2023 Session: A Story Of MAGA Republicans’ Failure To Govern

From the Virginia House Democratic Caucus:

2023 Session: A Story Of MAGA Republicans’ Failure To Govern

House Democrats launching digital ads holding Republicans accountable for their failures

Richmond, VA –The legislative session came to a close –  a session dominated by legislation (and lack thereof) on abortion, education, gun rights, and the economy. The joint Democratic Caucus entered session with a shared Vision for Virginia: protecting our freedoms, keeping our communities safe, creating an economy for hardworking Virginians, and providing a world-class education.

“This session showed us time and again that Virginia Republicans fundamentally don’t know how to govern,” Leader Don Scott said, “From their so called ‘error’ that kept 200 million dollars from our schools, to the decision to send 2,500 good paying jobs off to Michigan, and to their refusal to support women’s right to bodily autonomy — they’ve shown us they cannot lead. Now, as we return home, House Republicans have to answer for their extremism.”

Republicans continually pushed to ban abortion, threatening the safety of women across the Commonwealth. This week, Virginia House Democrats will launch a five-figure ad buy targeting three Republican incumbents: Delegates Karen Greenhalgh, A.C. Cordoza, and Kim Taylor. The digital ad buy will run for two weeks, and focus on their failure to protect abortion rights.

Chair Charniele Herring said: “People are facing a real reckoning right now – in our classrooms, in our healthcare system, and in our communities. While Republicans spent this session bending over backwards appealing to their base, Democrats came ready to move forward together to deliver for the people of the Commonwealth with hundreds of commonsense bills. Starting today, we will hold Republicans accountable for their extremist values and that starts with calling them out on abortion.”

An example of the ad is below:

This session, after repeatedly refusing to vote on a Constitutional Amendment enshrining the right to choose in Virginia, Republican House leadership refused to have a vote on two extreme abortion bans that members of their own Caucus filed, including one that declared life begins at conception thereby banning all abortions including in instances of rape and where the woman’s life is at risk.