The Ward 6 Dems voter education & GOTV committee has chosen the candidates we'll be supporting for this fall's mid-term elections:
Rep. Elaine Luria (VA-02)
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07)
Sen. Raphael Warnock (GA)
John Fetterman (PA)
All four are on the record in support of DC Statehood - No Donation Without Representation! - and you can learn more about them below. It is critical that Dems maintain and, if possible, increase their slim majorities in the House and Senate this fall. We will be writing postcards in support of all four candidates - we've actually already started writing postcards for Rep. Luria - and with a little luck on the COVID front, we're hoping to host some in-person postcard parties. We'll be working with the candidates' campaigns and other Democratic groups in and outside DC on other opporunities as well, including phone and text banking and potentially some canvassing trips. Can you give a few hours to help keep Congress blue this fall? Contact Matt LaFortune, our voter ed & GOTV committee chair, at mattlafortune@gmail.com, to join our GOTV volunteers list and stay informed of all the opportunities as they arise. Relatedly, Matt and his wife are expecting their first child soon (congratulations, LaFortunes!), so we also need someone who can help Matt with the organizing part of our GOTV work, as he's about to be very busy and somewhat sleep-deprived. Matt is a veteran GOTV activist and knows what needs to happen, he just needs another set of hands to help with actually getting the work done. If that's you, contact Elizabeth Engel at ewengel@yahoo.com.
Our 2022 Candidates
Rep. Elaine Luria (VA-02)
Our veteran GOTV volunteers will recognize Rep. Luria, as we worked on her prior successful campaigns in 2018 and 2020. She's got a tough re-election battle this year down in the VA Beach/Norfolk/Williamsburg area, facing a fellow veteran in Jennifer Kiggans, who is currently a state senator. Rep. Luria, a former Navy commander, has recently gained national prominence due to her outstanding work on the January 6 select committee. Her district changed significantly due to redistricting, and we've already sent a large tranche of postcards focused on introducting Rep. Luria to her new constituents. Experts are calling this race a toss-up at this point.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07)
Ward 6 Dems GOTV volunteers also supported Rep. Spanberger's prior successful campaigns in 2018 and 2020. Redistricting hit her hard - she now lives outside VA-07, but has committed to move back in district if she is re-elected. She's facing Yesli Vega, who, like Rep. Spanberger, also has a background in law enforcement. Vega is a pro-forced-birth extremist. This race is rated toss-up to slight lean Dem right now. Both Rep. Luria and Rep. Spanberger were part of 2018's blue wave (flipping 2016 Trump districts), and both won their 2018 and 2020 elections on VERY tight margins. These are both critical races to help the Dems hold their slim House majority, and both ladies are candidates with whom we have experience.
Senator Raphael Warnock (GA)
The Reverend Warnock is running for what will, hopefully, be election to his first full term as a Senator. (You may recall that he initially won his seat in 2020's special election to replace retiring Republican Senator Johnny Isaakson, the same election in which Senator Jon Ossoff was also elected.) Senator Warnock is facing Herschel Walker, an unqualified Republican celebrity candidate who's been endorsed by Donald Trump. Sen. Warnock is one of the co-sponsors of S. 51, the Senate version of the DC Statehood bill. This is officially ranked as a toss-up race, although the latest poll numbers show a small but growing gap in Senator Warnock's favor.
John Fetterman (PA)
Currently Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, Fetterman is also taking on an unqualified celebrity candidate who's been endorsed by Donald Trump - Dr. Mehmet Oz - in an attempt to flip retiring Republican Pat Toomey's Senate seat. Lt. Gov. Fetterman has a "not your typical politician" vibe that plays well in the parts of the state outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that are usually tough going for Democrats, and he is also a very vocal DC Statehood supporter. Lt. Gov. Fetterman has been limited in his campaigning this summer, as he suffered a fairly serious stroke just before the Pennsylvania primary, so he's been focused on recovering and gearing up for fall. Meanwhile, his social media team has been roasting Dr. Oz for being a faux-Pennsylvanian pretty much daily (which also plays very well in PA). This is also currently rated a toss-up race, although, like with Senator Warnock's race, recent poll numbers show a small but growing gap in Fetterman's favor.
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