Endorsements by Democracy for America:
DFA Endorses Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
National progressive organization continues VA Purple to Blue strategy, backs eight Delegate incumbents
Today, Democracy for America (DFA) endorsed Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. DFA will be mobilizing its 37,065 members in the state to support Fairfax in the June 13 primary election.
Democracy for America Chair Jim Dean on the national progressive organization’s endorsement of Fairfax:
“Across the country, the American people are hungry for leaders who will stand up to the wealthy and powerful and work towards racial and economic justice for all. These fights sit at the core of Justin Fairfax’s bold vision for Virginia and they’re why we’re so excited to be standing with him in his campaign for Lieutenant Governor From advocating for expansion of early childhood education to showing up at Dulles airport to help those detained by Trump’s Muslim Ban, Justin has demonstrated a clear understanding that Democrats path back to power is through bold progressive ideas and action.” – Jim Dean, Chair, Democracy for America
Raised by a single mother in Washington DC, Fairfax earned scholarships to graduate from Duke University and Columbia Law School before becoming an Assistant US Attorney in Virginia. He narrowly lost the 2013 primary election to become Attorney General of Virginia, and has been active in the Virginia Coalition for Racial Diversity in the Justice System. If elected, he will be the second African American to hold statewide office in the state.
DFA also endorsed the following eight Virginia House of Delegates incumbents:
- Lashrecse Aird (VA-63)
- Lamont Bagby (VA-74)
- Jennifer Boysko (VA-86)
- Jeff Bourne (VA-71)
- Mark Levine (VA-45)
- Delores McQuinn (VA-70)
- Marcia Price (VA-95)
- Jeion Ward (VA-92)
These initial House of Delegates endorsements are part of the group’s on-going “Purple to Blue” Project, a national multi-year effort to win state House and Senate chambers across the country, with a focus on making “purple” state legislative seats (like those in Virginia)decisively Democratic. DFA expects to add additional House of Delegates candidates to its Purple to Blue slate in Virginia in the coming weeks.
Statement from DFA’s Dean on the organization’s Purple to Blue endorsements in Virginia:
“The first step to ending Republicans’ veto-proof majority in Virginia’s House of Delegates is protecting the progressive leaders in Richmond who are already waging the fights we need to win. The eight Delegates we’re backing in our first round of Virginia endorsements form the foundation we must build from if we’re going to ensure that the State House in Richmond reflects the surge of grassroots, progressive action that’s swept through the Old Dominion, from Arlington to Blacksburg, since Donald Trump’s election. Virginians deserve a House of Delegates that represents their proud progressive values and the reelection of these eight Delegates is a critical element of making sure that happens in 2017.” – Democracy for America Chair Jim Dean
Democracy for America is a people-powered political action committee with 1 million members nationwide. Since its 2004 founding, DFA members have raised and contributed more than $40 million and made more than 11.1 million volunteer calls to help successfully elect 915 progressive candidates nationwide.
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