Youngkin campaigns for Vega in Fredericksburg
Governor Glenn Youngkin campaigned for VA-07 Republican nominee Yesli Vega on Monday night in front of a crowd of her supporters.
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The rundown
Governor Youngkin campaigned for VA-07 Republican nominee Yesli Vega in Fredericksburg Monday night. He attacked Spanberger over the lack of a debate and he told Republicans in the crowd what he believes they need to do to win.
Youngkin is going across the country to campaign for another Republican gubernatorial nominee.
Headlines from around Virginia politics.
Youngkin campaigns for Vega in Fredericksburg
Governor Glenn Youngkin campaigned for VA-07 Republican nominee Yesli Vega on Monday night in front of a crowd of her supporters. Vega is running against Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) for the VA-07 seat in the House of Representatives.
During her speech and introduction for Youngkin, Vega attacked Spanberger for backing out of the debate against her that would have been hosted by PWC100 and the League of Women Voters. “If you’re my opponent, and I’m her, I wouldn’t want to debate me either,” Vega said to the crowd. “What is she going to say about the economy? What is she going to say about the southern border? What is she going to say about wanting to put parents in jail for not conforming to woke culture.”
The organizers of the debate released a statement Monday officially canceling the debate and blaming the campaigns for a lack of agreeance.
According to communications between organizers that Virginia Scope has viewed, the latest and final breakdown in debate negotiations comes from the Spanberger campaign disagreeing with the right-wing radio host Larry O’Connor being selected as a moderator, as well as security measures at the event. The Vega campaign also originally sought to have WJLA, a Sinclair TV station in DC, be the host.
The Vega campaign event claims that they agreed to drop O’Connor as the moderator and that they did not care which station aired the debate just as long as it was televised. As far as security, the Vega campaign told Virginia Scope they would pay for security at the debate.
The Spanberger campaign says it was never relayed to them from organizers that the Vega campaign agreed to drop O’Connor as a moderator. The organizers have not responded to any inquiries from Virginia Scope. This was the last possibility for a debate between the two nominees as Vega had already turned down a debate with Mary Washington University last month.
Youngkin, upon taking the stage in Fredericksburg Monday night, continued the attacks on Spanberger over the debate drama. He described how he believes a debate would go, saying Vega would win on the first three questions – which he believes would be about inflation, defunding the police, and empowering parents.
The governor compared the competition between Vega and Spanberger to a Nascar race. “You got Abigail Spanberger puttering around the track and then here comes Yesli on the outside,” Youngkin said to cheers from the crowd. “And guess what happens, there is a little bit of paint scraping right now. Guess what, the person who is willing to scrape some paint is going to win and that is Yesli Vega.”
Youngkin also repeated attacks on Spanberger that have mostly failed for her Republican opponents in the past. He said she supports Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time, even though Spanberger has never publicly supported Pelosi for leader and even called for new Democratic leadership last month.
Youngkin encouraged the crowd of Vega supporters to volunteer to be poll watchers and he also urged them to vote early, something not incredibly common for Republican candidates but proved to be a successful strategy for him in 2021.
In a moment that was reminiscent of Democratic efforts in 2018 and 2020, Youngkin also encouraged the Republican crowd to plant signs, get bumper stickers, wear hats, make phone calls, and write letters to increase turnout for Vega.
“We might as well all go ahead and put red vests on again,” Youngkin said, a nod to the clothing item that became heavily associated with him during his gubernatorial campaign and he has since embraced. “It is time for the red wave to crash across the seventh congressional district.”
According to analysis from VPAP,
Glenn Youngkin won VA-07 with 52% of the vote in 2021
Tim Kaine won VA-07 with 55% of the vote in 2018
Ralph Northam won VA-07 with 52% of the vote in 2017
Youngkin is going to campaign in Oregon
Christine Drazan is hoping to become the first Republican in 40 years to win a governor’s race in Oregon.
Before Vega decried ‘reckless’ spending, she had $96K in student loans, debts cleared in personal bankruptcy - Prince William Times
By Cher Muzyk and Jill Palermo
Supervisor Yesli Vega, the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress in Virginia’s 7th District, has been critical of President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan and decries “reckless” government spending in a recent TV ad. Yet Vega and her husband filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 and had more than $96,000 in debts discharged in the proceeding, including more than $46,000 in student loans, according to court records.
Vega, 37, and her husband, Rene Vega, were living in Fort Washington, Maryland, when they filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland, which has not been previously disclosed.
Incumbents have financial edge in Virginia's hard-fought congressional contests - Richmond Times-Dispatch
by Andrew Cain
The Democratic incumbents in Virginia’s three hotly contested congressional contests had the financial advantage heading into the homestretch, but the three GOP challengers each raised more than $1 million in the third quarter, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Retired Navy Capt. Hung Cao, the GOP challenger in Northern Virginia’s 10th District, raised nearly $1.4 million in the third quarter, covering July 1 through Sept. 30, topping the $903,242 that Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-10th, raised in the reporting period. But Wexton had $3.13 million in cash on hand at the end of the quarter, to Cao’s $992,796.
Luria, Kiggans face off in another heated debate for District 2 - Wavy
by Michelle Wolf
The race for Virginia’s Congressional 2nd District has been called one of the most closely watched in the country. For the second time in a week, incumbent Rep. Elaine Luria and State Sen. Jen Kiggans faced off — this time at Smithfield Center in Isle of Wight County. Their first debate was at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Oct. 12.
Monday night’s debate quickly became heated with Luria and Kiggans often making digs at one another. Luria called Kiggans “spineless” and “unfit for federal office.” Kiggans told Luria that President Joe Biden is destroying the country.
Josh Throneburg says opponent Good is ‘not being biblical, he’s a bigot’ - Virginia Cardinal
by Markus Schmidt
It was shortly after midnight on a November day in 2020 when Josh Throneburg sat at the dining table on his screened-in back porch of his Charlottesville home, watching the live feed of Democrat Cameron Webb, a Black physician who served on former President Barack Obama’s health care team, conceding his race against Bob Good, a former Campbell County supervisor and far-right ideologue, and the next Republican representative of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.
Youngkin to ask Va. legislature for funds to beef up law enforcement - Washington Post
by Greg Schneider
Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Monday said he will ask the legislature for $30 million to mount an aggressive push to recruit police from other states, part of a broader effort to beef up law enforcement at a time of surging violent crime.
Youngkin (R) announced his plans in downtown Norfolk, surrounded by police and local leaders from across the state — including some Black mayors he has been courting — as well as Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) and Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R).
Study finds Petersburg, Richmond could support casinos, separately or together - Richmond Times-Dispatch
by Michael Martz
Petersburg could support the operation of a casino, regardless of whether Richmond were to host one as well, a long-awaited legislative study concluded on Monday.
If both cities opened casinos in 2028, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found that the amount of tax revenues and new jobs would be lower in Petersburg than if Richmond did not open a casino in close competition. It also found that a Richmond casino would generate more gaming revenue and jobs than one in Petersburg.
Report: Virginia Lottery should be state’s primary gambling regulator - Virginia Mercury
by Graham Moomaw
Virginia should give a single state agency the power to regulate most gambling, according to a new report that found splitting those duties among multiple agencies is creating oversight and enforcement gaps in a rapidly expanding industry.
Nonpartisan policy analysts also determined a casino in Petersburg would be viable, while leaving it to the General Assembly to decide the best path forward for a casino in central Virginia after Richmond voters rejected one last year. The state could have financially viable casinos in Petersburg, Richmond or both cities, the report concluded, but each option would have different impacts on the profitability of other casinos and local tax revenues.
Future Democratic stars at risk of getting wiped out in the midterms - Politico
Democrats elected their political future in 2018. Now, that bench of potential statewide leaders could get wiped out.
The last midterm election saw a slate of Democratic rising stars roll into Congress on a wave of anti-Trump resentment and fundraising prowess built on top of that backlash. Now, with a few House terms under their belts, they are prime candidates to run statewide in the future — but first, they must survive their first election that isn’t dominated by former President Donald Trump.
