From Del. Rip Sullivan and his Project Blue Dominion:
Flip-A-District Friday: Volume VI
Welcome to the sixth issue of our 2021 Flip a District Series
Over the last six weeks we have provided critical information about candidates in many of Virginia’s important House of Delegates races. And we have more than 70 candidates to go!
We have also generated thousands of dollars from generous readers like you, and those dollars will go to help strong Democratic candidates who need our support the most.
There are less than three months until election day, and early voting starts in just four weeks. We cannot be complacent. If we show up, we will win.
The outstanding legislators below are critical to the progress we have been making. Let’s make sure we return them to the House of Delegates.
Vote for them. Give to them. Work hard for them.
House District 92
Meet the candidate: Jeion Ward
A 1972 graduate of the first integrated class of Warwick High School in Newport News, she married her high school sweetheart, James, and they had three sons, James Jr., Jason and Jeremy.
As the boys reached school age, Ward became an active force in her children’s education in roles such as PTA board member, band booster and athletics team mom. She also became a leader in the Hampton Federation of Teachers (HFT) union, working as a full-time teacher assistant.
It was then, with one child already in college, that she completed the first two years of her degree at Thomas Nelson Community College and transferred to Christopher Newport. As a Captain, she further developed her passion for literature and writing.
A dean’s list honoree every semester, Ward was inducted into the English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta, and joined Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a community she maintains close ties with today.
After graduation, she continued her advocacy for teachers while working as a mother, becoming vice president and later president of HFT, a position she still holds today.
It was as that voice for teachers that she got to know then-Del. Dr. Mary T. Christian, who represented the 92nd District for 18 years until her retirement in 2003. Christian’s legacy as an educator and as the first Black person and first woman elected to represent Hampton since Reconstruction was renowned. It was she who sought out Ward to run as her replacement.
“I said, ‘I am not a politician,’” she said now, 17 years into her political career. “She said, ‘We need exactly who you are. You’re a spokesperson. You are a voice, and that’s what we need.’”
With the support of Christian and her political friends, Ward beat both primary and general election opponents and has staved off all other challengers in the eight elections since.
In 2020, Ward was named chair of the Labor and Commerce Committee, a consequential position that deals with everything from utilities to insurance to workers’ rights. She also serves on the Rules, Transportation, and Communications and Technology and Innovation committees.
That law, signed by Gov. Ralph Northam in 2020, enables a series of raises to the minimum wage for almost every type of worker in Virginia up to $12 an hour by 2023, with further increases planned. The Wason Center for Civic Leadership’s State of the Commonwealth 2020 report found that nearly three-fourths (72%) of Virginia voters supported gradually raising the minimum wage.
Throughout her tenure, Ward has championed issues that she knows matter to members of her community, including extending the timeline for teachers to get recertified (she maintains her license, always ready to return to the classroom) and safer working conditions.
About the 92rd District:
In addition, Delegate Ward has coordinated both partisan and non-partisan “Get-Out-The Vote” campaigns in targeted areas of Hampton and Newport News since 1997. In addition, she has organized voter registration drives and restoration of rights campaigns. She has kept her promises and has delivered for the constituents of the 92nd District. Furthermore, with your help, she can continue to do the work for the citizens of the Commonwealth.
Contact the Campaign: here
Contribute: here
House District 68
During her tenure in the House of Delegates, Dawn Adams legislative focus has been healthcare, particularly around issues affecting elderly and vulnerable populations. Her work seeks to create solutions that increase access to care while driving down costs. She is also passionate about protecting and preserving the environment, providing a quality affordable education for all students, and investing in infrastructure that fosters healthy communities.
A lifelong Virginian, Delegate Dawn M. Adams is a doctorally prepared nurse practitioner with nearly thirty-five years of diverse clinical and administrative health care experience. She holds degrees from four Virginia universities and is a small business owner. She is the only Democrat who is a practicing clinician in the entire General Assembly.
Dawn was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2017, ousting a 10 year incumbent and flipping a 30-year Republican stronghold. She is the first and only openly lesbian legislator in the Commonweath’s 400 year history. Since assuming office, she has been one of the most effective legislators in the Assembly.
About HD-68:
House District 68 includes parts of Chesterfield County, Richmond City, and Henrico County. The November 2nd election will be between Delegate Adams and Mark Earley Jr. The Republican State Leadership Committee has listed VA-68 as one of the 13 districts they intend to focus efforts on flipping this cycle. This is the first election without President Trump in office, and things will come down to whether we can keep Democrats active and energetic about what we have already accomplished and what is yet to come.
Just one example of why we cannot let Mark Earley flip the 68th:
Mark Earley, Jr. is a true Republican. As the son of a former Republican Attorney General of Virginia, he hopes to coast to victory under his family name. He has few roots in the 68th district, having just recently moved into the area. He stands against all the progress we’ve made in the last couple of years and if elected will attempt to turn back the clock on many of our achievements in Virginia.
Contact the Campaign: here
Contribute: here
House District 11
Meet the candidate: Sam Rasoul
My sisters, brother, and I grew up in Virginia where my family had settled in the Roanoke Valley after leaving war-torn Palestine in the late 1960s to find a better life. I grew up in a corner store in the Hurt Park and Blue Stone neighborhoods, where we learned the value of community and taking life one challenge at a time.
As a religious and ethnic minority in Southwest Virginia, I learned the value of building bridges wherever I could find them. Our neighborhood friends might need some groceries until payday, and our family business stepped up to help them out however we could because we believed in the value of serving our community.
Throughout my life, I have been guided by the values of respect, fairness, and liberty that I was raised with. Roanoke College pushed me to understand the world on a deeper level, and a master’s degree in Hawaii introduced me to cultures I had known nothing about.
With the loving support of my life partner, Layaly, I was drawn to a life of public service. I was eager to find ways to elevate the voices of everyday Virginians while forging lasting coalitions. In 2008 I ran for Congress as the youngest candidate in America. An idealist with much to learn, my core philosophy stayed simple: Treat people as I would want to be treated. Layaly and I have been blessed with three awesome kids: Jennah, Amirah, and Issa. The innocence and wisdom of my children keep me grounded and hopeful. They are a big part of the reason I’m working to help build a better, brighter future for all Virginians.
I worked in health care to build more compassionate ways to care for our seniors and improve maternal and child health in East Africa. Ushering in new programs with my teams, we faced endless problems but focused on helping and empowering people, one life at a time.
In 2014, the beautiful people of Roanoke entrusted me with the opportunity to represent our community in the Virginia House of Delegates. I immediately got to work rejecting special interest PAC donations, starting the Impact Center initiative which helps empower new age leaders, and modeling a new approach to politics in our Democratic Promise initiative which builds goodwill by investing in our neighbors.
About HD-11: For information on the district please click here
Contact the Campaign: here
Contribute: here
House District 57
In 2019, Sally Hudson became the first woman to serve Charlottesville in the Virginia State House. In her first term, she delivered high-impact legislation to address some of the most pressing challenges we face, from unemployment and evictions to essential health care coverage. As a labor economist, Sally has invested her career in securing the resources and opportunities that every family needs to thrive.
While she works to address our most urgent needs, Sally also knows that we cannot wait another minute to confront our climate crisis. That’s why she’s earned a perfect voting record as a Legislative Hero with the League of Conservation Voters. Sally is a leader in a new wave of legislators reforming our energy industry from the ground up. She’s helped Virginia end coal subsidies, cut energy costs, and crack down on the undue influence of corporate lobbyists in Richmond.
When she’s not serving in Richmond, Sally is an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, where she teaches statistics in the School of Public Policy. Sally studied economics and math at Stanford University and earned her PhD as a National Science Foundation fellow at MIT. Now more than ever, we need leaders like Sally to harness serious science for serious policy that serves everyone who calls Virginia home.
House District 57:
The 57th District includes Charlottesville City and parts of Albemarle. It’s a progressive stronghold that prides itself on pushing the pace for clean, responsive government and a serious climate change agenda.
Just one example of why we must defeat Hamilton:
Sally is being challenged by Phillip Hamilton. The contrast between Hamilton and Hudson could not be more stark. He’s spread lies about election fraud. She passed laws to protect voting rights. He joined the January riot at our nation’s Capitol. She helped ban those armed militias from our public spaces. He’s threatened to sue Charlottesville City for finally taking down the Confederate statues that sparked so much hate and violence. Delegate Hudson helped secure Virginia’s right to remove them — and have an honest reckoning with history. Charlottesville knows these Lost Cause lies don’t go away if we ignore them. That’s why the district deserves a Delegate like Sally who stands up for justice every day.
Contact the Campaign: https://www.
Contribute: here
House District 43
Meet the candidate: Mark Sickles
Contact the Campaign: here
Contribute: here
That’s it for Volume VI of our Flip-a-District Friday series. I encourage you to review this email and future editions to find a candidate or candidates whom you would like to support with your time or financial resources.Project Blue Dominion is committed to supporting Democratic candidates in every corner of the Commonwealth. Join us. The fight to defend and expand our majority is on
Best,
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