This November, Virginia voters have a great opportunity to send a message to Trump — and to the Trump-enabling, far-right Republican Party — by sweeping the three statewide races (Ralph Northam for Governor, Justin Fairfax for Lt. Governor, Mark Herring for reelection as Attorney General) and also by picking up as many House of Delegates seats as possible. Which House of Delegates races should we concentrate most of our time, money and energy on? I’ve argued, repeatedly, that we should focus first on the 17 districts won by Hillary Clinton in November but currently held by a Republican. I’ve gone further and ranked the top 18, most-competitive Virginia House of Delegates districts based on Clinton’s margin of victory, whether or not there’s an incumbent Republican in the seat (note that in some cases, the incumbent has bailed), how strong the Democratic candidate is, etc, etc.
Based on those criteria, IMHO the district where Democrats have the best chance this November to pick up a Republican-held seat is the 2nd (parts of Prince William and Stafford Counties), where incumbent Del. Mark Dudenhefer (R) is stepping down, where Hillary Clinton won with 56% of the vote, and where Democrats have an extremely impressive nominee, Jennifer Carroll Foy. In recent weeks, Carroll Foy has really been cranking up her campaign, which I’ll get to in a second. First, though, here’s some background on her that demonstrates why I think she’s so impressive.
- She is a public defender who “represent[s] some of the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable citizens including adolescents, the indigent and the mentally ill,” and “also an adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College.”
- While at Petersburg High School, she “earned a full scholarship to Virginia Military Institute and enrolled in the third class of female cadets to attend the historically all-male college.”
- After that, she “attended Virginia State University for my Master’s degree where [she] graduated with honors,” then “was an adjunct professor at the Virginia State University and Richard Bland Community College briefly before enrolling into law school.”
- “After graduating law school with cum laude honors, [she] attained a litigation associate position with a law firm in Los Angeles, California. Shortly after [her] return to Virginia, [she] had the privilege of serving the citizens of Richmond as a Magistrate.”
- She founded “the Foundation for Foster and Orphan Children, a 501(c) 3 organization,” whose “mission to help build a better future for foster and orphan children in Virginia and beyond.” She “also greatly enjoyed being a foster parent for a number of years.”
- From her Blue Virginia interview, she is passionate about education, protecting women’s rights and improving the economy.
- She is a strong environmentalist who “believe[s] that global climate change is one of the biggest threats facing all of humanity.” She supports “a strong renewable energy standard that mandates a large increase in Virginia’s use of renewable energy” and opposes “pipelines, fracking, coal plants or offshore drilling.”
- She has signed Activate Virginia’s pledge “never to accept campaign contributions from either Dominion or Appalachian Power.”
- She is a strong progressive who supports the LGBTQ community, closing the “gun show loophole,” reining in predatory lenders, defending immigrants from xenophobic attacks, supporting workers and organized labor, etc, etc.
With that incredibly impressive background, the main thing Jennifer Carroll Foy requires right now is all of our support. Need some more motivation? Here’s what Carroll Foy and her team have been up to in recent days. Enjoy – and go Jennifer!
#TeamCarrollFoy had a great time knocking on hundreds doors this weekend and meeting supporters all across our district. We like to say that we are people-powered, but it turns out we’re also K-9 powered! Tag a friend (or a furry friend) who would be interested in joining #TeamCarrollFoy.
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