Video, Photos, Highlights: Big ($120k or so) Fundraiser in Fairfax with Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11), LG Ghazala Hashmi, Shannon Taylor (VA01), Elaine Luria (VA02), Tom Perriello (VA05)

I just got back from a high-turnout fundraiser out in Fairfax County (at the amazing former Fairfax Dems Chair Sue Langley’s house) for three key Virginia Democratic U.S. House candidates – Shannon Taylor (VA01), Elaine Luria (VA02) and Tom Perriello (VA05). Also speaking at the event were Lt. Governor Ghazala Hashmi and Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11), who helped raise around $120,000 for the three competitive-district candidates.  In other words, it was a big success; also got to hear from the candidates, as well as from LG Hashmi and Rep. Walkinshaw. See below for video, photos and highlights, and if you can support these candidates, please do so!

Ghazala Hashmi: “You know, it feels like deja vu working here a few days ago, working on some race or another. I know for me, this year has gone by. I was just talking to a few of you and remembering that last summer we were gathered here in the same space as we were projecting and working hard for the November elections, making sure that we brought victory to Virginia…because as goes Virginia, so goes the rest of the nation. We know that.  It’s been an amazing year over these past several months. And, you know, we have done a lot in that time period. We’ve had an incredibly busy session. We’ve passed a tremendous budget that supports so many of our top priorities. We’ve been celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of this nation. And one thing that came quite clear in those celebrations is that Virginia was, is, and will continue to be the leader and the voice of democratic principles all over the planet. We are building on a history of a tangled and complex history of this nation. and we’re looking forward to what the next 50 years are going to be as we celebrate the tricentennial and what those next 250 years are going to be for the rest of the country. Now, I’ve had the opportunity to be traveling all across the nation on various assignments, talking to a lot of different peoples in different states. And one message that I have heard consistently from so many people is that what we did in November 2025 has sent hope and optimism and a sense of resilience to everybody out there. But guess what? Because of the work that you did in Virginia this past November, Georgia has hope that they are going to be quick because of the work that you did this past November. Alabama has hope that they’re going to grab a few seats because of the work that you did this past November. Texas. Texas. And I love to hear that because people say to me all across the country, we were watching in November and when those results came coming kept coming in in Virginia, we knew that Virginia’s getting it right. We knew that you were speaking on the issues that impact our families. And we knew that we can work just as hard and deliver that message and make great accomplishments. So we have given hope to Texas, to Georgia, to Indiana, to Florida. We’re giving hope to people across the country. So you know folks, we’ve got just a few weeks left to deliver that message yet again in November. We have three amazing candidates with us right here. We’ve got Shannon Taylor, we’ve got Elaine Luria…flip Tom Perriello from red to blue. You have done the work…decade after decade. you continue to inspire people all across the Commonwealth, all across the country. Let’s make sure we’re going to deliver that same message strong on this November night. And it is such an honor to bring someone to the stage that you know all too well. Someone who has been leading this charge time after time. Our wonderful congressman Dave Walkinshaw.”

James Walkinshaw: “I can tell you in one year I’ve seen what Donald Trump and this Republican Congress are doing. I’ve seen their agenda to pick the pockets of hardworking people and line their own pockets. I’ve seen the chaos, the cruelty, the corruption, and the rising costs. And we’ve experienced all that here in Virginia, have we not? Yes, we see the chaos just this week in Falls Church. Another American citizen officer waved his gun in her face. She committed a crime while driving in her car. I guess we see the cruelty each and every day. I recently visited for the second time the ICE processing facility in Chantilly where individuals are held often times in crowded inhumane conditions. We know that’s taking place across the country. The costs as we speak the president is ratcheting up the trade war with Canada, our ally. That trade war would be funny if not for the fact that it’s costing the average Virginia family $2,500 a year. And the corruption. The corruption is out of control in this administration. The digital schemes, the tungsten mining in Kazakhstan, on and on and on. We know this Virginians, but we have an opportunity between now and November to send a group of fighters to Washington who are going to deliver for us. Are we going to do it?…the reality is that I represent today right here in Fairfax County, hardworking families struggling to make ends meet. I go to Shenandoah Valley here, the same thing. Farmers struggling with diesel prices up 30%. small businesses struggling with the tariffs, rural hospitals at risk of closing because of the healthcare cuts. We’re all in the same boat, Virginia. And that’s why it’s so important that whether you live in Fairfax or Flavana that you be all in to send these folks to Congress. All right, that’s I’ll end with this because these are the stars of the show today, but I’ll end with this. People will say, ‘well, if Democrats are in charge, what will you do? What is the Democratic agenda? What is the vision the Democratic Party has?’ I think it’s actually pretty simple. Our agenda is affordability and accountability. We have to deliver bills on the president’s desk to make life more affordable for our working Americans. And we have to hold everyone who has violated the law, who has stolen money from the American people accountable. They must be held accountable. If you want the bumper sticker slogan for the Democratic Party heading into November, I think it’s also pretty simple. Hard work, playing by the rules equals the American dream. If you work hard every day, and you play by the rules, you should be able to live the American dream in this country. And the American dream, by the way, means the government stays out of your healthcare decisions. You don’t have to worry about mass ICE agents breaking down your door without a warrant. But it also means that you have healthcare that’s affordable and accessible. It means you can afford to buy a home by the time you turn 30. It means you have access to great schools. You can afford to go to college. And that’s what we’re all fighting for. And that’s why these elections in November are so critical. And these amazing candidates that we have today are so critical to that effort. I was at the women’s summit earlier this morning and yeah I folks who were there and I said we are really lucky in Virginia we have four badass women who are running Republican House seats and one badass man in we’re fortunate to have two of those badass women here with us today and the first candidate you are going to hear from is someone who I’ve grown to admire deeply over the course of the last two years. I saw her run a great race for attorney general crisscrossing Virginia. Really coming to understand the challenges and needs of Northern Virginia. She’s a lifelong prosecutor who has never backed down from a fight. Is not afraid to take on the wealthy and the powerful on behalf of the people that she represents. She has done it as a prosecutor. going to do it in Congress. Give it up for Shannon Taylor.”

Shannon Taylor: “I am Shannon Taylor and I am the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Henrico County. And I do want to be and will be the Congresswoman representing the First Congressional District… just like James is saying, we know…what’s at stake here. And certainly I do fight for families every day who want to have a safe place to live, work, and send their children to school. No doubt. But I can also tell you that this corruption that’s happening in DC, it’s real. And I certainly give my exhibit, that’s what a good trial lawyer does. I give my Exhibit A, of Rob Wittman. And I show you all here today as I show the good people of the first Congressional Districdt, that he has used his almost two decades in DC to have his personal wealth go up to 40 times. And certainly that stock trading, over 2.5 million dollars worth.. And certainly what I am also going to tell you is that he told the people in the First Congressional District that he would not vote for a budget bill and did it anyway knowing that he was stripping away the health care access to all of the good people there in the First Congressional District and gave himself the largest tax break along with the tax break he was giving  to billionaires…. Now, what I plan on doing when I get to Congress is making sure that I work with not only James, but with Elaine and Tom, to make sure we’re going to do a couple of things. We’re going to fight on these tariffs and we’re going to take them back and actually have Congress doing the job that they are supposed to do by the Constitution and we’re going to make sure that we don’t not only the farmers in my district but small business operators that are functioning in the First Congressional District. And we’re going to make sure that we’re going to put back in health care funding that’s been stripped from Medicaid from Medicare. Because while I know we’ve got a health care system that needs to be addressed, you don’t leave people stranded without the actual access to rural healthcare who are making their premiums so out of reach that they can’t even have healthcare coverage. And certainly while we’re doing all of that, we’re also going to do the job that Congress is supposed to do, which is talk about this war that we got into and have no way out because, oh, by the way, that also is having a direct impact on the cost of living for everyone. And knowing that that corruption that allows representatives to vote on bills, to vote on policies because they will personally profit from it, that’s what we want to take away. We want to take that out of these and put those back into the hands of you all, which is exactly what I told every person in the First Congressional District. They are my priority. You are my priority. And I’ll tell you the last thing to make sure that you all not only have bought in for today, but hopefully will buy in to the First Congressional District campaign going forward. And I also want to say thank you to all the Democratic committees – Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria – you’ve already signed up to knock on doors. Let me tell you why your investment is going to be good, high ROI. Because we know that when I announced  back in September, we were dealing with a likely Republican. And I’m here to tell you that those national groups now have called this race a tossup and Nate Silver just said that VA1 will be one of the top three national races that people will be watching this fall because when VA1 goes, you can guarantee that you will go to sleep that night feeling confident that not only have Virginians in the First elected someone who’s going to actually represent the people in the First Congressional District, but know that I plan on bringing back trust and accountability to DC. And with that, I say thank you so much. Thank you so much.”

Elaine Luria: “It is really encouraging to be here to see the energy and I’ll tell you that we’re seeing and feeling and hearing the same energy across Virginia’s second district…It’s a very large district, a very diverse district and a district which needs a new representative and I will tell you why. First of all, I stood on a stage very similar to this in 2018. And it was really a momentous time, because at that time, Virginia had three candidates who were all designated as red-to-blue candidates. And what did we do that year? We won all three of those seats…and  we ended up with a majority of 17. But then in 2020 where Democrats lost all around the country, we held on to those three seats and the Democrats had a majority of four. And do you know who three of those four seats were making up that majority? The three Virginia women who you elected [Elaine Luria, Abigail Spanberger Jennifer Wexton]. And I will tell you that the three of us here, we’re going to do that again as a team and help flip the House and send a message  from Virginia. As James mentioned before I came up,  I’m a 20-year Navy veteran. So, I served as a service nuclear officer. Some people might say, what does that mean? I drove ships. I operated nuclear reactors on aircraft carriers. I deployed six times to the Middle East and Western Pacific on aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers. And at the end of my career, I commanded a combat ready unit of 400 sailors. After my time in uniform, I thought that there was a way to continue to serve, to give back, and help our Commonwealth and our country. And I looked at the representative we had in Washington. And this is a little bit of deja vu as well because he went to Washington. He said he was going to be bipartisan, vote on behalf of the people and look out for Hampton Road. He did exactly the opposite of that. Went to Washington and voted 100% of the time with Trump. Fast forward today, the representative [Jen Kiggans] we have representing the second district, same thing. She’s a healthcare provider. She’ll look you in the eye and she will say, ‘I care about your health.’ What did she do? She went to Washington, voted for the ‘big, beautiful bill’  – the biggest cuts to Medicaid that you’ve ever seen. She voted against the ACA premium subsidy. She says she cares about affordability, but let’s just call it the Trump-Kiggans tax that we’re all paying, $2,500 or so per year for these tariffs that she’s voted multiple times to support. And probably the most insulting for those of us in Hampton Roads. It’s aggravating and challenging around the country that people are paying higher gas prices, but what is being asked of our sailors? We just had the Ford go back a few months ago, the longest carrier deployment since Vietnam. We’re seeing the Lincoln in the news today…Roughly 20,000 sailors from Hampton Roads  either already deployed and returned, currently deployed, and the rest of them are about to deploy. And what did Jen Kiggans say on the local news…when asked about the living conditions on the Ford after they had…a fire that took 30 hours to extinguish…hundreds of sailors. She said they should know what they signed up for, they didn’t sign up to be part of a cruise. So the absolute insensitivity that we’re seeing coming out of Washington is appalling. And we need a new voice. We need to win three seats. We need representatives in Washington who care, who will deliver, who will change the course of this nation and this country for the better. And so that’s why we need to flip Virginia’s Second District. And thank you for being here today.”

Tom Perriello: “I come bearing good news. In a district that Donald Trump won by 12 points, we have already pulled ahead in Virginia’s Fifth District. John McGguire won by 15 points less than two years ago. When they read my bio and his bio, we are ahead. When they learn about his vote against rural healthcare, we go ahead by 10 points…Before I say about the race, I do want to thank James. I come from a faith tradition where words are not enough. It’s about deeds. And when the math changed, he didn’t just send me a text of support. He sent me $5,000 of confidence that day and he’s a team player and I believe that does come from genuinely believing that our compassion for those who are struggling does not end at some artificial district line. We have to care about everyone in Virginia and in this country….whenever I’m here, I think about [Gerry Connolly’s] legacy and I just think it’s so exciting to see the way James picked up that baton and run with it for all. So thank you very good news, but let me be very very serious about the bad news. In my district of 24 counties, there are now 11 counties that do not have a single OBGYN lab. We’ve had two of our hospitals in Farmville and South Boston close their labor and delivery units. We are facing a health crisis and it is our rural communities, white and Black and Brown, who are being asked to carry that burden. The pain is incredibly real and we are about to go off this cliff in January that our rural communities and small towns will never recover from. So I want to be clear, I’m not just running to get us to a majority. We need to have a majority that is ready to say in January…that we are not going over that Medicaid cliff. We are going to use every tool we have in Congress to save our rural communities and the families that are struggling. What’s so frustrating to people about John McGuire is he was told this was exactly what would happen. This is a man-made crisis with the emphasis on man. They were told by rural clinic leaders, doctors, nurses that if they voted for this big ugly bill, it would be a death nail for people in rural Virginia. I talked to a woman just a couple months ago in Halifax County where one of our hospitals is set to close based on these cuts. Her mom had had a heart attack and they got her to the hospital. One of the paramedics turned to her afterwards and said, ‘you know, if that hospital was closed, she would have died on the way to the hospital.’ We cannot allow people zip code to be a death sentence when it comes to our healthcare system. I wake up many mornings in Charlottesville and make drive down to Danville where the life expectancy is 13 years shorter than it is in Charlottesville. We continue to have radical inequality gaps on healthcare and wages, many of them tracking with race. that we have let fester for far too long. But I want to be clear, we are going to get things done on day one. This is not just about what we need to stop because there’s too much pain in our communities. On day one, we must bring those costs down by ending this war and ending these tariffs.
As Elaine mentioned, for a family making 40 or 50K in our district, this war alone has taken $1,100 out of people’s pocket. That’s just diesel fertilizer, gas, that’s not counting $100 billion on the war itself. The tariffs have cost people about $2,500 already this year. And for what? For them to blow a $4.5 trillion hole in their deficit to give Elon Musk a tax cut he won’t ever even notice? But the dark money groups that put in power, got a return on their investment and they’re planning to come after me and all of us. Now that they know we’re in a position to win this race, we’re going to be seeing more attacks and we’re ready for it, because we’re building a grassroots campaign…and it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. I think we have an opportunity this year not just do the bare minimum, which is to create a restoration of our system of checks and balances by getting that majority in the House. I think we have a generational opportunity to build a coalition of common sense that invites in people who have long seen themselves as not part of our heart. If we show up in these communities and we fight every day on a very simple agenda of getting costs down, getting wages up, and getting profound, there are people ready to join us county after county. Because as bad as Trump’s been, and he’s been very bad…there’s also been a 40-year collapsing of wages for people who work in the middle class. One of the most tragic things I hear every day from young people is them telling me they’ve had to make the decision not to have kids because they simply can’t afford it. In community after community, that first house has become unaffordable, that prenatal care has become unaffordable. But there’s something very very important that got me back into politics, because lord knows I did not intend to do is that over my lifetime of working in the trenches here in the United States and working as a peace negotiator overseas, I’ve seen that when bad people hold power, they can create incredible pain. They can crush the dreams of working and middle class people, they can oppress minorities. They can tear apart families and create fear. But I’ve also seen what happens when decent people hold power. When decent people hold power, it doesn’t mean we can solve every problem. We can’t cure your last breakup. But we can make things a little easier. Just that little bit that means you believe your kids might be able to afford college or an apprenticeship program or training program. They might be able to afford healthcare or a house before they get a Social Security check. These are not things that are too much to ask. They’re the basics of the American dream that James laid out. And because we’re fighting for that in this district, because we believe that the way to win these red districts is not to water down our values, but to steel our spines. It’s not to cut a bold idea in half, but to double down on the need for universal child care and universal health care and those pathways to American dream that we are building this incredible coalition across here. You all are making that happen…We did expect to win this race, but it was a matter of faith. We didn’t think we’d be this far along till October. Now we have faith backed by data, and we need that data backed by contributions. As I said to the Women’s Summit before, I only need one thing from you in order to win this race, and that’s everything you got. I need your time. I need your talent. I need your treasure. I need you to commit to those door knocks and those postcards. I need you to figure out that check you can write. I need you to think of the richest friend you have from college or law school or you know where you work to contribute from all of us. Because our entire democracy is on the line. We have a victory within reach. And when we serve together, we are going to have something great to celebrate, not just in November, but come January. We’re going to be able to bring those costs down. We’re going to prevent that. Thank you so much.”