1. David Englin endorses Jaime Areizaga-Soto:
As a progressive leader in the General Assembly, I generally do not endorse Democratic primary candidates in districts where I cannot vote, and I’ve been especially hesitant to comment on the 31st District Senate primary because my wife is a paid consultant for one of the candidates, Jaime Areizaga-Soto. However, my simmering anger at how my own party’s leaders in the Virginia Senate are handling this race has boiled over, and I can no longer remain silent.
[…]
The most senior Democratic leaders in the Virginia Senate continue to attack and belittle Areizaga-Soto, who would be the first Latino elected to the Virginia Senate, because he has the nerve to seek his party’s nomination against their hand-picked choice. They are so incensed by his candidacy that they have spent tens of thousands of dollars to attack him that could otherwise be used to defend their tenuous Democratic majority. This smacks of an earlier era of “good old boy” Virginia Democratic politics that most of us soundly rejected long ago…
This is all so, so true, and closely echoes everything we’ve been saying here on Blue Virginia for months. Progressive leader (other than our disagreement on taking gifts from corporate interests) David Englin’s conclusion is also true, that Areizaga-Soto “will be a thoughtful, progressive champion for our entire community, and to send a message that the Democratic Party is still the open, inclusive party of good government we have worked so hard together to build.” Bingo!
2. In stark, stark contrast, is the right-wing real estate rag’s endorsement of real estate/towing industry favorite Barbara Favola. Keep in mind that this paper endorsed George Allen over Jim Webb in 2006, Bob McDonnell in 2009, etc. The right-wing real-estate rag also despises liberals, progressives, environmentalists (for instance, the paper’s editor has written that global warming is nothing more than “hysteria perpetuated by those, including the media, with agendas to pursue”), activists, and Democrats in general. Most importantly, and this cannot be emphasized enough, the right-wing real estate rag is a supporter of the REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE IN THE 31ST DISTRICT, Caren Merrick. Can we say “concern troll?” In other words, if you follow this endorsement of the right-wing real estate rag, you’re essentially going with someone who only wants to hurt Democrats, who hates everything we stand for, who is totally beholden (like the person he endorsed) to the real estate industry, and who wants the Republican candidate (Caren Merrick) to win this race!(I mean, it would be like if Blue Virginia started endorsing in Republican primaries – lol) All of which really makes it clear why the Sun Gazette endorsed who it did.
In sum, this one’s a no brainer for Democrats in the 31st district: go Jaime Areizaga-Soto!
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