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The Rundown
Democrats and spar over gas prices as Democrats want a state of emergency and Republicans want a tax decrease
A look at the new seventh congressional district compared to the previous district with analysis
Three DPVA leadership position candidates call for 2022 House of Delegate elections
Swecker receives more support for DPVA chair
Filler-Corn calls for a state of emergency to combat price gouging at gas pumps
House Democratic Leader and former Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D) called on Governor Glenn Youngkin Monday to declare a state of emergency to combat price gouging on fuel prices. This comes as Democrats recently voted against reducing the tax rate on gasoline for one year.
"Governor Youngkin has the power to act and help protect Virginians at the pump, but so far, has failed to do so. Instead, he continues to point fingers and waste precious time," said Leader Filler-Corn "Virginians do not need talking points and failed campaign promises—we need leadership and action."
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) first told 13 News Now that don’t have authority over investigating gasoline price gouging claims. The investigative authority of fuel price gouging actually belongs to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, while the OAG still would be responsible for prosecution.
Filler-Corn pointed to an incident in the past when the Colonial Pipeline was hacked and Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency at the time. Attorney General Mark Herring was able to secure settlements for the victims of gasoline price gouging then.
House Republicans critisized Democrats for opposing legislation that would have reduced the gas tax in Virginia for one year and calling for an emergency declaration now.
“Every single member of the House Democratic caucus voted against cutting the gas tax just a few days ago. All 48 of them,” said Garren Shipley, communications director for Speaker Todd Gilbert (R). “[Virginia Democrats] now reaping what was sown. Democrats demonized fossil fuels, did their best to discourage investment, told us all to buy electric cars and build windmills. Now they want a state of emergency over gas prices. Cause, meet effect.”
Democratic Party of Virginia Executive Director Andrew Whitley responded to Shipley’s statement. “It’s telling that when Republicans actually have the ability to impact gas prices and protect Virginians, they come out with this drivel. All they do is talk. And when given the opportunity they do nothing,” Whitley tweeted.
“We voted to lower the gas tax. EVERY [House Democrat] voted against it,” Shipley responded.
The legislation that Shipley is referencing is a temporary 12-month suspension of the recent gas tax increase in Virginia. The bill would have decreased the tax from 26 cents per gallon to 21 cents per gallon for one calendar year before returning back to the higher prices.
The House passed the bill on 52-48 partisan lines but the Democratic-controlled Senate Appropriations Committee killed the legislation.
The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment in this article. The OAG also did not respond.
The new seventh congressional district
Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D) built a loyal army of die-hard supporters in the seventh congressional district in 2018 which followed her to a successful reelection bid in 2020. The core of her base hails from Chesterfield and Henrico, however, which was removed from the district when new lines were drawn late last year.
Now she has to build a new base in a district that should actually be more friendly to Democrats than the old seventh, in general.
The new district is 34% Prince William County, a northern Virginia locality that has continued to shift blue in recent years. Stafford and Spotsylvania also make up a large part of the district along with eight other localities. (Including 97 voters from Albermarle.)
146,365 voters from the previous seventh district remain in the new seventh. 257,530 voters come from the previous first district, 154,430 from the previous eleventh district, and 26,911 from the previous fifth district.
The new seventh district voted for Hillary Clinton by 3 points in 2016, Northam (D) by 6 points in 2017, and Kaine (D) by 13 points in 2018.
However, the stat that likely keeps Spanberger’s staff awake at night is that the district voted for Republican Glenn Youngkin by 5 points in 2021.
Richard Meagher, a political science professor at Randolph Macon College says those numbers shouldn’t worry the Spanberger campaign too much, however. “We probably shouldn’t put too much into the Youngkin numbers. The further we get away from the gubernatorial election, the worse McAuliffe’s campaign looks, and I don’t think we should treat a +5 Youngkin margin as anything like a default in that district,” Meagher said Thursday. “Spanberger is by this point a 2-term member with a huge war chest and name recognition across the state; I think you have to think of her as the incumbent in this district despite having 80% of new voters.”
She is facing the prospect of several Republican challengers including state Sen. Bryce Reeves, Prince William Supervisor Yesli Vega, Stafford Supervisor Crystal Vanuch, Gina Garcia, and Derrick Anderson.
One potential other problem for Spanberger is that the Republican candidates hail from the new district while she still resides in the first district as a resident of Henrico. Meagher also doesn’t view this as a big issue for the congresswoman, however. “Spanberger may live outside the district, at least for now, but I don’t know how much that will matter,” he said. “Many partisan voters like to think they are strategic in their votes, and partisanship and ideology has overwhelmed other candidate factors in recent elections. In other words, most Virginia Democrats will vote for a solid Democrat even if she lives in Alaska.”
The official Republican nominee will be chosen by a primary in June.
(Numbers for district comparisons provided by VPAP)
More support for Swecker as DPVA Chair
More Democratic heavyweights are throwing their support behind Susan Swecker as she seeks to remain chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia for another term.
“Glad to see so many weighing in to support my friend of 30 years – I know no one will work harder for our party than Susan,” tweeted Senator Mark R. Warner.
“Susan has worked tremendously hard for the DPVA. From all the endorsements, it’s clear that she has the trust of Virginia Democrats. I’m looking forward to continue working with her.” tweeted Senator Tim Kaine.
“Good to see Democrats coming together behind Susan Swecker for another term as Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia.,” tweeted Congressman Robert C. "Bobby Scott.“ Looking forward to working with her to elect Democrats up and down the ballot this year and next!"
Calls for new House elections from DPVA leadership position candidates
Three Democrats who are seeking state leadership positions within the Democratic Party of Virginia - Kristin Hoffman, Rebecca Daly, and Josh Stanfield, called on their fellow candidates and the DPVA central committee to support 2022 House of Delegates elections.
Statements from Rebecca Daly - candidate for DPVA secretary, Kristin Hoffman - candidate for DPVA 2nd Vice Chair, Rules, and Josh Stanfield - candidate for DPVA chair.
“Even though we as candidates have different perspectives and disagree on some issues, we should all come together and show unity in support of the constitutional rights of Virginians,” Daly said.
“The 2021 House of Delegates elections were held in unconstitutional districts, and in order to protect the voting rights of Virginians we must have legal, constitutional elections as soon as possible - which means this year,” said Hoffman.
“I asked the DPVA Central Committee and leadership to take a stand on this voting rights issue last November, but there wasn’t any apparent interest,” Stanfield commented. “Now we have a new Central Committee, we’ll soon have new leadership, and I hope we can unify from the get-go on the issue of defending the voting rights of Virginia’s growing and increasingly diverse population.”
