See below for word clouds – taken from recent stump speeches – of the five Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidates (Terry McAuliffe, Jennifer Carroll Foy, Jennifer McClellan, Justin Fairfax, Lee Carter) and the four leading Republican gubernatorial candidates (Kirk Cox, Pete Snyder, Glenn Youngkin, Amanda Chase). The transcripts come from YouTube, which tends to be good although not perfect. Still, this should give you a decent idea what different candidates are emphasizing in their stump speeches, with Democratic primary voting set to start in just 20 days, and the Republican convention coming up on May 8th.
Jennifer Carroll Foy: Top words, other than “Virginia” and her own name, are (not in exact order) “women,” “governor,” “community,” “justice,” “vote,” “shoulder,” “moment,” “science,” etc. A few others that jump out at me include “criminal justice system,” “former public defender,” “mom,” “community organizer”…
Jennifer McClellan: Top words are “community,” “access,” “grandparents,” “voting rights,” “inequity,” “education system,” etc. A few others that jump out at me include “clean energy standard,” “voting rights act,” “community leader,” “Jim Crow,” “workers protection”…
Terry McAuliffe: Top words are “delegates,” “house of delegates,” “commonwealth,” “health care,” “next level,” “last time,” etc. A few other words that jump out at me include “big big issues,” “huge investment,” “great jobs,” “biggest surplus”…
Lee Carter: Top words, other than his “Virginia” and “Lee Carter,” are “governor,” “crisis,” “policy,” “candidate,” “next governor,” “kids,” etc. A efw other words that jump out at me include “Marine Corps veterans,” “industry interest group,” “corporate contributions,” “economic collapse,” “housing affordability”…
Justin Fairfax: Top words, other than “Virginia,” are “commonwealth,” “history,” “education system,” “work,” “year,” “time,” etc. A few more words that jump out at me include “largest investment,” “teachers pay,” “legalization of marijuana,” “criminal justice reform,” “tremendous progress,” “proudest day”…
Kirk Cox: Top words are “year,” “speaker,” “parole board,” “little bit,” “kids,” “federalist paper,” “majority leader,” “house of delegates,” “majority leader,” etc. A few more words that jump out at me include “violent crime rate,” “vicious murderer,” “worst vaccine,” “Kathy Tran bill,” “Vincent Martin”…
Glenn Youngkin: Top words, other than “Virginia,” are “beloved commonwealth,” “good company,” “business experience,” “investment firm,” etc. A few others that jumped out at me are “silver spoon,” “man of faith,” “homegrown Virginian,” “jobs creation,” “American dream,” “midlife crisis”…
Pete Snyder: Top words, other than “Virginia,” include “governor,” “small business,” “Terry McAuliffe,” “Richmond,” “U.S. history,” “cancel culture” (transliterated incorrectly by YouTube), “small business owners,” “school,” “guy,” “vaccine,” etc.
Amanda Chase: Top words (other than “Virginia” and “Virginian”) include “governor,” “people,” “god,” “citizens,” “new majority,” “small business” and “constitutional freedom.” Others that jumped out at me include “liberal agenda,” “humble servant,” “second amendment rights,” “old boy elite,” “big government,” “failed leadership,” “liberal socialistic,” “liberal agenda,” etc.
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