Area State Senators Retire Senator Ticer Senator Whipple State Sen
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Vol. 36, No. 3 www.arlingtondemocrats.org March 2011 Area state senators retire Senator Ticer Senator Whipple State Sen. Patsy Ticer has announced her re- In a surprise announcement Friday, State Sena- tirement at the end of this year, setting up a primary tor Mary Margaret Whipple said she will not run battle to succeed her. for reelection in November, ending a 35-year ca- Ticer’s Senate district takes in the southern reer as an official from Arlington County—on the third of Arlington plus most of Alexandria and a bit School Board, County Board and now in the State YD of Fairfax County. It is a solidly Democratic Dis- Senate. It’s the annual trict so the winner of the August Democratic pri- Whipple, 70, told the Senate Friday that she mary is a prohibitive favorite to win this fall. In had decided a year of milestones, which included Date Auction 2008, the district, one of 40 in the state, gave the her 50th wedding anniversary and her 35th year in fifth highest percentage to President Obama. public service, should be capped by her exit from March 23. Check Ticer, 76, was the first (and so far only) woman elective office. it out on page 6— mayor of Alexandria from 1991, when she suc- “I won’t pretend this is an easy decision, but I ceeded Mayor Jim Moran, to 1996, when she won am confident it’s the right one,” she said. “The Sen- and come to bid! election to the State Senate. ate is known, for the most part, for the respect and “I have been in public life a long time,” she civility that reigns here. And it has been happily a told the Senate in her retirement announcement on place where good ideas are well received, no mat- the floor. “And I hope I haven’t embarrassed any- ter who proposes them.” one too badly. I want to stop now before I do.” The announcement by Whipple came one week Ticer is the chair of the Senate Committee on after the other senator from Arlington, Patsy Ticer, Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources. said she was also retiring. She has been most active on environmental and Their departures leave the Senate with only six children’s issues and a vocal advocate of Chesa- women, a fact that Whipple, the first woman to lead peake Bay cleanup efforts. a party caucus, said concerned her. “I certainly en- Ticer was born in Washington, DC, and gradu- courage young women to go into politics and pub- ated from Virginia’s Sweet Briar College. She has lic service,” she said. “We need that perspective, continued on page eight continued on page eight Senator Webb turns in his boots Senator Jim Webb surprised few people when 2006 and was several points ahead of Allen in the he announced in February that he will not run for a latest polls. second term in 2012. In a sign of shifting politics, Allen was a lead- Political junkies had been noting that he had ing light for conservatives in 2006—but now he is only $445,000 in his candidate account and had being slammed in his own party for standing too raised a paltry $12,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010. far to the left. His first declared opponent is Jamie (By comparison, freshman Sen. Scott Brown (R- Radtke of the Tea Party movement. Mass.) had $7.2 million in the bank on December On the Democratic side, no one has declared 31.) as of this writing, but Dems have been organizing The retirement opens up what is expected to variously to draft former Gov. Tim Kaine, or one of be a free-for-all to succeed Webb. George Allen, three congressmen defeated last November, Tom who was beaten narrowly by Webb in 2006, an- Perriello, Glenn Nye or Rick Boucher. nounced plans to try to regain the seat just days be- Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran, who lost fore Webb announced his retirement. the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2009, have FOR THE JOINT Some people speculated Webb might not be both taken themselves out of the Senate contest. See Page 9 Now! up to facing Allen again. But Webb pointed out he Webb announced his retirement on his 65th was 30 points behind Allen when he announced in continued on page nine ACDC Voice, March 2011, Page 2 Report from Chairman Mike Lieberman Lessons from Cairo to Madison One cannot help but be struck watching the cries of public workers in Wisconsin, but let alone encouraged and celebrated. the news today at the surge of protest sweep- nowhere has anyone suggested that the gov- By participating in the political process ing across the globe. ernor address those protests with military here, we send a message to those across the Indeed, it seems like every day, a new crackdown. globe that there is another way, and that their group of citizens is taking to the public square We are blessed in the United States to cries for participatory government can bear in a new country demanding rights and in- have the opportunity to petition our govern- fruit. come equity that have long been denied to ment for redress, to assemble in protest, and To all those who have family in the Arab them by oppressive, and often dictatorial re- to seek change without fear of military re- world now standing in harm’s way, our gimes. prisal. Indeed, as I sit here writing for a po- thoughts and prayers are with you. Your work From Egypt, to Tunisia, to Yemen, to litical party’s newsletter, I am reminded that here as we struggle to improve our own com- Bahrain, to Jordan, and now to Libya, we have our activities in ACDC urging activism and munities honors their struggle as they fight to all been captivated watching the power of free thought might not be tolerated elsewhere, liberate theirs. people working together to demand more from their governments. Just as striking has been the crackdown from many of those governments. Rather than Progressive Caucus starts engage in self-reflection or dialogue, these re- gimes have responded with violence, send- ing a message to those protesters that mainte- in General Assembly nance of power is more important than progress. A new “Progresisve Caucus” has been Adam Ebbin, David Englin and Patrick It is at times like these that I often re- organized by four members of the General As- Hope of Arlington and Sen. Donald flect on how different we have it here in the sembly, three of whom represent Arlington. McEachin of Richmond. United States. Certainly we are inspired by The founding co-chairs include Dels. About 20 members from the House of Delegates and the Senate have signed on. The announcement came a day after a big victory by social conservatives in the state Senate, which voted to subject abortion clin- Jerry Botland ics to a higher level of state regulation. The lawmakers said they stand for high- Computer Consulting quality public education, universal access to health care, measures to combat global warm- Troubleshoot and resolve computer and ing, and protections against anti-gay discrimi- computer related problems. nation in public employment. Perform upgrades, set-up wireless routers and print servers. They said they will work to elect more Transfer old files, address book and emails progressives in this fall’s election, when all from an old computer to a new one. 140 Assembly seats will be on the ballot. The caucus—open to Republicans but Phone: (703) 933-0558 — [email protected] including only Democrats so far—will press an agenda that includes “economic justice” to rebalance Virginia’s priorities between rich and poor, said Englin. “Society ought to be judged not by how it treats the people at the top—it should be judged by how it treats the people at the bottom,” Englin said. Published monthly by the Hope said, “Progressive values are Vir- Arlington County Democratic Committee ginia values. Families across the Common- 2009 North 14th Street, Suite #612, Arlington, VA 22201 wealth want their legislature to focus on is- Tel: (703) 528-8588 Fax: (703) 528-2321 sues that matter to them.” http://www.arlingtondemocrats.org Ebbin said, “While Virginia can be slow Chair: Mike Lieberman —(703) 408-3940 (h), [email protected] to change, we have to keep pace with the times Editor-in-Chief: Warren L. Nelson —(703) 243-7867 (h), [email protected] when it comes to issues like stem cell research, Deputy Editor: Vacant global warming and society’s attitudes to- Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the ACDC wards gays and lesbians. As progressives, it unless expressly approved by an appropriate Committee Resolution is important that we stand together as we work Copyright ©2010, ACDC, All Rights Reserved to move Virginia forward.” ACDC Voice, March 2011, Page 3 Primaries are Next Monthly Meeting All Dems Invited moved to Aug. Special Wednesday, March 2, 2011, 7:00 p.m. location--just 23 this year this month THIS MONTH ONLY— We meet at LYON PARK COMMUNITY CENTER In Virginia’s decennial game of ballot jump rope, the usual June primary will be re- 414 North Fillmore St., corner of Pershing Drive placed by an August primary this year. (where the Chili Cookoff is held—but indoors) The state generally holds primary elec- tions on the second Tuesday in June. But hold- This month, ACDC will tackle the thorny issue of race in poli- ing primaries this year on June 14 is not pos- tics.