With just over two weeks to go until the crucial midterm elections, here in Virginia, according to The Economist’s model and FiveThirtyEight, there are three districts that are at least somewhat competitive: 1) VA02, where The Economist model gives Rep. Elaine Luria (D) a 52% chance of defeating somewhat-normal-conservative-turned-far-right-wingnut Jen Kiggans (R), while FiveThirtyEight’s models give Luria anywhere from a 35% to 57% chance of winning; 2) VA07, where The Economist model gives Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) a 90% chance of defeating far-right extremist Yesli Vega (R), but where FiveThirtyEight’s “Classic” model gives Spanberger only a 69% chance of winning; and 3) VA10, where The Economist gives Rep. Jennifer Wexton a 99% chance of defeating waaaaay-out-there Republican Hung Cao, but where FiveThirtyEight’s “Lite” model gives Wexton only a 78% chance of winning.
So now’s a good time to lay out what’s at stake in these three races; specifically, how extreme the Republicans are in each race. See below for “highlights” of the goriest details, which should make it clear why NONE OF THESE CANDIDATES should be anywhere near being elected to the U.S. Congress.
VA02: Jen Kiggans
- Right-Wing VA02 Republican Jen Kiggans Endorses Kevin McCarthy’s Plan to Cut Social Security and Medicare
- Election Denier Jen Kiggans Runs Through Back Door to Avoid Press After Debate with Rep. Elaine Luria, Repeatedly Refuses to Answer Whether Joe Biden Won 2020 Election
- DEBATE SPECIAL: Jen Kiggans Doubles Down On Anti-Abortion Extremism
- Video: Election Denier Jen Kiggans Repeatedly Refuses to Answer if Joe Biden Fairly Won in 2020
- Video: DCCC Releases New TV Ads in VA-02, “paint a picture of what could happen in Virginia if Jen Kiggans and her extremist anti-abortion allies get control of Congress”
- VA02 GOP Nominee Jen Kiggans (Dishonestly) Claims It’s Not Her Job to Focus on Abortion in Congress; Republicans Introduce a National Abortion Ban…In Congress
- Rep. Elaine Luria: No, Jen Kiggans: Banning Abortion Isn’t a “Shiny Object” Used to “Distract,” It’s Reality for Millions of Women in America
- Audio: On Hard-Right Radio, VA02 GOP(Q) Nominee Jen Kiggans Dismissively Claims Abortion Just a “Shiny Object” That Voters Don’t “REALLY Care About”
- NEW: DPVA Releases “Why Jen Kiggans Is Too Extreme for Virginia”
- Local Editorial Boards Slam Jen Kiggans for “Reckless” Rhetoric, “Selling of Her Soul” to Run for Congress
- VA02 GOP(Q) Nominee Jen Kiggans Campaigns with Conspiracy Theorist, Climate Science Denier, Anti-LGBTQ Bigot, Anti-Roe, Koch-Funded US Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Who Backed Trump’s Coup Attempt and Even Nominated Him for the Nobel Prize!
- SILENCE: Jen Kiggans is Refusing to Comment on Republicans’ Vote Against Protecting Same-Sex and Interracial Marriage, and Contraceptives
- Wait, What?!? VA02 GOP Nominee Thinks Corn Chips Are Made From Potatoes…and That Picking One Random Item From One Random Store on Two Random Dates Proves Something About Inflation! LOL
VA07: Yesli Vega
- Yesli Vega Falsely Claims Her Offensive Comments on Rape-Related Pregnancy, That Were *Caught ON TAPE*, “Were Never My Comments”
- Video: New Ad Highlights Yesli Vega’s “disgraceful, dangerous comments suggesting that pregnancy is less likely after rape”
- NEW: Before Yesli Vega Decried “Reckless Spending,” She Filed for Bankruptcy (“New reporting from Prince William Times reveals Yesli Vega filed for bankruptcy to discharge nearly $100,000 in debt”)
- Yesli Vega to Campaign With Putin Sympathizer, Noted Homophobe Tulsi Gabbard (“It’s completely vile to see Yesli Vega enlist the support of a war criminal sympathizer and anti-LGBTQ radical to resurrect her failing campaign.”)
- EDITORIAL BOARD: “No Excuse” for Vega Dodging Questions on 2020 Election (And “most telling, [Vega] refused to debate Rep. Abigail Spanberger in Fredericksburg, because the UMW-sponsored event would have taken place at ‘a college of your base'”)
- Video Highlights Yesli Vega’s Endorsements – “a who’s who of deplorables” Such as Ginni Thomas, Ken Cuccinelli, Ted Cruz, “Gym” Jordan, Elise Stefanik, etc.
- Yesli Vega Embraces Election Conspiracy; Hesitates to Recognize the Legitimacy of the President (Vega embracing “the same chaos that we saw erupt at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021”)
- After Yesli Vega’s Embarrassing Kevin McCarthy Flip-Flop, Vega Pleads With Him to Resurrect Her Failing Campaign (“Virginians cannot trust a thing Ms. Vega tells them – because she will do anything to gain attention and campaign cash.”)
- Anti-Abortion Extremist Yesli Vega “Bristles” When Questioned About Her Rape Comments
- “Yesli Vega supported the insurrectionists who tried to cancel your vote and overturn and election”
- Vega Aligned Herself “100%” With Group That Asks Candidates to Ban Abortion with No Exceptions for Rape or Incest
- VIDEO: DPVA Releases New Video on Yesli Vega Scrapping Online Reference…
- Yesli Vega Embraces Endorsement from Anti-Choice Group that Opposes Contraception (!)
- In Brutally Accurate Editorial, Daily Progress Rips Far-Right VA07 GOP(Q) Nominee Yesli Vega as “Dogma”-Based Candidate Who “wants to be like Bob Good. Or Marjorie Taylor Greene. Or Lauren Boebert.”
- VIDEO: New Digital Ad Highlights Far-Right-Extremist Yesli Vega’s Record of Voting Against Funding the Police (Vega also “called the FBI ‘corrupt,’ and impugned the law enforcement agency as the ‘deep state.'”)
- VA07 Republican Nominee Yesli Vega Beholden to Koch-Funded Dark Money Group that Opposed CHIPS and Science Act
- VA07 GOP Nominee Yesli Vega & Sen. Ted Cruz Want to See Same-Sex Marriage Overturned
- DCCC: “Pedo Grifters” Nutjob Rep. Elise Stefanik Stands By VA07 GOP Nominee Yesli Vega’s Dangerous, False Comments on Rape and Pregnancy?
- Republicans’ Nominee in VA-07 Calls End of Roe v Wade an “Amazing Victory” (“Yesli Vega wants to see abortion banned in Virginia”)
VA10: Hung Cao
- Video: New Ad Highlights “How Extreme” Hung Cao Is ; After 1/6 Insurrection, He Said Violent Extremists “are my people, set them free” (Cao was also “thrilled” at Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade)
- In VA10 Debate, Rep. Jennifer Wexton Offers Insights; Hung Cao Extremist Rhetoric (Among other things, Cao wouldn’t say if he disagrees with Steve Bannon.)
- DPVA Releases “Why Hung Cao Is Too Extreme for Virginia” (Cao Praised Violent Insurrection, Supports Total Abortion Ban, Denies Climate Science, etc.)
- VA GOP Nomineees Yesli Vega, Hung Cao, and Jen Kiggans Refuse To Answer Questions on Their Anti-Abortion Extremism (Among other things, Cao compared abortion to Nazis murdering Jewish babies in the Holocaust. Disgusting.)
- Grading VA’s Leading Democratic, Republican U.S. House Candidates, Nominees on Arguably the Top Two Issues Facing Us: Democracy and the Climate Crisis
- VA10 GOP Nominee Hung Cao Says It’s an “Honor” to Be Endorsed by Sen. Tom Cotton. Let’s Take a Peek at “Trump Loyalist” Cotton’s Far-Right Record.
- Video: New VA10 Far-Right Republican Nominee Rants That the “Left” Is Supposedly “Destroying Gender” and “the Nuclear Family”; Also “Marxism,” “Equity,” “Pure Evil,” the “Enemy,” etc.
- VA10 Republicans Nominate Hung Cao, Who Backs “Off-Label Alternatives” to Treating COVID, Is 100% Anti-Reproductive Freedom, Rails Against “Insidious Grooming…of Students” by “government-backed organizations,” etc. to Take on Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA10)
- Also note that, on the climate crisis, Cao said “I believe in god and…why we have a rainbow is because that’s god’s covenant to us…he’ll never wipe out the world again, so it’s kind of arrogant for us to believe we can we can destroy god’s creation” (WTF?) and “”The left just wants to come up with crazy ideas about, you know, wind power well…what happens when there’s no wind? Solar power; what happens in the winter time? Also what what do you do with the lithium?” Yikes.
- And on democracy, Cao is a 2020 “Big Lie” proponent. For instance, see here to listen to Cao opine about how it’s “very difficult for me to understand what happened in 2020, when the person sits in their basement for the whole election cycle and they got more votes than Barack Obama…I’m just saying it’s just very hard for me to understand and decipher that …and you know you can’t change the rules halfway through like in Pennsylvania.” The “Big Lie,” in other words – very dangerous and completely bonkers.
So obviously, given all this extremism and lunacy, these three candidates – Jen Kiggans, Yesli Vega and Hung Cao – shouldn’t be elected dog catcher, let alone to the U.S. House of Representatives. So let’s all make damned sure that none of them gets elected, and that instead we reelect Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA02), Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA10), preferably by comfortable margins!
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