Jen Kiggans Receives Stamp of Approval From Project 2025’s Creators
Washington D.C. – In case you missed it, new polling from House Majority PAC detailed how House Republicans’ ties to Project 2025 pose major issues for Jen Kiggans and other vulnerable Republicans across the country this fall.
HMP’s battleground polling revealed that voters are starting to learn about Project 2025. Voters have serious concerns over the Project 2025 plan to harm families across America by raising taxes on the middle class, banning abortion, cutting overtime pay, and slashing veterans’ benefits.
Half of voters polled are unfavorable to Project 2025 (9% favorable to 50% unfavorable)
Nearly half of white voters are unfavorable to Project 2025 (9% favorable to 48% unfavorable)
Over a quarter of self-identified Republicans are unfavorable to Project 2025 (18% favorable to 27% unfavorable)
Meanwhile, Jen Kiggans has a 60% rating from Project 2025’s creators, Heritage Action, which has earned her a stamp of approval from the group. (Any score 60% or above is considered a positive rating from the extremist Republicans pushing Project 2025.)
Project 2025 would eliminate Head Start Programs for 13,445 pre-school children in Virginia, raise taxes by $2,743 for average Virginia families, jeopardize 897,300 Virginians’ Medicaid benefits, raise the cost of prescription drugs for up to 390,400 Virginians, and increase student loan payments by up to $4,100 more each year.
“As Virginians become increasingly familiar with Jen Kiggans’ Project 2025 agenda to disproportionately harm Virginia families by raising taxes, banning abortion, and jeopardizing access to health care and pre-school, she becomes more and more unpopular,” HMP Press Secretary Alisha Heng said. “Jen Kiggans is selling out Virginia to appease her D.C. cronies who wrote Project 2025 while jeopardizing the lives of everyday Virginians, and HMP looks forward to flipping VA-02 blue.”
More Than 90 Business Leaders Endorse Kamala Harris for President
This morning, more than 90 CEOs and business leaders endorsed Kamala Harris and her plans to create an Opportunity Economy, first reported by CNBC. The list of business leaders, which is continuing to grow, includes the CEOs of Yelp, Box, and Chobani, as well as former CEOs of Starbucks, Ford, Pepsi, and Lyft. Their endorsement follows the release of Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan for a “New Way Forward” for small businesses and entrepreneurs, which she announced with a major speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday. It also follows yet anotherround ofexpertanalyses showing that Donald Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda would drive up costs for families and shrink the nation’s economy, while Vice President Harris’ economic vision would support families and small businesses while driving growth and bringing down costs.
Vice President Harris’ vision for an Opportunity Economy is built on investments in the middle class, small businesses, workers, and industry—key drivers of our country’s economy. Her plan for small businesses and entrepreneurs sets an ambitious goal of a record 25 million new business applications in her first term, with a ten-fold increase in the deduction for startup expenses from $5,000 to $50,000 to help entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground. It would also encourage continued investment in our industries and workers and reduce the deficit. She has also proposed common sense measures to bring down the costs of groceries, housing, prescription drugs, and more, while cutting taxes for the middle class and putting thousands of dollars back in families’ pockets.
Today’s endorsements come from a diverse group of current and former executives, representing newer and more established companies from a range of industries and based across the country.
See the story below:
CNBC: 88 corporate leaders endorse Harris in new letter, including CEOs of Yelp, Box and Ripple
[Megan Cassella, 9/6/2024]
Eighty-eight current and former top executives from across corporate America have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in a new letter shared exclusively with CNBC.
Among the signers are several high-profile CEOs of public companies, including Aaron Levie of Box, Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp, and Michael Lynton, chairman of Snap, Inc.
Other signers appear to be issuing their first public endorsements of Harris since she became the de facto Democratic nominee in July.
They include James Murdoch, the former CEO of 21st Century Fox and an heir to the Murdoch family media empire, and crypto executive Chris Larsen, co-founder of the Ripple blockchain platform.
Other notable signers are philanthropist Lynn Forrester de Rothschild, private equity billionaire José Feliciano, Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson, and D.C. sports magnate Ted Leonsis, owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, WNBA’s Mystics and the NHL’s Washington Capitals.
The three-page list also includes a slate of longtime Democratic political donors, like Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr, Insight partners Deven Parekh and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former chairman of Walt Disney Studios.
Another subset of names are people who have supported Harris in particular since her political campaigns in California, like the philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and NBA Hall-of-Famer and billionaire businessman Magic Johnson.
More than a dozen of the signers made their fortunes on Wall Street: Tony James, the former president and COO of Blackstone and founder of Jefferson River Capital; Bruce Heyman, former managing director of private wealth at Goldman Sachs; Peter Orszag, CEO of Lazard and Steve Westly managing director of the Westly Group and a former Tesla board member.
Still more are prominent in Silicon Valley, including the venture capitalist Ron Conway, entrepreneur Mark Cuban, and former LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman.
“The best way to support the continued strength, security, and reliability of our democracy and economy” is by electing Harris president, the writers say.
They also argue that Harris would “continue to advance fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability, and a sound business environment” if she were president.
Harris outlined proposals to support small businesses that feature a plan to increase a tax deduction for start-up expenses by ten times, up to $50,000.
She also proposed lifting the top capital gains tax rate to 28% for people making more than $1 million a year—up from the current 20% rate, but far lower than the 39.6% level that President Joe Biden has proposed.
Harris said she dialed back Biden’s top rate, in part, because her goal is to encourage more private-sector investment.
Trump campaign pulls away from three target states after Harris surge (“The Republican presidential nominee’s campaign has diverted resources away from Minnesota, Virginia and New Hampshire – states Trump was boasting he could win while Joe Biden was the Democratic candidate – to focus instead on a small number of battleground states.”)
Cao’s Cuts Would Defund Border Patrol (In stark contrast, “Tim Kaine has worked across the aisle to combat the flow of fentanyl and add new Border Patrol agents who will keep Virginians safe.”)
Team Harris-Walz Raises $361 Million in August, $404 Million War Chest Entering Campaign Home Stretch
Best Grassroots Fundraising Month in Presidential History
Haul Nearly Triples Team Trump’s August Raise, Putting Harris-Walz Campaign in a Strong Position for a Stiff Spending Battle to Come
Nearly 3 Million Donors Contributed in August Alone
More than $615 Million Raised Since Beginning of Vice President Harris’ Candidacy
Today, Team Harris-Walz announced that it raised $361 million in August, the largest haul of the 2024 cycle and nearly triple Team Trump’s August fundraising haul. Team Harris-Walz has raised more than $615 million since the beginning of Vice President Harris’ candidacy, and has been powered by a record-breaking grassroots fundraising program: August’s haul was the best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history.
Team Harris-Walz is also reporting $404 million in cash on hand – a massive war chest that will be mission-critical to beating Team Trump’s aggressive operation. Pro-Trump super PACs, funded by unlimited contributions from billionaires, are consolidating their efforts and pumping hundreds of millions of dollars to bolster Trump’s campaign through Election Day – funneling their cash into battleground states to support Trump. In fact, two billionaires alone have bankrolled more than $150 million in spending in just the past six weeks for Trump – MAGA Inc. has spent nearly $100 million in ads and direct mail since the end of July, funded in large part by the $125 million that billionaire Tim Mellon contributed earlier this year, and Preserve America PAC has spent $54 million, bankrolled by Miriam Adelson, who has promised to spend more than $100 million to elect Trump.
“In just a short time, Vice President Harris’ candidacy has galvanized a history-making, broad, and diverse coalition – with the type of enthusiasm, energy, and grit that wins close elections,” said Harris-Walz 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. “As we enter the final stretch of this election, we’re making sure every hard-earned dollar goes to winning over the voters who will decide this election. Make no mistake: this election will be hard-fought and hard-won. But with the undeniable, organic support we are seeing, we are making sure we are doing everything possible to mobilize our coalition to defeat Donald Trump once and for all.”
“Since Vice President Harris announced her candidacy in July, one thing has been clear: voters are excited and motivated to send her to the Oval Office,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. “If you need proof, just look out at our fundraising numbers. In August, we had the best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history, and our historic war chest will power us through the last two months of this election. We’re proud that our team is fueled by everyday Americans: teachers, seniors, and hardworking families. Their values reflect our values, and we will continue to fight on their behalf when we win in November.”
August’s $361 million haul was powered by record-shattering grassroots fundraising support:
August was the best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history, drawing in record support from first-time donors: Nearly 3 million donors made contributions this month alone – with 1.3 million donors making their first donation this cycle. Of those first time donors, three-quarters did not contribute in the last presidential election.
Five of the top ten grassroots days of the campaign were from August. The third best grassroots day of the campaign was August 6, when Vice President Harris announced Governor Walz as her running-mate.
95% of all August donations were under $200, and teachers and nurses continue to be among the most common donor occupations.
Vice President Harris’ candidacy has also galvanized new demographic groups to donate: Over 60% of all donors in August were women and almost a fifth of donors were registered Republicans or Independents
Team Harris-Walz’s War Chest is Putting Its Resources to Reach the Voters Who Will Decide The Election:
The money being raised across Harris for President, the Democratic National Committee, and joint fundraising committees is bringing the stakes of this race to the voters who will decide what we know will be a very close election. This effort includes:
The largest Weekend of Action of the campaign to-date focused on Trump’s Project 2025, with more than 2,000 events and 20,000 volunteer shifts already scheduled ahead of the September 10 ABC debate next week
More than 312 coordinated campaign offices and more than 2,000 coordinated staff across the battleground states, including offices in Republican strongholds to cut into Trump’s margins
A $370 million investment on digital and television advertising between Labor Day and Election Day to ensure the Vice President is directly communicating to battleground voters on the issues that matter most to them, including Trump’s dangerous Project 2025 agenda
A recent Weekend of Action, featuring more than 10,000 volunteers who made nearly 900,000 calls and knocked on 150,000 doors, contacting more than 1 million voters
The largest transfer ever to campaign committees in a presidential cycle to bolster Democrats’ efforts up and down the ballot
Team Harris-Walz’s Record-Breaking Haul Will Be Critical To Defeating Trump’s Billionaire-Funded Operation:
With just 60 days until Election Day, Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are utilizing their massive war chest to cement the choice for the voters who will decide this election. That includes efforts like this weekend’s Project 2025 Weekend of Action, as well as an aggressive paid media campaign through Election Day putting a spotlight on Trump’s Project 2025. These efforts are critical as Donald Trump’s billionaire-funded campaign, along with pro-Trump super PACs, are spending big: Already, Team Trump is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the airwaves in battleground states. And new, pro-Trump, soft money groups continue to spring up at a rapidpace, ready to throw millions into efforts to bolster Trump’s bid for the White House – spending on paid media and ground game operations:
This fall will be a fierce spending battle. While billionaires spend heavily to push Trump toward victory, Team Harris-Walz and its army of grassroots supporters will continue leveraging its massive infrastructure advantage in the battlegrounds and its historic war chest to relentlessly take the stakes of this election to the voters who will decide it.
DPVA Statement on MAGA Extremist Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears Running for Governor
Today, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears announced her run for governor. Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears has a record of extremism, and she would push an extreme anti-abortion, anti-democracy, and anti-middle class agenda.
Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker shared the following statement:
“Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears has dedicated more time to boosting her far-right profile as an extremist on Newsmax and Fox News than actually addressing the needs of hard-working Virginians. If elected governor, she’d unleash her radical agenda: outlawing abortions, rolling back gun safety measures, dismantling LGBTQ+ rights, gutting healthcare for millions, and slashing funding for public schools. Her vision for Virginia? A divisive, toxic leadership that hurts the middle-class and tears us apart instead of bringing us together.”
Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears’ Extreme Record Includes:
Sears claimed that after a woman becomes pregnant the baby is not her body, saying, “she’s got her own body” and “the blood running through the veins of the baby don’t belong to her, it’s not her blood.”
Sears has tried to base her staunch anti-choice extremism on the widely debunked conspiracy theory that abortion clinics “sell baby parts.”
Sears has supported extreme abortion bans — similar to the Texas law banning abortion as early as six weeks.
Sears is a longtime opponent of LGBTQ+ rights, previously running on her proud opposition to marriage equality.
Sears campaigned with and celebrated the endorsement of E.W. Jackson, a staunch anti-LGBTQ+ bishop who has a long history of spewing hateful rhetoric against LGBTQ+ Americans.
Sears has long supported stripping funding from public schools to funnel into unaccountable private and charter schools, leading the most recent legislative push to do so.
Richmond, VA — Hung Cao called a radical plan that would slash Border Patrol “perfect” – which could jeopardize the safety of Virginians and make our border less secure.
In February of 2022, Florida Senator Rick Scott, then serving as the leader of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, rolled out a radical budgetary plan for the GOP that he saw as a blueprint if he were to become Majority Leader. Hung Cao bragged that he was consulted by Rick Scott about the plan and called it “perfect” and endorsed Rick Scott for Majority Leader and called him his political mentor.
Part of Scott’s 11-point plan called for slashing the federal workforce by 25 percent and included zero exceptions for Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol. Meaning Scott’s plan, if applied evenly, would eliminate nearly 16,000 CBP employees and over 6,000 officers. His radical plan also called for a service cap of 12 years, which would likely jeopardize the recruitment of Border Patrol agents, considering Scott’s plan would make most Border Patrol agents ineligible to receive federal retirement benefits.
“Hung Cao’s plan to slash thousands of Border Patrol agents is wrong for Virginia,” said Michael Beyer, Communications Director for the Kaine for Virginia campaign. “While Hung Cao’s plan to slash Border Security could jeopardize the safety of Virginians, Tim Kaine has worked across the aisle to combat the flow of fentanyl and add new Border Patrol agents who will keep Virginians safe.”
Cao’s Cuts is a series the Kaine for Virginia campaign launched to highlight how Hung Cao supports a radical plan that could weaken border security; defund law enforcement; jeopardize veterans’ benefits; raise taxes on active-duty servicemembers and disenfranchise veterans; put Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid on the chopping block; raise taxes on Virginia families and small businesses; and give the rich giant tax giveaways.
Wednesday evening, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears put out the following:
So obviously, the announcement is going to be about her long-aniticipated run for governor of Virginia next year. And indeed, this morning, we learned that Sears has filed the necessary paperwork to do so. Given that, it seems like a good time to remind everybody about Sears’ many extreme, outlandish past comments. Of course, that extremism and weirdness may very well play among MAGA voters – they obviously love it with the cult leader, Donald Trump, himself! On the other hand, Sears’ rocky relationship with Trump could make things more difficult for her – we’ll see.
As for who might compete with Sears for the 2025 VA GOP gubernatorial nomination, the most likely candidate is AG Jason Miyares, but a poll in March 2024 found that “Sears holds an impressive 28-point advantage over Miyares on the Governor’s ballot.” So maybe Miyares will just decide to run for reelection as one of the worst Virginia AGs in history? Stay tuned…
No More Back to School with Project 2025: DNC Launches Ad Campaign Slamming Trump-Vance Project 2025 Agenda to Defund Public Schools
Digital ads to run in key battleground states, targeted to Americans searching for back to school supplies
As Americans across the country kick off another school year, the DNC is launching a new digital ad campaign to educate voters in key battleground states about the Trump-Vance ticket’s Project 2025 plans to defund public schools and slash investments in America’s children. As parents make back-to-school-related online searches in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, they’ll be served ads directing them to a new site that teaches a lesson about Donald Trump and JD Vance’s Project 2025 agenda that would gut federal support for public education, take resources away from our kids and teachers, and hurt working families while rigging the economy for the ultra-rich and big corporations.
Project 2025 would end the Department of Education, funnel taxpayer dollars out of public schools, slash investments for public schools serving children from low-income households, eliminate Head Start, reject free school meals for students in need, and reverse student loan debt relief efforts – all while gifting more tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.
“As America goes back to school, parents across the country are ready to teach Donald Trump and JD Vance a lesson. Take it from someone who taught public school, you can’t threaten to defund public education and get away with it,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. “The Trump-Vance ticket’s Project 2025 blueprint calls for ending the Department of Education, gutting investments in public schools. Public education is a cornerstone of America’s democracy, but Trump and Vance threaten to take us backwards with a Project 2025 agenda that is as extreme as it is unpopular – and that’s why voters will support Vice President Harris and former public school teacher Governor Walz this November.”
Trump campaign shifts as its path to victory narrows (“…in the past six weeks Trump hasn’t held a rally in Virginia, and his campaign appears to have stopped putting out memos that cite internal polls while claiming the state is flippable.”)
On many key topics, Fox News and Project 2025 are in lockstep (“Fox News has worked to distinguish Donald Trump from Project 2025, but the network’s conservative host and guests, including Trump surrogates, advocate for similar policy intentions”)
It wasn’t always like this, but today, Virginia’s 9th Congressional District is one of the “reddest” in the country, with Donald Trump winning it 70%-28% in 2020 and 69%-27% in 2016, while its right-wingnut Congressman, Morgan Griffith, won it 73.2%-26.5% in 2022 and 65.2%-34.7% in 2018 (Griffith was uncontested in 2020). It’s really frustrating, given that what voters in VA09 are doing, effectively, is voting WILDLY against their own economic – and other – self interest.
It’s also really frustrating because, as noted above, they didn’t always do that; to the contrary, prior to 2010, VA09 went strongly for Democratic Rep. Rich Boucher for many many years. VA09 voters also loved Democrat Mark Warner, voting for him 55%-44% in 1996 (when it also went narrowly for Bill Clinton for president), 52%-47% in 2000 and 63%-36% in 2008. And even in elections where Democrats lost, they didn’t get blown out. For instance, in 2006, Jerry Kilgore – from Wise County in VA09 – only defeated Tim Kaine in the district 55%-43%, while George Allen only beat Jim Webb in VA09 by 55%-44% in 2006. Starting in 2009, though, with the rise of the “Tea Party” movement, Fox “News,” social media disinformation, etc, etc., VA09 went hard right, including ousting their long-time Congressman, Democrat Rick Boucher – who was superb, by the way! – for the atrociously bad, far-right Morgan Griffith. And there Griffith remains, sadly, to this day…
So this election cycle, yet again, VA09 voters have a choice between the worse-than-worthless Griffith and a FAR-better choice on their ballot – Democrat Karen Baker, an attorney, nurse and former federal Administrative Law Judge. Unlike Griffith, who not only doesn’t help but actually HARMS the district – and the country, including through his vote against accepting the 2020 election results, his blind support for Trump in general, his climate science denialism and fealty to the fossil fuel industry, etc, – Baker would actually be an *asset* to the people of VA09 – and, if they really consider the two candidates and think through the choice, it shouldn’t be a difficult decision at all to vote for Baker.
Want some more evidence that Baker would be a far better U.S. Representative than Griffith? See below for audio of the recent debate held between the two candidates, and the contrast in terms of quality could hardly be starker. A few excerpts really tell the story.
Karen Baker: “I am a listener and a problem solver. I will work with anyone in Congress who is serious about solving rural issues and expanding rural economies. My opponent has had 14 years to listen to and problem solve for the 9th district and he’s done neither. He has presided over a depressed economy here in the 9th district for all of those 14 years without offering any meaningful investment or solutions…[Griffith] voted against the infrastructure bill that included investments in roads and bridges in a deeply rural district where people have to commute to work. He voted against the Inflation Reduction Act that led to lower prescription drug costs for our seniors for life-saving medications like insulin. He voted against our veterans by voting against the PACT Act, which allows veterans to receive service connected disability for exposure to Middle East burn pits. He voted against our Union miners’ pensions and health care plans and against funding the Black Lung Trust Fund while thousands of retired miners gasp for air after years underground.”
Karen Baker: “An effective representative is present, accessible and responsive. None of these words describe my opponent. An effective representative is a creative leader who brings people together to be the best we can be. That is not my opponent. My life has been one of service. I have always represented the little guy. I want to serve as your representative in Congress because you deserve someone who will fight right alongside you for a better life for all of us here in Appalachia. My job will be to fight for us all.”
Karen Baker: “[Griffith] voted for $1.3 trillion in tax breaks for wealthy corporations and very very wealthy individuals, and there was no concern at that time, which was just a few years ago, that it would increase the federal deficit, which it did dramatically. So it’s a matter of priorities and my opponent’s priority is giving tax breaks to corporations so they can buy back their own stock and give big bonuses to themselves and for wealthy individuals – very wealthy individuals. That’s not my priority; my priority is using federal dollars when there is no profit motive to be had, meaning rural. So we have to kickstart the economy, kickstart the progress with federal dollars.”
Karen Baker: “Mr. Griffith voted against certifying the election, which was of course after the incursion into the Capitol by the rioters, he still voted against certifying the election for absolutely no known or articulated reason other than he didn’t like the outcome. He joined a lawsuit attacking the bonafides of the election with no evidence that such was the case. There were over 55 lawsuits filed by Republicans in 2021, the end of 2020 the beginning of 2021, attacking the results of the election, and none of them prevailed, because they did not provide any evidence. So for someone who loves the law to vote against certifying election without any evidence that the election was in any way not valid is to me just incomprehensible.”
Meanwhile, Morgan Griffith just spewed out false right-wing talking points, absurdly demonizing Democrats on the usual host of issues – crime, immigration, inflation, public education, LGBTQ kids, you name it – when almost all of those things are actually areas where Democrats have consistently been much STRONGER than Republicans (e.g., on immigration, Republicans have repeatedly killed comprehensive reform bills that would have strengthened enforcement at the border, among other things). Griffith also constantly demonizes government itself, even though VA09 is heavily dependent on federal funding/aid (for infrastructure, health care, pensions, you name it). On women’s reproductive freedom, Griffith mocked the idea and made clear that he’s thrilled Roe v Wade was repealed. Griffith also attempted, laughably, to defend his disgraceful/unforgiveable vote against certifying the 2020 election results. That alone should disqualify him for service in public office.
Bottom line: let’s hope that VA09 voters reconsider their Republican leanings of recent years, think about who’s actually fighting for THEIR interests and not against them, and look closely at the MERITS of the two candidates on the ballot this fall. Then, they should vote for the best candidate on their ballot, which obviously is Karen Baker.
