handling Jan. 6 and we need to move forward and focus on bringing our country together and focusing on the issues to get our economy working again.”
Ramirez did not say specifically if she would have voted against the American Rescue Plan, the COVID-19 stimulus relief package passed under the Biden administration. She said some help from the government was necessary, but referred to the entire stimulus package as a spending bill. “When the government shuts down businesses, yes they should provide them some relief,” she said. “But I think at the same time the government treating the American people like a piggy bank and printing money to pay for all of their pet projects is not the answer.”
John Castorani and Guatam Barve have filed paperwork seeking the Republican nomination as well. Castorani was a Republican candidate in Alabama’s first congression district last year. Barve appears to have been a city council candidate in Santa Clara, California last year.
Other potential candidates for the Republican nomination include state Del. John Mcguire (Goochland) and state Senator Amanda Chase (Chesterfield). Mcguire sought the nomination in 2020 but lost to Del. Nick Freitas (Culpeper) in the final round of the convention. Chase recently sought the Republican nomination for governor and finished third.
Spanberger’s upset victory in 2018 over Dave Brat made her the first Democrat to represent this district in more than 61 years. That made her a high target for Republicans in 2020, but her margin of victory actually grew in 2020 compared to her win in 2018.
One wildcard factor for this race will be redistricting. The Redistricting Commission will be drawing new maps for congressional districts in the coming months and that leaves a big question mark looming over everything for Virginia campaigns.
The delay in census data means that House of Delegates elections this year will take place under the old lines, but the 2022 races will be under the new lines. In a district as tight as VA-07, any shift in one direction could result in a drastic change for this race.
Either way, it looks like candidates will be lining up to try and defeat Spanberger next year.
This week we are celebrating the one-year anniversary of Virginia Scope’s existence. In the past year, hundreds of people have subscribed and donated to help Virginia Scope and this newsletter grow to reach thousands of readers each day. But with the statewide campaigns and the 100 House of Delegate seats up for election, we need to continue to raise funds in order to provide as much coverage as possible. Can you chip in with a donation, or a paid subscription to this newsletter today to help us out?
VCU poll: Unvaccinated white Virginians, Republicans are the least likely to want a COVID shot - Richmond Times-Dispatch
by Sabrina Moreno
Unvaccinated white Virginians and unvaccinated Republicans are the least likely to want to receive a coronavirus vaccine, according to a 920-person survey released Thursday by VCU’s Wilder School.
Black and Hispanic residents who had yet to receive a dose were the most likely to say they would get one, though vaccination rates among Black Virginians continue to lag behind their share of infections and percent of the population as the highly transmissible delta variant continues to circulate.
He helped rewrite Virginia’s constitution to guarantee Black voting rights — ‘a blessing’ 50 years ago - Washington Post
by Greg Schneider
A.E. Dick Howard was a confident young college professor, only 34, when he got the assignment of a lifetime: Oversee the writing of a new constitution for Virginia.
Hope was hard to come by that year — 1968 — with cities in upheaval over the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. But Howard’s task amounted to a stroke against the darkest forces of society.
'It’s a long time coming': At seed exchanges, in parks and in supply shops, Richmonders celebrate Day 1 of legalized recreational marijuana - Richmond Times-Dispatch
by Caitlyn Freeman
Hundreds of Virginians hoping to grow and harvest their own marijuana plants each took home a half-dozen seeds distributed in a Henrico County parking lot Thursday, the first day that recreational use of the drug was legal for adults 21 and older in the state.
Your CBD Store, a hemp retailer, and Virginia Marijuana Justice, an Arlington County-based advocacy group, gave out the seeds legally and free on Thursday to mark the legalization.