Among the numerous endangered incumbent Virginia Republican State Senators and Delegates this fall, State Sen. Glen Sturtevant (R-SD10) certainly ranks high on the list. For starters, note that SD10 was won by Ralph Northam by 15 points over Ed Gillespie in 2017, and by Tim Kaine by 24 points over neo-Confederate Corey Stewart in 2018. As if that’s not bad enough for Sturtevant, he also has the misfortune to face a super-strong Democratic challenger in Ghazala Hashmi, who of course would be an infinitely better State Senator than Sturtevant, and also right now can certainly be viewed as the favorite in this race.
So what’s a conservative Republican to do in a heavily “blue” district against a strong Democratic opponent? What else than try to dishonestly reinvent himself, John Whitbeck style, as some sort of moderate or whatever? Which is exactly what Sturtevant’s been doing, first with his ultra-cynical “support” for ERA ratification, even as Sturtevant sports a ZERO rating from NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia and an 88% rating from the hard-right “Family Foundation of Virginia.” Now, as if his ERA chicanery wasn’t brazen enough, Sturtevant now is pretending to be a gun violence prevention champion. Check out that mailer, above, in which Sturtevant claims to be the “only Republican to support a red flag law,” also that he supposedly support “strong enforcement of our state and federal gun laws,” etc.
The reality? Sturtevant’s ratings from gun groups are very high, ranging from 80% to 96% since 2015. More reality? Let’s check out some of Sturtevant’s firearms-related votes:
- In the 2019 General Assembly session, Sturtevant voted, along party lines in committee, to kill SB1034, which would have prohibited “any person who is not a licensed firearms dealer from purchasing more than one handgun in a 30-day period.”
- Also in 2019, Sturtevant voted, again along party lines in committee, to kill SB1467, which would have provided “that a court shall order a person subject to a permanent protective order (i.e., a protective order with a maximum duration of two years) to (i) within 24 hours, surrender any firearm possessed by such person to a designated local law-enforcement agency, sell or transfer any firearm possessed by such person to a dealer, or sell or transfer any firearm possessed by such person to any person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing such firearm, provided that such person will not allow the person subject to a protective order to exert any influence or control over the sold or transferred firearm.”
- Also in 2019, Sturtevant voted, yet again along party lines in committee, to kill SB1454, which would have “require[d] a background check for any firearm transfer.”
- Also in 2019, Sturtevant voted, yet again along party lines in committee, to kill SB1162, which would have “that a person must be age 21 or older, or must have attained age 18 by July 1, 2019, to purchase a firearm.”
- In 2018, Sturtevant voted…yeah, you guessed it, along party lines in committee, for SB372, which “[r]epeals the statutory prohibition on carrying a gun, pistol, bowie knife, dagger, or other dangerous weapon, without good and sufficient reason, to a place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held at such place.”
- Also in 2018, Sturtevant voted against SB2, which would have provided “that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor for a person under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs to carry a loaded firearm on or about his person in a public place.”
We could go on all day, but you get the picture: Sturtevant overwhelmingly – with little exception, including the “red flag” law he cited in his campaign literature – has voted with his fellow Republicans to kill gun violence prevention legislation. So where does Sturtevant’s Democratic opponent, Ghazala Hashmi, stand on gun violence prevention?
- Hashmi has a ZERO rating from the NRA. Which is, of course, the rating you *want* to have from the NRA.
- Hashmi says she is “so proud to be endorsed by Brady! We need to do more to protect our families, friends, and neighbors from the epidemic of gun violence that continues to threaten our communities.”
- Hashmi is also endorsed by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
- Hashmi is for “commonsense gun safety reforms.”
Bottom line: Democrats need to turn out in droves on November 5 to vote for the superb Ghazala Hashmi and to boot out the fundamentally misleading, fake “moderate” (on guns and other issues as well) Glen Sturtevant.
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