The following press release is from the McPike for Senate campaign. This race could be VERY close, so if you live in the district, make sure you vote…Democratic, of course. 🙂
Dolores Huerta spent Saturday and Sunday campaigning in Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park
Woodbridge, VA – With less than 24 hours until Election Day in Virginia, civil rights legend and People For the American Way board member Dolores Huerta joined Democrat Jeremy McPike Saturday and Sunday in Virginia’s 29th Senate District to kick off the McPike campaign’s Get-Out-The-Vote weekend, talking to volunteers and Latino voters on the importance of voting and Republican Hal Parrish’s extreme anti-immigrant record.
Dolores Huerta and Jeremy McPike began the day in Woodbridge kicking off a canvass where nearly 60 supporters and volunteers gathered to hear Dolores speak and then knock on doors to remind Latinos and other area residents to vote on Tuesday. The 29th Senate District is Democratic and majority-minority, with a Latino voting population of 28%. “Jeremy McPike is exactly the candidate Virginians and Latinos need representing us in the State Senate,” said Huerta. “Jeremy is a friend Latinos can count on and who we know will fight for us. Our vote is our voice, our vote is power. Without our vote, we don’t count, we are invisible.”
Huerta and McPike then joined over 150 callers on a national phone dialer program with Democracy for America (DFA), the progressive PAC founded by Governor Howard Dean in 2004. DFA reached out to its over 1 million national members, and together made over 10,000 phone calls to voters in the 29th district encouraging them to vote on Tuesday for Jeremy McPike, with the message that Jeremy will ensure that 400,000 Virginians obtain the quality health care they already pay for with their tax dollars, but do not receive since Virginia has not expanded Medicaid under Obamacare.
Next, Huerta and McPike held a meet and greet at Todos Supermarket where Dolores, Jeremy, and Occoquan School Board Member Lillie Jessie toured the market and took time to speak with employees, voters, and supporters about why Jeremy is the best candidate to represent them. Many of the majority Latino employees thanked Huerta for her lifelong work advocating for social justice and immigrant rights as the co-founder of the United Farm Workers.
To close a very energizing day campaigning together, Huerta and McPike attended Spanish services at Holy Family Catholic Church, where Jeremy was baptized 40 years ago. The weekend concluded on Sunday morning as they attended services at First Baptist Church in Manassas. “Dolores is a true inspiration not just for Latinos but for all communities,” said Jeremy McPike. “Her lifelong commitment to fighting for civil rights and standing up for justice should motivate all of us to do better. I am truly honored and humbled to have her support and her visiting our community.”
The final campaign stop for Huerta was in Manassas Park where she joined volunteers to thank them for their commitment to ensure Jeremy McPike is elected on Tuesday, and teaching them the famous chant “Si Se Puede!” as they prepared for another successful day of door knocking.
Dolores Huerta is a civil rights activist and labor leader who has fought for the rights of immigrants since the 1960’s. Alongside Cesar Chavez, they both co-founded the United Farm Workers union. In 2012 President Barack Obama awarded Huerta the highest civilian award in the United States, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, for a lifetime of commitment of community organizing and finding solutions to problems that affect communities. Currently, Huerta serves as President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and board member of People For the American Way.
Jeremy McPike, the Democratic nominee for Senate District 29, was born and raised in Prince William County and worked his way through school at George Mason University as a construction laborer. As a parent with children in public schools and the husband of a breast cancer survivor, Jeremy is eager to get to work on the problems we all face. In the State Senate, McPike will work to invest in and reform education and fight for our region’s fair share of transportation money to reduce gridlock.
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