In Our Entire History, Virginia Has Had Only One Democratic Woman — for Just One 2-Year Term — in Congress. Time to Change That!

It’s hard to believe – not to mention embarrassing! – but in Virginia’s entire history, we’ve only had four women in Congress – three Republicans (Thelma Drake from January 2005 to January 2009, Jo Ann Davis from January 2001 to October 2007, Barbara Comstock from January 2015 to present) and only one Democrat (Leslie Byrne from January 1993-January 1995)!

That’s right: in the entire history of our Commonwealth, we’ve only had one Democratic woman representing Virginia in Congress, and only for one term! That needs to change starting in November 2018.

Fortunately, Virginia Democrats have nominated women for Congress this year in six – count’em! – districts: VA-01 (Vangie Williams; see press release below about her endorsement by the National Women’s Political Caucus, and also her note that to date, not a single woman of color has ever been elected to Congress from Virginia); VA-02 (Elaine Luria); VA-05 (Leslie Cockburn); VA-06 (Jennifer Lewis); VA-07 (Abigail Spanberger); and VA-10 (Jennifer Wexton).

What this means is we have a chance to dramatically, massively change the ratio of men to women in Virginia’s Congressional delegation, while also putting a stop to our pathetic history in this regards. If we can win just the districts (VA-10, VA-02, VA-07) that are current toss-ups or leaning Democratic, we’d triple the number of Democratic women who have ever represented Virginia in Congress. If we win VA-05 as well, we’d quadruple it. You get the picture. And now, with the Supreme Court quite possibly setting up for a far-right configuration that will move to roll back a woman’s right to control her own body, having women in Congress is more important than ever! So let’s make damn sure that we elect as many women as possible this November – no excuses for sulking or staying home at this critical moment in our nation’s history.