Weekly Recap: DPVA’s Barbara Johns Panel and Reception Recap, Virginia is looking forward to having former Governor Terry McAuliffe fighting for Virginia in 2019!…

10 min readApr 24, 2019

Barbara Johns Panel and Reception

The 4th Annual Barbara Johns Event was an incredible evening of thought-provoking conversations about our past, our present, and what we can be doing today to ensure a brighter future. Thank you former US Attorney General, Senator Jennifer McClellan, Joan Johns Cobbs, Author Ken Woodley, and Civil Rights Attorney James Ghee for being our panelists. After the panel, guests attended a reception where they heard from DPVA Chairwoman Susan Swecker, Dr. Monroe Harris, and keynote message from Eric Holder. Thank you to all of our sponsors, special guests, and attendees for helping make this an unforgettable event!

To view more photos from the event, click here.

DPVA’s Barbara Johns Civil Rights Essay Contest Deadline is Quickly Approaching!

The Democratic Party of Virginia is excited to announce an essay contest in conjunction with our annual celebration of the life and legacy of Barbara Johns, who led a walkout of her tar-paper shack school building in 1951 to protest and draw attention to the inequality in education between African-American students and their white counterparts. Barbara became a significant figure in a lawsuit that would join the historic Brown v. Board decision.

Open to all high school students, the essay should be about a civil rights figure who has made an impression or impact on the student. Students are free to select a past or current civil rights leader from across the country whose work embodies the fight for equality and justice.

Two winners will be selected from the submissions and each winner will receive two tickets (value $300) to the 2019 Blue Commonwealth Gala, as well as having their essays published in our weekly e-newsletter, the Demo Memo, and on the Democratic Party of Virginia’s website.

Contest Details:

Submission Deadline: May 15, 2019 at 5 PM

Essay Length: 500–1000 words

Essay Submission: submissons@vademocrats.org

Questions? Please contact Nick Scott at (804) 335–0971 or nick@vademocrats.org

Have you gotten your tickets yet to Virginia’s biggest political event of the year? The Blue Commonwealth Gala!

Hosted by the Democratic Party of Virginia, the Blue Commonwealth Gala is Virginia’s premier gathering of elected officials, candidates, community activists, and Democratic Party leaders. With over 1,500 attendees and major national speakers, this annual event celebrates the successes of Virginia Democrats and highlights the work still to be accomplished. Held in the historic Main Street Station in downtown Richmond, funds raised at this iconic event help to ensure the Democratic Party and its candidates have the resources needed to win in November and beyond. We invite you to join us at this annual gathering to meet your fellow Democrats and future leaders of Virginia!

The first speaker has been announced: 2020 Presidential Candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg!

DATE/TIME/LOCATION:
• Date: Saturday, June 15, 2019
• Time: Doors open 6:30pm, Program begins at 7:00pm
• Location: Main Street Station, 1500 E Main Street. Richmond, Virginia 23219

DETAILS:
• Click here for tickets and details!
• Your sponsorship or ticket purchase will support efforts to flip the General Assembly in November!

QUESTIONS?
Please contact Justin Jones at justin@vademocrats.org (925) 895–4449.

Upcoming: Rural Retreat May 3–5 in Roanoke

Get ready for Rural Retreat 2019 with great speakers and discussions focusing on ‘Strong Committees for a Stronger Virginia’ May 3–5 in Roanoke, VA at the newly remodeled Holiday Inn Roanoke — Valley View.

Open to Rural Dems, and those who understand the importance of Rural Dems in making Virginia even more Blue!

Get your tickets today here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/rr19

$99 per person + Hotel

Click here for Hotel Room info.

Virginia is looking forward to have former Governor Terry McAuliffe fighting for Virginia in 2019!

McAuliffe says he's not running for president, will focus on Virginia

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday night that he is not running for president in 2020 and will instead…

www.richmond.com

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday night that he is not running for president in 2020 and will instead focus his energy on turning the Virginia House and Senate blue in November.

In a prime-time interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, McAuliffe said that after months of deliberation, he decided he could “have the most impact” in his home state.

“I could be getting in a field of 20 today. Tomorrow I can make a real difference in the commonwealth of Virginia,” McAuliffe said. “I’m going home. I’m gonna work for the next six months, every single day to turn the House and Senate.”

McAuliffe repeatedly declined to answer whether he was considering another run for governor of Virginia. But he said that in private conversations Democratic leaders in the state were urging him to get involved.

“I think I could have really made a difference, I know I could beat [President Donald Trump] … but we’ve got issues in Virginia,” McAuliffe said.

McAuliffe didn’t directly reference the scandals that have plagued the state’s top Democratic officials, including Gov. Ralph Northam, who has resisted calls for his resignation after the surfacing of a racist photo in his medical school yearbook.

Attorney General Mark Herring, who like Northam has admitted to wearing blackface in the past, announced in December that he was running for governor in 2021. And despite facing public allegations of two separate sexual assaults, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has continued to plan a run for governor.

Virginia is the only state in the nation that does not allow a governor to run for re-election. But there is precedent for a governor serving two nonconsecutive terms.

Mills Godwin won election as Virginia governor as a Democrat, serving from 1966 to 1970, was followed by Republican Gov. Linwood Holton, and then won the governor’s office again, this time as a Republican, serving from 1974 to 1978.

McAuliffe, who was Virginia’s governor from 2014 to 2018, had signaled hopes to occupy a centrist lane in the Democratic nominating contest that features nearly 20 contenders.

But McAuliffe has failed to gain traction in polls, despite months of national television appearances in which he has characterized himself as a practical, business-friendly Democrat, touting Virginia’s unemployment rate of less than 3 percent and his role in luring Amazon’s eastern headquarters to the state.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is leading Democratic contenders in the polls and might fill the party’s center lane, has yet to announce a run.

McAuliffe has pushed back at some proposals on health care and free college education from the party’s left flank, saying Democrats must be “realistic” with voters in order to defeat Trump.

Over the last few weeks, McAuliffe had also teased a run for the Oval Office by casting himself as a tough figure who could take on the president.

“Of all the candidates running, how many have actually wrestled a 280-pound, 8-foot alligator for a political contribution for $15,000?” McAuliffe said last week in a speech at the North America’s Building Trades Unions conference. “If I can wrestle and alligator, I can sure as hell wrestle Donald Trump.”

McAuliffe, 62, would have joined a crowded Democratic field that includes prominent female candidates, a millennial who could become the first gay president of the United States, and many people of color — a reality McAuliffe acknowledged as a potential disadvantage should he campaign.

“There may not be oxygen,” McAuliffe said in an interview with conservative radio host John Fredericks earlier this month. “We may be in a place that, you know, people talk about identity politics all the time, person of color or women, we don’t know. But you don’t know unless you give it a try.”

McAuliffe would have anchored his campaign on the results of his tenure as Virginia’s top elected official from 2014 to 2018.

At the end of his administration, McAuliffe touted 5.9 percent growth in state revenues, a $270 million deal to extend tolled express lanes on Interstate 95 by 10 miles without costing any taxpayer money, and a $45.2 million investment in a major manufacturing business expansion in Prince George County.

While he dodged the types of scandals that befell his predecessor, Bob McDonnell, and his successor, Northam, business missteps brought controversy.

He had to answer for the state’s decision to give $1.4 million to a Chinese company that promised to open a factory near Lynchburg and never delivered. He has also faced scrutiny for the collapse of GreenTech Automotive, an electric-car company he founded with the help of Chinese investors that failed to deliver on its promises to bring hundreds of jobs to Mississippi.

McAuliffe is finishing a book about the fatal 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, which he strongly condemned.

“If I don’t do it, I’m going to figure something out,” McAuliffe told Fredericks, referring to running for president. “Get out of bed the next day, fight like a dog and have a great time doing it.”

DPVA Chair Statement on Governor McAuliffe Announcement

RICHMOND, VA. — Democratic Party of Virginia Chair Susan Swecker issued the following statement regarding Former Governor Terry McAuliffe’s announcement this evening that he will focus his efforts on Virginia’s 2019 elections.

“Virginia needs Terry McAuliffe. Over the past few months, so many Virginia Democrats — including myself, Senate and House members, community, civic and business leaders — have been asking Governor McAuliffe if he would play a leading role in our crucial upcoming 2019 state legislative elections because there is no one better at delivering the Democratic message in the Commonwealth.

There is no question in my mind that Terry and Dorothy would have made a great President and First Lady. His Virginia record of job creation and progressive accomplishments would stack up against any Democrat running for national office and certainly against the chaotic failures of Donald Trump.

We could not be more thrilled that the Governor will be focusing his famous ‘sleep when you’re dead’ energy to making sure Democrats flip our State Senate and House this November. There is so much at stake this November — from health care to civil rights to gun safety to the future of Virginia’s education system. With Republicans in charge of the General Assembly, we cannot achieve the progress Virginians deserve. With Terry here leading the fight at home, all Virginians will have a brighter future.”

###

Upcoming Events

To get your event added to the DPVA website and the newsletter, email digital@vademocrats.org with event details!