Delegate David J. Toscano was unanimously elected new House Democratic Caucus Minority Leader by his Democratic peers in today’s Organizational Meeting held at the Wyndam Crossings in Glen Allen, Virginia.
“It has been an honor serving the Charlottesville-Albemarle community in the General Assembly for the last six years ” said Delegate Toscano. “As House Minority Leader, I look forward to continuing the work we have begun by building an effective House Caucus team that projects a positive vision for the Commonwealth and works to implement that vision for the benefit of her citizens over the next several years.”
Toscano was overwhelmingly re-elected to serve a fourth term to represent Virginia’s 57th district in the House of Delegates earlier this month. He was first elected to represent the 57th district in 2005, upon the retirement of former Delegate Mitch Van Yahres. Toscano previously served for twelve years on Charlottesville City Council (1990-2002), including one term as mayor (1992-1994). Toscano and his wife, Nancy Tramontin, and their son Matthew reside in the City of Charlottesville.
P.S. Now, hopefully they will NOT elect Onzlee Ware as Caucus Chair. From everything I’ve heard and read about Ware, that would be a big mistake.
UPDATE: Del. Mark Sickles has been elected the new Virginia House Democratic caucus chair. My preference was for Scott Surovell, because I thought he’d be ideal for building from the ashes of where we’re at now, developing a strong message and long-term strategy, cultivating a “farm team,” embracing new media and other innovative communications tools, and firing up the grassroots. With Sickles, we get a much more conventional choice, less progressive and certainly not tuned into the grassroots or new ways of doing things from everything I’ve seen and heard. I sure hope he proves me wrong (he also should rely heavily on Scott Surovell for advice and assistance in this job, as their skillsets are probably complementary when it comes down to it).
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