Apparently only one person wants to run against fucking David LaRock and Jill Vogel, so my job is done. They're probably going to lose since this is the dumb part of Virginia, but...
Assuming no further changes to districts, I'm not in HD 81, which is currently held by a republican. Upside is that apparently, 81 is now considered semi-competitive because it used to be a solid R district, but leans R. Now primary, but the democrats do have someone that is running against Barry Knight, so it's possible to flip this fall.
My primary seems to be between a "Weed legalization is my #1 issue" techbro and a "I'm a mom! Also a teacher. Did I mention I'm a mom!" woman. Suppose I'll go with the latter, I support legalization but there's no way that should be at the top of anyone's issue list.
Techbro = bad, teacher = good (OK, I'm biased) so that seems easy almost regardless of platforms.
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
+2
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
It appears from ballotpedia that nobody is running against my delegate (dist 43) or my senator (36) in either the primary or general so I guess I can stay home?
As near as I can tell, we don't have any contested primaries in my area. Also I could have sworn the Republican candidate won my district for the House of Delegates, but apparently not! So both my delegate and my state senator are Democrats, which is a flippin' miracle for Southwest Virginia. Neither one is being challenged in a primary, and it looks like there isn't even a Republican running for state senator. This is just a primary election, so would there be anything else to vote on like ballot measures or the like? Ballotpedia isn't loading properly for me right now.
I'm near Roanoke but one county over. Prior to electing a Democratic state delegate we had a Republican incumbent who had 3 terms. Before that it was a series of Democrats, but that was also before the real efforts at gerrymandering kicked in I think. The seat has never been uncontested, at least, but it hasn't been near as reliably blue as Roanoke.
Hey, follow Northern Virginians ... Kind of a long-shot, but does anyone know a good local sexual-harassment attorney? Especially one that's willing to chat with someone pro bono or inexpensively to see if there's anything worth taking further?
I don't know an attorney, but I DO know a community counselor in that area who helps with domestic abuse and such? I know it's not the same thing, but related, so she might know.
I've reached out and will PM you if I get a useful answer.
I voted this morning! Literally no voters in there at the time. Was a little weird to have like six election people watching me the entire time I was there.
This is the most literature I've ever gotten for one voting day. Only had two races with two candidates each on my ballot. Snapshot of literature:
I would have voted, except our local primaries are all uncontested so there is nothing to vote on. I'm sure there will be plenty of stuff sent out for the actual election later this year though.
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SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
I voted this morning! Literally no voters in there at the time. Was a little weird to have like six election people watching me the entire time I was there.
This is the most literature I've ever gotten for one voting day. Only had two races with two candidates each on my ballot. Snapshot of literature:
My wife and I walked across the street to our polling place this morning. We saw two people ahead of us were approached by people representing a candidate and were handed flyers, but they seemed to ignore us. We walked in, voted, and apparently I was the first person to use their second machine since it had been so dead. It was the first time there had been a line. We were in and out of there within 2 minutes.
Voted today. Only person out front was an old dude from the local dems. He asked if I wanted to added to the mailing list but I am already on there because I volunteer. No line at all.
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SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
Election results as they roll in can be found here.
I had no primary since only one guy file to run against Barry Knight. My new house of delegate district is likely republican, down for safe republican before new districts. I'll just have to hope enough people are sick of the republicans bullshit, that even people in likely republican districts get booted (rumor mill is our current republican mayor is pissing people off over calling attempts to move the local elections an unneeded distraction).
In really good news apparently we're looking at having at least 35 democrats running for 40 of the state senate seats. I think filing to get on the ballot has passed, but maybe that's still doable for November. From where I saw it reported, that seems to imply we might have some people showing up later, that might have to run as write ins. We also have at least 90 democrats running for 90 of the 100 HD seats, up from 88 two years ago. Both are records for the democrats. So if turnout remains strong for the democrats, the GOP is probably going to be forced to spend money on seats they aren't used to defending. Hell, I suspect there are one or more seats in what should be safe republican territory that might be easily winnable because of just how shitty the Virginia GOP has become and how many of their shittiest incumbents have never had to actually run against someone and defend their record. They are quite use to being able to throw money from their campaign coffers to the races where there is more than one person running.
General scumbag Joe Morrissey has beaten Senator Rosalyn Dance for renomination, so that's going to be a lovely headache.
For reference, his particular scumbaggery is getting disbarred for frequently being in contempt and generally lacking ethics and then getting thrown in jail for sleeping with his 17 year old intern when he was 56.
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
General scumbag Joe Morrissey has beaten Senator Rosalyn Dance for renomination, so that's going to be a lovely headache.
This is a bigger problem than you think, because it's a sign that the ethical scandals from last year may have done some genuine, lasting damage to the VA Democrats. From elsewhere:
Fighting Joe Morrissey does have pretty substantial support in the Petersburg African American community earned through a decade of working as a Better Call Saul style defense attorney. He served jail time for punching an attorney in the face during trial, he was disbarred for a bribery scheme involving dropping rape charges in exchange for campaign donations, he was disbarred the second time for sex with a 17 year old employee, who he later married, then won a house of delegates election while he was serving his sentence for that crime. He's an entertaining but rotten POS that will soon be a Virginia state senator, but I think the biggest problem is this:
Morrissey also offered a rebuke for the Democratic establishment; Gov. Ralph Northam, Senator Tim Kaine and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe all backed Dance.
6 seats went from majority Republican to majority Dem with this. This is huge and greatly increased the chance of flipping the Assembly this year. It cannot be understated how big this was.
Let it stand, technically. They said the House of Delegates lacked standing to appeal. They did not rule on the merits of throwing the map out.
True but the end consequences are the same and that is what is really important here. Its limited decision though which I am not surprised by. Also I am still in shock with the odd alliance that led to it.
Your assembly elections are off years, right? So probably too late for things to get changed around by a new court case from a different party.
The primaries were held with the new districts this year. This years elections will be with the new districts. Any other challenges will be too late. This was kind of the last chance.
Yes. The Republicans got 1 seat by pulling it out of a hat after their ballot count had a "revelation" the night before the count was affirmed for the Dem by 1 vote making it a tie.
Yes. The Republicans got 1 seat by pulling it out of a hat after their ballot count had a "revelation" the night before the count was affirmed for the Dem by 1 vote making it a tie.
So basically if it just flips those seats, this ruling might have some broad national repercussions as well. Maybe Virginia ratifies ERA, which would be enough states if Congress could pass enabling legislation on the deadline.
enlightenedbum on
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
GOP essentially stole the seat that let them get a majority.
ERA probably relies on both the state senate and house of delegates flipping. If both flip Virginia probably will ratify the ERA. It certainly got much easier to flip the house though because the house of delegates was badly gerrymandered and this pretty much puts some of the republicans in likely democratic districts, while nixing most of the bullshit safe are seats. I'm not happy to be in HD 81, but it went from safe R to likely R, so if we get a good showing, it's probably flappable; especially, with Mayor West of Chesapeake being a shitty individual and telling people they shouldn't bother getting local elections moved and this was after one of his colleagues on the city council told voters to get fuck, when people started asking why said person voted against moving city elections (I believe the words were more or less "the current election time is fine because it ensures that only the right people vote). I believe a fair bit of the more urbanized part of Chesapeake got moved into HD 81. Need to see if the ballot initiative to get the city elections move has hit the needed number of signatures or not.
How's the feeling on the ground in Virginia going into this November?
It's the quiet period right now. The real campaign and feeling will start Augustish. Also it is hard to tell because I live in a solidly blue district.
Also because it's an off-year for elections for most people.
I seem to recall the odd years being weird when it came to turnout, literally for everyone - not even just the usual "X group shows up consistently, Y group does not."
Also because it's an off-year for elections for most people.
I seem to recall the odd years being weird when it came to turnout, literally for everyone - not even just the usual "X group shows up consistently, Y group does not."
Virginia has elections literally every year (which I think is a good idea), so that sort of thing is mitigated because it becomes a habit.
Not to say it's eliminated (turnout is lower), but it is much less of a "Wisconsin decided to have elections this random April for absolutely no reason"*wink*
So update on the Virginia state senate and house of delegates races.
-Democrats are running candidates in 36 of the 40 senates races, while the GOP is only running 25.
-Democrats have 91 candidates running for the house of delegates and if I'm reading things right, the GOP isn't contesting 23 seats.
-Sounds like the republican running for HD 94, the one that the fucker stole, is dropping out.
As always, as long as people don't get complacent, things are looking promising for the states elections. Democrats have a good chance to gain control of both chambers. We're looking at a possible trifecta next year. Only thing I really worry about is that we might see the shitty republican rat fuckers abuse the quorum rule if they don't have a majority in either chamber. Equal Rights amendment would definitely pass if that happens. They can also get the ball rolling on an amendment to take districting out of the hands of the legislature. Pass such an amendment twice before the next round of elections and then hope thing go well enough that it makes the ballot in 2022 or 2023 (IIRC an amendment has to get passed like three years in a row in order to go to the ballot to get a vote to be added to the state Constitution).
So in some positive news, given the current state of the world. The VA state GOP's chances of keeping the House of Delegate just got even harder. Del Nick Freitas (R-HD30) managed to fuck up his paper work for filing and it looks like the board of elections isn't going to put up with any nonsense from him. So in short, as of right now, the GOP has no candidate on the ballot for HD30, which was supposed to be a safe race for them. They could try a write-in campaign, which they might win, but that involves having to spend a shit ton of money on a sit they would normally never have to defend. If they don't try the coordinated write-in option, it's pretty much a guaranteed pick up for the democrats. So the lesson of the day, other than never assume it's in the bag (aka regardless of how rosy things look, always fucking vote, don't make excuses if you can get your ass in the door/fill out the needed stuff to vote), but to always have a candidate in every race because sometimes your opponent might fuck up and you either get a freebie or have a shot at a pick up. Source.
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battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
Techbro = bad, teacher = good (OK, I'm biased) so that seems easy almost regardless of platforms.
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
Check his timeline for more info on VA stuff
This was very helpful! It's hard to find any info on the people on my ballot. Ballotpedia seemed like it had nothing.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
I've reached out and will PM you if I get a useful answer.
This is the most literature I've ever gotten for one voting day. Only had two races with two candidates each on my ballot. Snapshot of literature:
My wife and I walked across the street to our polling place this morning. We saw two people ahead of us were approached by people representing a candidate and were handed flyers, but they seemed to ignore us. We walked in, voted, and apparently I was the first person to use their second machine since it had been so dead. It was the first time there had been a line. We were in and out of there within 2 minutes.
In really good news apparently we're looking at having at least 35 democrats running for 40 of the state senate seats. I think filing to get on the ballot has passed, but maybe that's still doable for November. From where I saw it reported, that seems to imply we might have some people showing up later, that might have to run as write ins. We also have at least 90 democrats running for 90 of the 100 HD seats, up from 88 two years ago. Both are records for the democrats. So if turnout remains strong for the democrats, the GOP is probably going to be forced to spend money on seats they aren't used to defending. Hell, I suspect there are one or more seats in what should be safe republican territory that might be easily winnable because of just how shitty the Virginia GOP has become and how many of their shittiest incumbents have never had to actually run against someone and defend their record. They are quite use to being able to throw money from their campaign coffers to the races where there is more than one person running.
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
For reference, his particular scumbaggery is getting disbarred for frequently being in contempt and generally lacking ethics and then getting thrown in jail for sleeping with his 17 year old intern when he was 56.
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
This is a bigger problem than you think, because it's a sign that the ethical scandals from last year may have done some genuine, lasting damage to the VA Democrats. From elsewhere:
6 seats went from majority Republican to majority Dem with this. This is huge and greatly increased the chance of flipping the Assembly this year. It cannot be understated how big this was.
True but the end consequences are the same and that is what is really important here. Its limited decision though which I am not surprised by. Also I am still in shock with the odd alliance that led to it.
The primaries were held with the new districts this year. This years elections will be with the new districts. Any other challenges will be too late. This was kind of the last chance.
Yes. The Republicans got 1 seat by pulling it out of a hat after their ballot count had a "revelation" the night before the count was affirmed for the Dem by 1 vote making it a tie.
So basically if it just flips those seats, this ruling might have some broad national repercussions as well. Maybe Virginia ratifies ERA, which would be enough states if Congress could pass enabling legislation on the deadline.
ERA probably relies on both the state senate and house of delegates flipping. If both flip Virginia probably will ratify the ERA. It certainly got much easier to flip the house though because the house of delegates was badly gerrymandered and this pretty much puts some of the republicans in likely democratic districts, while nixing most of the bullshit safe are seats. I'm not happy to be in HD 81, but it went from safe R to likely R, so if we get a good showing, it's probably flappable; especially, with Mayor West of Chesapeake being a shitty individual and telling people they shouldn't bother getting local elections moved and this was after one of his colleagues on the city council told voters to get fuck, when people started asking why said person voted against moving city elections (I believe the words were more or less "the current election time is fine because it ensures that only the right people vote). I believe a fair bit of the more urbanized part of Chesapeake got moved into HD 81. Need to see if the ballot initiative to get the city elections move has hit the needed number of signatures or not.
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
Come Overwatch with meeeee
It's the quiet period right now. The real campaign and feeling will start Augustish. Also it is hard to tell because I live in a solidly blue district.
I seem to recall the odd years being weird when it came to turnout, literally for everyone - not even just the usual "X group shows up consistently, Y group does not."
Virginia has elections literally every year (which I think is a good idea), so that sort of thing is mitigated because it becomes a habit.
Not to say it's eliminated (turnout is lower), but it is much less of a "Wisconsin decided to have elections this random April for absolutely no reason"*wink*
-Democrats are running candidates in 36 of the 40 senates races, while the GOP is only running 25.
-Democrats have 91 candidates running for the house of delegates and if I'm reading things right, the GOP isn't contesting 23 seats.
-Sounds like the republican running for HD 94, the one that the fucker stole, is dropping out.
As always, as long as people don't get complacent, things are looking promising for the states elections. Democrats have a good chance to gain control of both chambers. We're looking at a possible trifecta next year. Only thing I really worry about is that we might see the shitty republican rat fuckers abuse the quorum rule if they don't have a majority in either chamber. Equal Rights amendment would definitely pass if that happens. They can also get the ball rolling on an amendment to take districting out of the hands of the legislature. Pass such an amendment twice before the next round of elections and then hope thing go well enough that it makes the ballot in 2022 or 2023 (IIRC an amendment has to get passed like three years in a row in order to go to the ballot to get a vote to be added to the state Constitution).
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.