No. More. Uncontested. Races.
Yes, I say this a lot.
But in a world where extremism is on the march, largely through statehouses—and often via politicians in uncontested districts—the commitment to run everywhere is a key strategy of the long-term path to revive democracy:
Which is why—as Lisa Senecal and I discussed yesterday—I couldn’t be more excited about what’s happening in Virginia right now. My hope is it turns into a case study that ignites similar efforts across the country next year.
Thanks to herculean efforts by individual candidates, grassroots activists, and the party, Democrats are contesting every single statehouse district in Virginia. All 100 of them! (On the flip side, the Republicans in Virginia failed to challenge Democratic candidates in 15 districts.)
That is a massive advantage with so much at stake on the ballot this year.
Of course, it’s great news for Governor candidate Abigail Spanberger, and the rest of the statewide ticket, because it means that there will be campaigning and door-knocking and messaging taking place in every corner of Virginia. Think about how much better that is than allowing districts to be left with no candidate doing all that important work.
It’s great news for the statehouse candidates running in tight, toss-up districts, because it means the GOP will be forced to worry about (and spend money in) other districts besides those top targets.
And it’s great news for every voter in Virginia—especially those in deep red districts that have previously been uncontested—because these voters will now hear about these statehouse races, and have a choice on their ballot. They will have a chance to hold their state representative accountable if they so choose, which is the essence of democracy.
Messaging. Turnout. Accountability. Choice. Everywhere.
Now doesn’t that all sound like how we should do things all the time?
My hope is that come election day, this powerful ticket—from the very strong top down to every single of district in Virginia—will sweep the elections and deliver a trifecta. Democratic control of the Governor’s office, state house and state senate.
But more than hope, let’s make it a reality.
Working together, activists Charles Gaba and Ferguson Reid have created a “Value Pack 27” webpage to support the candidates running in the most challenging districts of Virginia.
Four days later after that post, the account has now raised more than $60,000 to help these candidates.
If you’re able, please give what you can to the champions of democracy who have stepped up to run in every district of Virginia. We will only contest every race in this way if we show potential candidates that we value them running in challenging places. And there’s no better way to show that we value those races than supporting the candidates who do step up.
So you can click HERE to give.
And beyond direct financial support, people are pitching in in other ways.
My good friends at Markers for Democracy are sending postcards for these candidates as well.
Again, this effort is both important to securing a trifecta in Virginia—but also for the nation.
As Lisa and I discussed, this must be our new manta. We bring the fight in every corner of every state:
And as Lisa explains, by doing so, we also re-connect with a wide swath of voters who have been overlooked—and poorly served by broken government—for far too long:
Please do what you can to help in Virginia, including spreading the word. Then let’s gear up to do the same—everywhere—next year.
