Virginia Democrats bring in the governor to help

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Sep 30, 2021

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McAuliffe and Youngkin both want to keep political influence out of schools. They have competing strategies for doing so.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe is facing attacks from Republicans for saying he does not believe parents should be deciding what is taught in Virginia’s classrooms during Tuesday night’s debate. The Republicans on the other hand have been rallying their base in recent months by pushing for more involvement from parents at the local level in deciding public school curriculum and policies.

McAuliffe is running in a tight race against Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin to keep the Executive Mansion in Democratic control for a third straight term.

“You believe school systems should tell children what to do. “I believe parents should be in charge of their kids’ education,” Youngkin said to McAuliffe during the debate.

“I am not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decision,“ McAuliffe responded. “So yeah I stopped the bill that I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

The bill that Youngkin and McAuliffe are referring to is from 2016 and would have made Virginia the first state in the country to allow parents to block their children from reading books in school that contain sexually explicit material.

“School boards are best positioned to ensure that our students are exposed to those appropriate literary and artistic works that will expand students’ horizons and enrich their learning experiences,” McAuliffe said at the time.

Parents, and prominent Republicans like Youngkin and his supporters, have been attending school board meetings across the commonwealth in droves to protest mask mandates, Critical Race Theory, transgender-friendly legislation, and other potential policy ideas they disagree with.

But the difference in principle between McAuliffe wanting to stand up to those parents, and Youngkin wanting to stand up against state-mandated policies in schools under a Democratic administration isn’t exactly non-partisan. McAuliffe essentially wants to keep the conservative, vocal parents from making changes to the education system while Youngkin wants to give parents the power to push back against potential progressive-policy changes that he says are being pushed by Democrats.

Northam steps up campaign efforts for Democratic ticket

Governor Ralph Northam held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss the debate that took place last night between his party’s candidate, Terry McAuliffe, and the Republican nominee, Glenn Youngkin. He also supported his party’s lieutenant governor candidate earlier in the day with a fundraising email as both parties dig in for tight races down the homestretch.

Youngkin has often jointly criticized Northam and McAuliffe on the campaign trail. After serving as a state senator for six years, Northam was elected lieutenant governor in 2013 for McAuliffe’s first term as governor. Then Northam won in 2017 to become governor himself and eventually endorsed McAuliffe during the Democratic primary earlier this year.

“It is so important that we get accurate information to Virginians,” Governor Northam said during a press call Wednesday, noting that he believes Youngkin has a “dangerous anti-vaccine agenda.”

Youngkin has received the COVID-19 vaccine and strongly encouraged Virginians to get it, but he has pushed back, full-stop against any type of vaccine mandates. He stumbled a bit during the debate when asked if he supports mandatory vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella. “Data associated with those vaccines is something that we should absolutely understand the difference between this vaccine,” Youngkin responded at first, before being pushed to answer the question directly. “Those vaccines can be mandatory. I do believe the COVID vaccine is one that everyone should get, but we shouldn’t mandate it.”

“I find this simply unbelievable,” Northam said Tuesday about those comments from Youngkin.

Youngkin’s campaign confirmed to Virginia Scope after the debate that he supports mandatory vaccinations for measles, mumps, and rubella.

Water Cooler

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe will be campaigning on his jobs plan in Hampton Roads today
Richmond’s mayor, Levar Stoney announced the appointment of Kevin Vonck, Ph.D., to serve as the permanent director of the city’s Department Planning and Development Review.
Fiscal insanity: In a statement Wednesday, Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democratic Senator, brought grim news for the bipartisan infrastructure plan. “Spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity,” Manchin said. “I can’t support $3.5 trillion more in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March. At some point, all of us, regardless of party must ask the simple question – how much is enough?” (Politico’s Playbook has good analysis of how this could impact the legislation)

In a memo, the DLCC highlights anti-mask, anti-vaccine comments from Virginia Republicans

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee released a memo on Wednesday highlighting Virginia Republicans that the organization president Jessica Post said are “firmly in favor of this pandemic continuing to threaten the health and safety of Virginians.”

“While Democrats have worked hard to pass science-based safety measures that put COVID cases on the decline, the GOP has continued to spread misinformation and reverse progress,” Post continued. “Virginians deserve leaders that are looking out for their safety. The Virginia Republican Party is simply too dangerous to hold the majority this November.”

The DLCC is attacking a long list of Republicans with this memo, including the House Republican Leader, Todd Gilbert.

You can view the full memo and what complaints the DLCC has against Virginia Republicans below.

View Memo

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Democrats worry a loss in Virginia could set off a cascade of election troubles - Washington Post

By Michael Scherer and Sean Sullivan

President Biden’s slumping approval ratings and gridlock on Capitol Hill have raised the risk that Democrats could lose the Virginia governor’s race, according to party insiders who fear a defeat could spark broader legislative and electoral problems in the coming year.

In a sign of the rising anxieties, the party’s nominee in Virginia, former governor Terry McAuliffe, is imploring Democrats in Washington to resolve their disputes and enact a sweeping infrastructure plan that has passed the Senate but faces hurdles in the House. He warned Wednesday that voters he has spoken to are “desperate out here for road and bridge money” and wondering where it is.

Two senior Democratic senators might be retiring. Their districts are being redrawn accordingly. - Virginia Mercury

by Graham Moomaw

Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw and Sen. Janet Howell, who chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, haven’t said for sure they won’t run again in 2023. But the Virginia Redistricting Commission is drawing lines like they aren’t.

The two influential Northern Virginia Democrats didn’t respond to requests from the Mercury this week asking for confirmation they won’t seek another four-year term. Meanwhile, one of their colleagues is treating it as known fact.

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