Sep 24, 2011

Virginia Partisans PAC Endorses 53 for State and Local Offices

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Virginia Partisans, the PAC of LGBT Democrats of Virginia, today announced endorsements of 49 incumbents and candidates for legislative seats and local offices in Virginia’s upcoming Nov. 8th general election. These 49 candidates join four others previously endorsed during and immediately after the primary season this summer, for a total of 53 endorsements.

“Virginia Partisans has looked carefully at races throughout Virginia,” said Tiffany Joslyn, President, “and as nearly as we can determine, there is not a single contest where the Republican is better than the Democrat on issues of concern to the LGBT community. So wherever you live, and whatever offices you’re voting on, the best choice for our community is undoubtedly the Democratic candidate. These 53 endorsees, however, truly stand out for their pro-equality credentials. They have demonstrated their support for the LGBT community in their public and personal lives. They have made a pledge to always vote on the side of equality and, in many cases, to take up the charge themselves. These 53 endorsees are a mix of men and women, young and older, from a variety of backgrounds and areas. They include our champions in the legislature, many who vote with us consistently, some openly-gay candidates, and others whose personal experiences and campaign platforms give us high hopes for the future.”

Although the majority of endorsees still hail from Northern Virginia, this class presents a noticeable and remarkable geographic expansion over past years—stretching from Tidewater to Blacksburg, and from Northern Virginia to Southside. Included are ten state Senators seeking re-election plus another three challengers or seekers of open seats; 18 incumbent members of the House of Delegates plus another ten non-incumbent candidates; and nine incumbents and two challengers for local offices.

This November Democrats are especially concerned with maintaining Democratic control of the State Senate, as this is currently the only branch of state government not controlled by anti-equality legislators. Republicans are within two seats of taking control of the Senate and eliminating the only safeguard against hateful and discriminatory legislation. For pro-equality Democrats, keeping the Senate Blue is simply the only option.

It is against this background that the Virginia Partisans proudly announced the endorsement of the following candidates running for election to the Virginia Senate this November:

Senator John Miller (1st – Newport News)
Senator Ralph Northam (6th – Norfolk)
Senator Don McEachin (9th – Richmond)
Senator Henry Marsh (16th – Richmond)
Senator John Edwards (21st – Roanoke)
Senator Janet Howell (32nd – Reston)
Senator Mark Herring (33rd – Leesburg)
Senator Toddy Puller (36th – Mount Vernon)
Senator Dave Marsden (37th – Burke)
Senator George Barker (39th – Clifton)
Senate Candidate David Bernard (10th – Richmond)
Senate Candidate Adam Ebbin (30th – Alexandria)
Senate Candidate Barbara Favola (31st – Arlington)

“Although our primary focus is on maintaining Democratic control of the Virginia Senate, members of the LGBT community should not ignore the other races where our friends and allies are up for election in just a few weeks,” Joslyn pointed out. “While Democrats are unlikely to win control of the House of Delegates this year, we need to begin picking up the seats that will form the nucleus to gaining control of the House of Delegates in the long run. If we do, we can make more inroads in the fight for equality in Virginia. Local races also matter. For example, right now there are only five openly-gay elected officials in the entire state, all in Northern Virginia, and four of the five hold local offices. We have a chance to expand on that with the election of an openly-gay candidate to the Blacksburg Town Council.”

The Virginia Partisans proudly announced the endorsement of the following candidates running for election to the Virginia House of Delegates this November:

Finally, the Virginia Partisans announced the endorsement of the following candidates seeking election and re-election to a diverse set of local offices this November:

Beth Arthur for Arlington Sheriff
Penny Gross, Janet Oleszek and John Foust for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (Mason, Braddock and Dranesville Districts respectively)
Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada for Arlington Board
Ingrid Morroy for Arlington Commissioner of Revenue
Frank O’Leary for Arlington County Treasurer
Abby Raphael for Arlington School Board
Theo Stamos for Commonwealth’s Attorney, Arlington County and City of Falls Church
Michael Sutphin for Blacksburg Town Council

Endorsement by Virginia Partisans requires candidates to complete a rather extensive questionnaire, and then a favorable vote by the Partisans Board. In this round of endorsements, every candidate who submitted a questionnaire did, in fact, receive an endorsement. As such, if a Democratic candidate is not on the above list, then he or she did not submit a questionnaire. Copies of all submitted questionnaires either are, or will soon be, posted on at www.vapartisans.org.

“Our community’s enemies are pouring millions of dollars into trying to take total control of Virginia government,” Joslyn concluded. “We simply can’t let that happen. This will be a low turnout election, so your vote – or failure to do so – is greatly magnified compared to a Presidential election. We urge every member of the LGBT community to go out right now and work for a candidate of your choosing. We also encourage you to make a campaign contribution to one or more of our endorsees. But, most importantly, we ask you to vote Democratic on Nov. 8th!”