by Cindy
On a night when some people may have been distracted by a certain national news story, here in Virginia, we still have elections to win THIS year, and so a fantastic crowd gathered in Alexandria at the home of Joan Huffer (Democracy Alliance and Founder of Virginia Plus, which has raised over $10 million for Democratic candidates in Virginia) and Robert Dugger, to hear Senator Tim Kaine and Elizabeth Guzman introduce an outstanding Democratic candidate for the House of Delegates in the 100th district, Phil Hernandez.
Videos are below of the speeches. Don’t miss Phil talking about two kids he met at a church in Accomack, from humble backgrounds, who when Phil asked them what they wanted to be, wanted to be a scientist, an engineer, an architect (“a policeman, so he could drive really fast without getting a ticket”). Phil explained that the kids weren’t afraid to dream big, and that we Virginia Democrats shouldn’t be afraid to dream big either, and he certainly isn’t.
After the speeches, there were a few questions from the crowd. Naturally someone asked Senator Kaine about the White House release of the memo regarding the phone call between President Trump and the Ukrainian President that is believed to be the subject of a whistleblower complaint. Kaine said that even the part of the call’s transcript that the memo disclosed, Trump responding to the Ukrainian’s question about US aid by stating that he wanted a favor from the Ukrainian government, is a textbook example of quid pro quo. He added that if the House did not initiate an impeachment investigation now, we might as well say that there is no impeachment clause in the Constitution.
Another attendee asked about the recent news of additional offshore wind projects in Virginia. Environmental policy is clearly a strong one for Phil, who mentioned that as someone living in the district that’s at sea level, issues of climate change affect his district immediately. He scoffed at Virginia’s current Renewable Portfolio Standard, which is a voluntary goal of reaching 15% renewables by 2025, saying that it’s basically “do whatever you want.”
Phil is going to be such a superstar in the General Assembly, and I’m so glad Northern Virginia Democrats are taking such an interest in his race, and supporting him. When I was down in Norfolk canvassing a few weeks ago, I got verklempt telling door after door that they were so lucky to have the chance to vote in the Delegate needed for Democrats to take the majority in the House. What an exciting time to be a Virginia Democrat!
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