Sinclair/WJLA7 is usually right-wing propaganda, but…gotta give their reporter, Nick Minock, credit here for these very helpful (and perfectly fair) interviews with 7 of the VA10 Democratic candidates (former VA Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, State Sen. Suhas Subramanyam, State Sen. Jennifer Boysko, Del. Dan Helmer, defense technology small business owner Krystle Kaul, Del. David Reid, and former VA Secretary of Education Atif Qarni). What are these candidates views on the issues? Here’s a sampling, but definitely check out all the interviews for yourself!
P.S. VA10 Democratic candidates NOT interviewed by WJLA’s Nick Minock are: Del. Michelle Maldonado, Travis Nembhard, Mark Leighton, Marion Devoe and Adrian Pokharel.
- Sen. Boysko: “I would be very supportive of is to really focus on a diplomatic solution to stop Hamas from any further harm, harming anyone else, but also stopping Israel from attacking the innocent people in Gaza”
- Del. David Reid: “What we need to do is we need to have a UN-supervised and regionally supported immediate ceasefire and release of all the hostages. Then the next thing that we’ve got to do is we’ve got to get to the point of being able to rebuild Gaza and we have to break the cycle of radicalization of young people there who are then finding that the only way to feel like they can achieve anything is by affiliating with Hamas.”
- Del. Dan Helmer: “My dad is an immigrant from Israel. Hamas is a terrible terrorist group that has no place in our society in the Middle East or anywhere.”
- Former VA Secretary of Education Atif Qarni: “I have taken a position of an unconditional permanent, immediate ceasefire. Because I believe that Bibi Netanyahu, who is currently in charge is not acting in good faith. I believe that he is hell-bent on exterminating the Palestinian people. I am opposed to sending any form of more military aid to Israel.”
- Former VA Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn: “I believe Israel has a right to exist and has a right to defend themselves. And they are doing exactly that,” Eileen Filler-Corn told 7News. “Hamas is not out for the best interest of the Palestinian people. And their goal is the destruction of the State of Israel.”
- Defense technology small business owner Krystle Kaul: “I am very much in favor of a ceasefire with the release of hostages.”
- Sen. Suhas Subramanyam: “he thinks a ceasefire would be ideal as long as hostages are returned and it doesn’t allow Hamas to regroup and continue the war indefinitely.”
Parental notification “within 24 hours of suspected student overdoses”
- Sen. Subramanyam: “As Loudoun’s State Senator, it was really heartbreaking to see what’s happened in some of our schools including Parkview High School, which I represent in Sterling, and we need to make sure that when something happens that the community knows that the parents of the student knows.”
- Sen. Boysko: “This didn’t just show up yesterday. This has been going on for several years. I supported it because we’ve got to do something more.”
- Del. Reid: “We have a state superintendent of schools, and we have a state board of education, which is supposed to have the remit to define what these policies are going to be,” answered Reid. “And so I think we need to let those executive level branch agencies be able to determine what the right policy and procedure is that they can then propagate out to the rest of the school system. So there are some times when it’s like we as the General Assembly, need to let the executive branch do their job, and then they will be able to propagate out what the right guidelines are going to be. But you’re right, parents, the community, the sheriff, everyone needs to be notified in a timely manner.”
- Del. Helmer: “I was really proud to vote for a bipartisan bill that ensures parental notification in Virginia and makes sure that parents are aware.” “I support parental notification. I support parental notification. I always have. As a parent myself, I have two kids in public schools and I’m going to keep fighting for them and fight for it.”
- Former VA Speaker Filler-Corn: “The fentanyl crisis IS a crisis, and it’s a health epidemic…something we really need to work on…”
- Defense technology small business owner Krystle Kaul: “Given the current opioid crisis, driven mostly by fentanyl, a balanced approach that incorporates both stringent law enforcement against illegal drug trafficking and enhanced public health measures is crucial…enhancing border security to prevent drug smuggling…stronger international cooperation to tackle the supply chain.”
- Former VA Secretary of Education Atif Qarni: “We have an epidemic in the nation and fentanyl [and other drugs) are killing children and adults, it’s a big problem…I think about it all the time…while protecting the privacy of families, I think in a meaningful this is breaking out and how do we engage that…beyond just studying the issue…I believe that we need to have good awareness and education with our young people about drug use, about opioid addiction, about how fentanyl is very very dangerous…there’s a lot of intersectionality here…this is a national pandemic.”
Gun Violence Prevention
- All of the Democrats interviewed by Minock stated their strong support for gun violence prevention (and/or have a voting record along those lines and/or statements on their websites).
Reproductive Rights
- All of the Democrats interviewed by Minock stated their strong support for women’s reproductive healthcare/freedom (and/or have a strongly pro-choice voting record and/or statements on their websites) and their opposition to the right wing’s assault on those things.
Aid to Ukraine
- Six of the Democrats interviewed by Minock stated their strong support for aid to Ukraine, while Atif Qarni hedged a bit, saying: “it depends on the nuances of the circumstances of what’s happening, whether it’s humanitarian aid…military aid, or god forbid if there’s something on the table about putting American troops into harm’s way…with this specific package…overall I was supportive of the aid to Ukraine…future aid, of course I would have to study that…making sure we have good accountability in place.”
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