Last night at the Arlington County Democratic Committee, after listening to the Chair (Paul Ruiz) talk about the redistricting referendum (including tearing up one of the dishonest mailers from the NO campaign; channeling Nancy Pelosi tearing up Trump’s State of the Union speech? Lol), four Democratic candidates for the new (“blue lobster”-shaped) VA07 – if the redistricting referendum passes, that is – spoke about their campaigns. See below for video and highlights of the speeches by VA State Senator Saddam Salim, former federal prosecutor and Jack Smith deputy JP Cooney, Del. Adele McClure and Dave Kennedy. There are other candidates as well (Del. Dan Helmer, former First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe, Del. Elizabeth Guzman) who weren’t there last night, but presumably will speak at next month’s meeting.
- Sen. Saddam Salim said: “My story is really the American story. The story about a kid from a third world country where natural disasters after natural disasters, my father decided hey what do we do next?…I was outspent by over a million dollars [in the 2023 Democratic primary for State Senate against incumbent Sen. Chap Petersen]. [I’m] the only candidate in this race that you will see who has won a competitive primary against another Democrat [note by Lowell: I went back and checked, and actually Elizabeth Guzman – who I’m not sure is formally a candidate for VA07 yet – has had several competitive primaries for House of Delegates, a couple of which she won, and State Senate, which she didn’t win; as has Dan Helmer for US House – lost twice] …[I introduced] three bills to protect communities of color, protect every single person in this room, whether you look like me or you look like you. We did a [bill] to unmask ICE. We did a bill around that. We made sure we protected people from court houses that they can go in, they can come back out. We made sure that when it comes to law enforcement that they abide by the laws of the Commonwealth and not the laws of a madman in DC. Those are the things that I have done in my third session. And that took a lot of courage… This campaign is going to be run on the issues around protecting federal workers, making sure when it comes to talking about the war that are overseas, regardless of the region, that we don’t continue to fund bombs. Instead, we fund schools. Instead, we try to protect our federal workers who have been the pinnacle of this nation. That is what this campaign is going to be all about. It’s going to be about making sure that you get somebody who is not taking Apac money, who is not taking corporate funds, who is not bought out by the packs. This is your seat and you deserve somebody who’s going to represent you and only you.”
- JP Cooney said: “Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am an eternal optimist. But right now, we are in a fight for our nation’s soul. I am not exaggerating. Donald Trump poses the most grave threat in my lifetime to the rule of law and to the democratic values that we all share. That is why I am in this to take back the Congress that is abetting his lawlessness. to stand up to Donald Trump, to stand for working Americans who want no part of his lawlessness, who deserve a representative who will stand for them, who will fight for their safety, who will fight for their , economic well-being, who will fight for affordability… I was there on January 6th. My team dropped everything to hold everyone involved accountable. , I led the investigations of Donald Trump’s most dangerous criminal associates. The investigations of the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, and eventually Donald Trump himself. When Jack Smith was appointed special counsel, he recruited me to be his top deputy. We indicted Donald Trump in two federal cases for stealing classified secrets from the White House and for attempting to overthrow the peaceful transition of presidential power. When I tell you as your congressman that I will stand up to Donald Trump, you can count on it. No candidate in the country, let alone in the seventh district, has gone toe-to-toe with Donald Trump the way I have. And had he not escaped trials by winning election to the presidency, we would have convicted him. That is why he fired me in his first week in office. As your congressman, I will finish the job. Now, look, I know that being your congressman is not just about standing up to Donald Trump. It’s about fighting for what’s right, for justice, for the most vulnerable. doing it all the time, no matter how unpopular, no matter the costs, just like I have done throughout my life…”
- Del. Adele McClure said: “My fellow Arlington Democrats, I’ve been shoulder-to-shoulder with you for years….I was here with you swhen Donald Trump first got elected. We didn’t wait. We mobilized. We protested in the streets and we fought back…I don’t come from privilege. My father before I met him, I didn’t meet him until I was 28 years old. He immigrated here from the Philippines. My mom was a single mom raising four kids working multiple jobs. I grew up in Fairfax County and spent my entire childhood in poverty, facing homelessness multiple times. I was the first in my family to go to college. And after I graduated, I had nowhere to go. I found myself homeless once again. I packed up my dorm and I moved into a two-bedroom apartment with another family of eight until I could land my first job at the tail end of a recession. That struggle isn’t something that I’ve just heard about. It’s something that I’ve lived. And it’s why as your delegate, I have fought and I have delivered. I’ve passed legislation to expand fundamental right protection and access for all. And I’m proud to be have been named one of the most effective legislators in the Virginia House of Delegates with one of the highest bill passage rates and a legislative agenda that completely focuses entirely on the people. The work that I have done has been recognized nationally. The Hill named me as one of the top 50 women shaping policy in America. But for me, it’s not about recognition. It’s about results for you, for your families, for my 17-month-old daughter. She is growing up in today’s world. I’m also a renter in this race. I know what it’s like to face rent increases and wonder if you’ll have to uproot your family again. I had to move eight times since graduating college just to keep up with rent. My lease is ending soon and my rent is increasing again. And so I’m preparing for that reality right now. In this moment, I wish nothing more than to have lived in the same house for all of my life. But that is a distant dream for so many like me. I don’t just talk about housing instability. I live it. And I , have delivered results to change it. And I know what it means to fight because I have had to fight for my own life at such a young age. At the age of I was diagnosed with cancer. Cancer that would have gone undetected if I did not have access to Medicaid. That routine visit saved my life. Medicaid saved my life. And now that life-saving access is under attack by this Trump administration and nearly Virginians are at risk of losing their healthcare, we need Medicare for all. We need it. And right now, our communities are being targeted and terrorized by ICE, and our rights are being rolled back. Too many families are being left behind while a Republican-led Congress plays politics with our lives. But what I know is that I’ve spent my entire life fighting for a home, for health care, for opportunity and survival. And I will take that same fight to Congress…”
- Dave Kennedy talked about his campaign theme of “reimagine”; said he’s running because he loves America, “love our DNA of compassion,” “our core principles – freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, freedom of speech.” “Reimagine our teetering social security system. And it is a broken system. Let’s reimagine a system that will be healthy not only for us, but for our kids and grandkids. Number two, our blown up and trashed USAID. Let’s reimagine an even better USAID. Restore trust in America. Our current immigration policy predicated on terror. Let’s reimagine an immigration policy that offers a pathway to citizenship. Super insane corporate money that funds our elections. Let’s reimagine elections where we the people elect our political leaders based on ideas. Finally, in an America where bullying, scapegoating, demonizing are cheered and where our secretary of DoD perverts, mad libs, crucifies the Gospel. Let’s reimagine an America where kindness, compassion, and love of neighbor take center stage.”
