Dr. Fergie Reid has been recruiting Rural District Candidates. I have a list of 34 Districts he’s had a connection with FINDING and encouraging candidates to run. There are those that talk and those who do, actions speak louder than words. PACs and/or consultants gave ZERO to the 34 candidates. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly PACs and consultants do for rural Virginia other than circle the podcast and self-promotion circuit. As someone who lives in District 9 Southwest Virginia, I’m livid with the selfishness of the “machine” operations. WE, THE PEOPLE are stepping up- it’s becoming all too clear the current systems will not be the ones to advocate for US. To the writer of this Substack, do better!
Fergie Reid was incredible throughout this. I’ve known that and lifted his work for years, and throughout the cycle. My main goal here was to celebrate what happened, and encourage other states to do the same.
Dr. Reid is very impressive. I "met" him on a Marker's for Democracy Zoom call.
In addition to the activities you mentioned in your post, he reached out to Charles Gaba, the mastermind behind Blue25.org (now Blue 26.org). Gaba creates multi-candidate ActBlue pages where the funds raised go directly to the candidates. (ActBlue does take a small cut, but Gaba gets nothing unlike some of those PACs you mention in your post!).
So for 2025, VA had two Blue25 campaign pages - the standard one for seats targeted for "retain" or "flip" and the VA "Value Pack" for the the 27 candidates running in the reddest districts. IIRC, these districts ranged from R+16 to R+64!! They had the modest goal to raise $135K or $5000 for each of these 27 candidates. They were able to exceed that goal giving the candidates enough money to print some literature and yard signs.
IMO, we need to replicate this across the country in rural places. I'm in NC and the NCDP's run everywhere initiative in 2024 was a prime reason IMO that the top of the ticket did as well as it did in a tough election year. 9That and the fact that the GOP ran some pretty unqualified candidates - especially Mark Robinson for Governor. What were they thinking??0
I am very disappointed to see you taking part in this revisionist history. As a rural candidate that ran this last cycle for Virginia House of Delegates I know who recruited me and many other candidates. I know who fundraised for all 27 of us rural candidates. You know who recruited and supported the majority of the rural candidates it was Dr Fergie Reid, Jr. Many organizations grift off of candidates and/or circumvent funds from the State party that could go directly to the candidates. You can do better.
Fergie Reid was incredible throughout this. I’ve known that and lifted his work for years, and throughout the cycle. My main goal here was to celebrate what happened, and encourage other states to do the same.
If your last name starts with G, I wrote postcards for you and was rooting for you to succeed! And while you were not elected to the House of Delegates, you did indeed succeed in making a difference! Keep up the good work! 💙💙💙
Robin Warner wrote an earlier piece for Grassroots Connector about all the important grassroots work on the VA elections and having candidates in all districts, but did not mention Dr. Fergie Reid Jr. at all, though he recruited many of the candidates and then continued his heroic efforts by quickly raising funds for them. So I was glad to see that in this later piece Robin credited Fergie jr for his candidate recruiting, but I am left wondering why in the world she didn’t also mention his absolutely amazing work raising over $135,000 in a short period of time so that the 27 candidates in the toughest districts could each have $5,000 to get lawn signs or billboards, etc. to give them some visibility beyond their door knocking. I see that one of those great candidates, Cindy Green, who our group hosted and wrote postcards for commented here. I can attest to the fact that after Fergie Jr recruited the candidates, he continued working full-time on raising funds for them because I was receiving texts from him often about it and he got me to reach out to various groups and individuals so he could make a pitch for supporting running candidates in every district. The real deal--and his father must be thrilled and so proud of his son. We had Fergie Jr. on our Zoom in late September to tell us about all this as it was happening and then we had his wonderful dad on in October. We owe a lot to both! Fergie Sr. has been pushing the idea of running in every district for decades. Congratulations to the Reids for making it happen! Hopefully other states will take notice and also hopefully state Democratic parties will someday see the value in allocating some funds to candidates running in tough districts and even in unwinnable districts. Thanks to the commenter who included this great piece earlier: https://virginiamercury.com/2025/05/07/democrats-reach-historic-goal-full-slate-in-virginia-house-races/
Fergie Reid was incredible throughout this. I’ve known that and lifted his work for years, and throughout the cycle. My main goal here was to celebrate what happened, and encourage other states to do the same. Thank you b for sharing the article
Sharing Warners post focused support on people who did not contribute to the reason why VA won—-there are many rural candidates who would agree. You might benefit from talking with them directly if you’re interested in the full factual story.
Robbin Warner is behind the Postcards for VA effort which IMO indeed contributed to the success in VA. I believe the same can be said for Rural Ground Game and their other partners. (Rural Ground Game was behind the "Wake Up Virginia" campaigns that targeted women in VA between the ages of 40 and 90 who had not voted in prior elections. They did billboards that coordinated with postcards written by Postcards4VA volunteers (of which I am one of many).
I think it would be more accurate to say that this article overlooked several key players (like Dr. Reid) rather that to say - as you did directly - that the ones mentioned in the article didn't contribute to the success of the win.
For one thing, elections are complicated and cause and effect is almost impossible to tease out. (I'm a retired data analyst so I know the difference between correlation and causation and how difficult it is to establish causation!)
This doesn’t seem to work in Ohio! The biggest disappointment was the recent loss of the state Supreme Court and its consequent guarantee of successful Republican gerrymandering. We have ended up with a state replete with Jim Jordan clones.
Just in case you are interested, Adam Murphy who declared earlier in the year way before Joy Powers stepped up to run for Congress in the 9th against Griffith. Check him out here>> www.murphy4va.com
Dr. Fergie Reid has been recruiting Rural District Candidates. I have a list of 34 Districts he’s had a connection with FINDING and encouraging candidates to run. There are those that talk and those who do, actions speak louder than words. PACs and/or consultants gave ZERO to the 34 candidates. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly PACs and consultants do for rural Virginia other than circle the podcast and self-promotion circuit. As someone who lives in District 9 Southwest Virginia, I’m livid with the selfishness of the “machine” operations. WE, THE PEOPLE are stepping up- it’s becoming all too clear the current systems will not be the ones to advocate for US. To the writer of this Substack, do better!
Fergie Reid was incredible throughout this. I’ve known that and lifted his work for years, and throughout the cycle. My main goal here was to celebrate what happened, and encourage other states to do the same.
Dr. Reid is very impressive. I "met" him on a Marker's for Democracy Zoom call.
In addition to the activities you mentioned in your post, he reached out to Charles Gaba, the mastermind behind Blue25.org (now Blue 26.org). Gaba creates multi-candidate ActBlue pages where the funds raised go directly to the candidates. (ActBlue does take a small cut, but Gaba gets nothing unlike some of those PACs you mention in your post!).
So for 2025, VA had two Blue25 campaign pages - the standard one for seats targeted for "retain" or "flip" and the VA "Value Pack" for the the 27 candidates running in the reddest districts. IIRC, these districts ranged from R+16 to R+64!! They had the modest goal to raise $135K or $5000 for each of these 27 candidates. They were able to exceed that goal giving the candidates enough money to print some literature and yard signs.
IMO, we need to replicate this across the country in rural places. I'm in NC and the NCDP's run everywhere initiative in 2024 was a prime reason IMO that the top of the ticket did as well as it did in a tough election year. 9That and the fact that the GOP ran some pretty unqualified candidates - especially Mark Robinson for Governor. What were they thinking??0
I am very disappointed to see you taking part in this revisionist history. As a rural candidate that ran this last cycle for Virginia House of Delegates I know who recruited me and many other candidates. I know who fundraised for all 27 of us rural candidates. You know who recruited and supported the majority of the rural candidates it was Dr Fergie Reid, Jr. Many organizations grift off of candidates and/or circumvent funds from the State party that could go directly to the candidates. You can do better.
Fergie Reid was incredible throughout this. I’ve known that and lifted his work for years, and throughout the cycle. My main goal here was to celebrate what happened, and encourage other states to do the same.
Hi Cindy,
If your last name starts with G, I wrote postcards for you and was rooting for you to succeed! And while you were not elected to the House of Delegates, you did indeed succeed in making a difference! Keep up the good work! 💙💙💙
Hi yes I am Cindy Green and thank you so much for supporting my campaign! I am running again in 2027✊💙
Super! I wish you much success in 2026 and 2027!!
Hi David,
Robin Warner wrote an earlier piece for Grassroots Connector about all the important grassroots work on the VA elections and having candidates in all districts, but did not mention Dr. Fergie Reid Jr. at all, though he recruited many of the candidates and then continued his heroic efforts by quickly raising funds for them. So I was glad to see that in this later piece Robin credited Fergie jr for his candidate recruiting, but I am left wondering why in the world she didn’t also mention his absolutely amazing work raising over $135,000 in a short period of time so that the 27 candidates in the toughest districts could each have $5,000 to get lawn signs or billboards, etc. to give them some visibility beyond their door knocking. I see that one of those great candidates, Cindy Green, who our group hosted and wrote postcards for commented here. I can attest to the fact that after Fergie Jr recruited the candidates, he continued working full-time on raising funds for them because I was receiving texts from him often about it and he got me to reach out to various groups and individuals so he could make a pitch for supporting running candidates in every district. The real deal--and his father must be thrilled and so proud of his son. We had Fergie Jr. on our Zoom in late September to tell us about all this as it was happening and then we had his wonderful dad on in October. We owe a lot to both! Fergie Sr. has been pushing the idea of running in every district for decades. Congratulations to the Reids for making it happen! Hopefully other states will take notice and also hopefully state Democratic parties will someday see the value in allocating some funds to candidates running in tough districts and even in unwinnable districts. Thanks to the commenter who included this great piece earlier: https://virginiamercury.com/2025/05/07/democrats-reach-historic-goal-full-slate-in-virginia-house-races/
Yes. I’ve been proud to work with and highlight his work all the way through.
Too bad you (and Robyn Warner) left out the primary reason there were 100 delegates—people can read about that person from a journalist who actually did their homework here>>>> https://virginiamercury.com/2025/05/07/democrats-reach-historic-goal-full-slate-in-virginia-house-races/
Give credit where credit is due David Pepper.
Fergie Reid was incredible throughout this. I’ve known that and lifted his work for years, and throughout the cycle. My main goal here was to celebrate what happened, and encourage other states to do the same. Thank you b for sharing the article
Sharing Warners post focused support on people who did not contribute to the reason why VA won—-there are many rural candidates who would agree. You might benefit from talking with them directly if you’re interested in the full factual story.
Robbin Warner is behind the Postcards for VA effort which IMO indeed contributed to the success in VA. I believe the same can be said for Rural Ground Game and their other partners. (Rural Ground Game was behind the "Wake Up Virginia" campaigns that targeted women in VA between the ages of 40 and 90 who had not voted in prior elections. They did billboards that coordinated with postcards written by Postcards4VA volunteers (of which I am one of many).
I think it would be more accurate to say that this article overlooked several key players (like Dr. Reid) rather that to say - as you did directly - that the ones mentioned in the article didn't contribute to the success of the win.
For one thing, elections are complicated and cause and effect is almost impossible to tease out. (I'm a retired data analyst so I know the difference between correlation and causation and how difficult it is to establish causation!)
Thank you Mr. Pepper. There is a need for candidates for these elections!
Thanks for this excellent Substack on Virginia's recent blow out elections. The day people woke up happy!
This doesn’t seem to work in Ohio! The biggest disappointment was the recent loss of the state Supreme Court and its consequent guarantee of successful Republican gerrymandering. We have ended up with a state replete with Jim Jordan clones.
Just in case you are interested, Adam Murphy who declared earlier in the year way before Joy Powers stepped up to run for Congress in the 9th against Griffith. Check him out here>> www.murphy4va.com
You are the king of hyperbole Peppy. Guess that gets you your clicks.