Video, Photos From Last Night’s Democratic Unity Event in Fredericksburg

With the 6/20 Democratic primaries over, everyone’s attention is now focused on November, when there’s a huge amount at stake. For starters, if Glenn Youngkin and his Trumpist/MAGA allies manage (god forbid) to win a governing “trifecta” (the House of Delegates, State Senate, governorship), you can be 100% certain that they will work to roll back every bit of progress we’ve made in Virginia the past few years. So, whether you care about women’s reproductive freedom, environmental protection, gun violence prevention, criminal justice reform, LGBTQ rights/equality, working people, voting rights/democracy, or all of the above (and much more), it’s all on the line this November.

And make no mistake; Youngkin and his far-right funders (see here for more on the Nazi memorabilia dude, the “secretive titan” working “ruthlessly…to strip workers of protections,” etc.) will spend whatever it takes for them to gain that trifecta. Standing in their way, fortunately, is the fact that their far-right agenda is opposed by a strong majority of Virginians, so if we just SHOW UP AND VOTE this fall, we will not only be stop Youngkin in his tracks, we should definitely be able to gain a seat or two in the State Senate and take back the House of Delegates, en route to the goal of regaining a BLUE “trifecta” in November 2025. But one thing at a time: first off, let’s make sure our party is unified after the primaries and that we win THIS November.

On that note, see below for video and photos from last night’s Democratic unity event in Fredericksburg, a “purple”/swing area with several important races on the ballot, including:

• Joel Griffin (D) for State Senate in the 27th district (Stafford/Spotsylvania/Fredericksburg): According to VPAP, this district went 51.0%-48.8% Democratic in 2022, after Youngkin won it by 8.5 points in 2021. So clearly, it really comes down to turnout – if Democrats vote in large numbers, we can win this one.
• Josh Cole (D) for House of Delegates in the 65th district (Stafford/Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania): According to VPAP, this district went “blue” by 8.9 points in 2022 after Youngkin won it by 3 points in 2021. So again, it comes down to TURNOUT – just like with SD27, if Democrats vote, we should win this one…and hopefully take back control of the House of Delegates.

I’ll close this post by quoting Democratic SD27 primary candidate Ben Litchfield, a really smart – and good – guy who understands VERY well what’s at stake this November. As he said last night at the unity rally in Fredericksburg:

“Are you fired up to elect Joel Griffin? Are you fired up to elect [Democrats] from our school boards to  Board of Supervisors to city council, mayor, all the way on to the state senate? [applause]…We are united….Well why not? He’s our Democratic nominee; Joel supports the best of our values. He’s out there fighting for an economy that works for all of us. His record speaks for itself – on the Economic Development Authority, on the board of Humana, doing all the work that he’s done to enhance career and technical education…Joel is the best of us, so why would I not be out here? Are you out here for Joel? We represent a united Democratic Party, a united front around shared principles of inclusion, principles of opportunity, principles of justice. While Glenn Youngkin is trying to ban books and tear us apart, Joel Griffin, Joshua Cole, Bishop Lacey and other Democratic candidates are trying to bring us together, trying to get our schools back on track, trying to fight for our teachers, trying to fight for a transportation system that can get us to and from work without sitting in two hours of traffic. My oh my, could you imagine if we had more Democrats like Joel, Joshua…Well we have some in the room…Joel is the best of us, I’m proud to support him, I’m proud to do what I can to elect him. We need to beat the Republicans with shoe leather, with dollars, with sweat, with everything we’ve got!”

Now THAT is the right attitude – great stuff by Ben Litchfield! Now let’s get out there, unite and win!