Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine are absolutely right about this:
Virginia Democrats are worried the national party isn’t doing enough to stop Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, raising alarm bells that he could try to use wins on the state level to pull Virginia to the right and, potentially, mount a presidential bid.
[…]
“I don’t think there’s the same national donor focus on Virginia as Gov. Youngkin is pushing on the Republican side,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a former governor himself.
Kaine argues that if Youngkin’s political machine is successful this fall, it puts Virginia in play on many levels in 2024.
“We may be battleground leaning blue, but we’re not a blue state,” Kaine said. “And that means electoral votes have to be fought for every year.”
And, as Sen. Mark Warner puts it, “I just don’t see that same national energy, candidly, from the White House, on how important Virginia could be not just this year, but next as well”
So at this point, with just 32 days until early voting begins on September 22, and with right-wing billionaires pouring money into Youngkin’s coffers, it’s really at the point where it’s time – or past time – for wealthy progressives, environmental groups, pro-choice groups, organized labor, gun violence prevention groups, grassroots donors, etc. to step up and match Youngkin. Because these elections are crucial not just for Virginia’s future, but potentially for the future of the country, given Youngkin’s presidential ambitions and the importance of Virginia in the electoral college race, and also the negative message it will send if Republicans manage to flip Virginia “red” and reverse much if not all of the progress we made when Democrats were in charge in 2020-2021. So c’mon, everybody: focus!
P.S. My understanding is that we need something like $15-$20 million just for the State Senate races, just to give an idea for how much money we’re talking about.
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