Word Clouds: What Are the Virginia Democratic and Republican Lt. Governor Candidates Talking About?

Yesterday, I posted word clouds for Virginia Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates. Today, let’s look at the Lt. Governor candidates – Democrats Hala Ayala, Elizabeth Guzman, Mark Levine, Andria McClellan, Sam Rasoul, Sean Perryman, Xavier Warren – and three of the leading Republican candidates – Tim Hugo, Glenn Davis and Winsome Sears. As with the governor candidates, the transcripts – taken from recent stump speeches – come from YouTube, which tends to be good at this, although of course not perfect. Still, this should give you a decent idea what different candidates are emphasizing in their stump speeches, with Democratic primary voting set to start in just 19 days, and the Republican convention coming up on May 8th.

Former Del. Tim Hugo (R): Top words include “second amendment,” “abortion clinic,” “little bit,” “constitutional rights,” “capitol,” “Virginia House,” “year,” “Northern Virginia,” “Steve Landis.” A few other words that jumped out at me include “party of socialism,” “slippery slope,” “election integrity,” “pregnancy center,” etc.

Del. Glenn Davis (R): Top words include “year,” “law enforcement,” “school,” “kids,” “time,” “officer,” “small business,” “commonwealth,” “support,” “jobs,” Democrats,” etc. 

Former Del. Winsome Sears (R): Top words include “Republican,” “marijuana,” “President Trump,” “Democrats,” “Black district,” “group of people,” “george bush,” etc. 

Del. Hala Ayala (D): Top words include “House of Delegates,” “Virginian,” “colleagues,” “Chief Deputy Whip.” A few other words that jump out are “next Lieutenant Governor,” “bridge builder,” “team player,” “lived experience,” “decade of activism,” etc.

Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D): Top words include “Lieutenant Governor” and “young Democrats.” Other words that jump out include “paid sick leave,” “green new,” “Virginia workers,” “several labor union,” “social work,” etc.

Del. Mark Levine (D): Top words include “Lieutenant Governor,” “Governor,” “time,” “Virginia.” Other words that jump out include “lgbt legislation,” “full time,” “climate change,” “broadband,” “Virginia transparency caucus,” etc.

Norfolk City Councilwoman Andria McClellan (D): Top words include “Norfolk City Council,” “Virginia Beach,” “Lieutenant Governor,” “skills,” “role of lieutenant,” etc. Other words that jump out include “public school,” “good jobs,” “single mom,” etc.

Former Fairfax County NAACP President Sean Perryman (D): Top words include “committee,” “community,” “Virginia,” “NAACP,” “president,” “organization,” “lawyer,” “member,” “justice,” “experience,” “people,” “issues,” “Donald Trump,” “path,” etc.

Del. Sam Rasoul (D): Top words include “Virginia” and “equity,” with others that jump out including “Legislative Black Caucus,” “broad coalition,” “people of goodwill,” “true voice,”: etc.

Xavier Warren (D): Top words include “Virginia,” “jobs,” “people,” “justice,” “small business,” “lieutenant governor,” “employment,” “government,” “vote,” etc.