Vol. 43, No 7 www.arlingtondemocrats.org July 2018 De Ferranti wins primary; starts tough fall campaign Matt de Ferranti won the June primary nomi- Choun told The nation for the County Board, setting up one of the Voice, “I love the 4,589 biggest local challenges in years as he fights to un- Arlingtonians who voted Corey goes after seat former Republican, now conservative Indepen- for me, and I love the dent, John Vihstadt in November. 7,075 Arlingtonians who Kaine—for the next De Ferranti won 61 percent of the primary vote also exercised their politi- to secure the nomination over Chanda Choun in cal freedom. Matt de four months. Can the June 12 primary. The vote was 7,075 for de Ferranti is our chosen the state take it? Ferranti to 4,589 for Choun. candidate for this De Ferranti said, “I am thrilled to earn the November’s general elec- See Page 5 nomination of our party for County Board. I’ve tion, and I honor his vic- poured my heart into our party over the last five tory. We need to raise up years, so I am genuinely fired up and ready to go a new generation of ser- after winning the nomination and the votes of so vant leaders like Matt. More many. The next four months will be an absolute Let’s expand from a mis- sprint to November 6, as we face a difficult race sion of Resistance to a bylaws and must work our hearts out. I am committed to mission of Building. Matt De FERRANTI the work and look forward to seeing you at canvass will present our Arlington changes launches across the county. Together, we can flip County Board to the Nation as a model of caring, proposed. this seat blue for the ideas we cherish.” continued on page seven See Page 3 Women dominate congressional challenges all across It appears to be the Year of the Woman again Comstock won her own primary with 61 per- in Virginia, as five of the six Democratic primaries cent to Shak Hill’s 39 percent. That was a surpris- to pick candidates for Congress chose a woman. ingly poor showing by Comstock, an incumbent and And Larry Sabato’s “Crystal Ball” has shifted established GOP figure. the ratings of three of those races more toward the Two other incumbent Republicans—Dave Brat Democrats. in the 7th District and Scott Taylor in the 2nd Dis- The most endangered Virginia GOP member trict—were previously enjoying “Leans Republi- It’s civil war in The of Congress, , was previously can” status. Now both races are rated as toss-ups rated in a toss-up race in the 10th District west of by Sabato. Valley again—only Arlington. Now Sabato rates that race as “Leans The two men are being challenged by two this time among Democratic.” State Senator just women who won Dem nods in the June 12 pri- won the Democratic primary in that district. The mary. Elaine Luria, a retired naval officer, is fac- Republicans. first post-primary poll shows her leading Comstock ing Taylor, a former SEAL, in Hampton Roads, See Page 10. 49-39. But there is an astounding gender gap in while in the 7th District will this race involving two women candidates. Wexton oppose Brat, the GOPer who famously defeated leads Comstock 60-27—more than 2-to-1—among House Republican Whip in a primary women. But Comstock leads Wexton by 12 points four years ago. among men. continued on page eight ACDC Voice, July 2018, Page 2

Report from Chair Jill Caiazzo Trump-GOP agenda bad for all families Immigrant families are the latest and policies is also creating job insecurity. Com- massive Trump-GOP tax cut for the wealthy. most graphic casualties of the extreme Trump- panies that cannot simply pass along the cost Perhaps the rich who run the Trump-GOP do GOP agenda — but they are not alone. Fami- of the sneaky Trump-GOP tax hike to fami- not realize that the typical hardworking lies in Virginia and across the country are lies are starting to lay off their U.S. workers American family is only one layoff, accident struggling as a result of Trump-GOP policies — many of whom are, you guessed it, par- or illness away from needing the social safety that favor the big donor over the little guy, ents. Examples of employers announcing lay- net. Or perhaps they do not care about the typi- and more bad news is on the way for these offs include Harley-Davidson and Mid-Con- cal hardworking American family. hardworking families. Consider the evidence: tinent Nail. Equally ominous, a recent survey Families deserve a fair shake from the ––Increased Consumer Prices. by the Business Roundtable indicated that Trump-GOP, and they’re not getting it. The prices of many consumer goods are ris- CEOs may be reducing hiring plans by 13 There’s a better way. Democrats are fighting ing due to Trump-GOP tariffs on imported percent this year. Young adults seeking to for common-sense policies that enable goods from multiple countries, including U.S. launch careers and start families of their own hardworking families to get ahead: higher allies. For example, the average cost of a need not apply in the Trump-GOP economy. quality and more accessible education, better washing machine has increased by more than ––Gutted Social Safety Net. Families worker training and wages, and restored roads, 15 percent in the past three months. Increases who find themselves down — as a result of bridges and transit systems. Democrats are also are expected for everyday products that the higher costs and reduced income caused focused on building great schools for proud incorporate steel and aluminum, including by these irresponsible policies — get one last parents, not child concentration camps that beer, soup, and cars. Let’s call it what it is: a kick from the Trump-GOP: a gutted social shame us all. Remember that in November, sneaky tax hike on families. These increases safety net. Congressional and Administration and make sure that your extended family re- may be irrelevant to the rich who run the proposals make clear that the reduction of members as well. Trump-GOP, but they have a real impact on social programs is a key Trump-GOP objec- Onward! hardworking families — who are bracing for tive — after all, someone has to pay for the Jill even more pain at the checkout counter as the Trump-GOP considers additional tariffs. ––Higher Healthcare Costs. Com- pounding the burden to families, U.S. Blue Families lays out its healthcare costs also are set to rise, thanks to the continued Trump-GOP assault on the Af- fordable Care Act (ACA). Impotent to repeal campaign agenda for autumn the ACA, the Trump-GOP again has employed The Blue Families program of Arling- launch from Westover Beer Garden. The goal a sneak attack: destabilizing the insurance ton Dems plans to be active not only in Ar- is to get out the vote for County Board candi- market. A new Trump-GOP rule expands the lington this fall but also in the 7th and 10th date Matt de Ferranti and drive up the vote availability of ACA-exempt “junk” insurance Congressional Districts to retire both Dave for Sen. to counter those down- plans, which will provide weak protections Brat and Barbara Comstock from the House state Republicans. for pre-existing conditions while driving up of Representatives. In the 10th District, the effort is under- costs for families with more comprehensive Blue Families is the Arlington Dem ini- way to help Jennifer Wexton oust Comstock. ACA insurance plans. That’s a lose-lose tiative to set up campaign events that entire Saturday morning canvasses are underway in proposition for families who just want to be families can join in. Leesburg July 7 at 9 a.m. and July 21 at 1 able to take care of their sick kids. One such event is kid-friendly evening p.m. To sign up and get details on the launch ––Layoffs & Job Insecurity. Market- canvasses in Arlington. Details are being site, email [email protected]. place churn caused by extreme Trump-GOP worked on right now. But the canvasses will (Wendy is the local delegate.) Blue Families is developing plans for helping Abigail Spanberger defeat Dave Brat in the 7th District. This is expected to include phone and text banks and postcards all run Published monthly by the from Arlington plus a couple of family field Arlington County Democratic Committee trips to the Richmond suburbs to knock on 2001 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite #604, Arlington VA 22202 doors. Mailing address: P.O. Box 7132, Arlington VA 22207 In addition to campaigns, the Democratic Tel: (703) 528-8588 Party is also about partying. So note on your http://www.arlingtondemocrats.org calendar that Blue Families is planning a pot Chair: Jill Caiazzo — [email protected] luck Sunday, September 23, from 3-6 p.m. Editor-in-Chief: Warren L. Nelson —(703) 243-7867 (h), [email protected] Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the ACDC unless expressly approved by an appropriate committee resolution Copyright ©2018, ACDC, All Rights Reserved Note change of date to second Wednesday ACDC Voice, July 2018, Page 3 More bylaws to Next Monthly Meeting be voted on at All Dems Invited this month’s Wednesday, July 11, 7:00 p.m. NRECA Building, 4301 Wilson Blvd. meeting Corner of North Taylor and Wilson, just east of Glebe and Wilson Free parking under building; enter from Taylor Street As part of the biennial Bylaws update for Arlington Democrats, a group of techni- We’re moving again—not the location, but the cal amendments, primarily refining the Reor- ganization Meeting process, will be up for date. Our usual first Wednesday of the month is the th consideration at the monthly meeting July 11. 4 of July. So this month we will meet the second The amendments were unanimously Wednesday, July 11—but still in our standard site in adopted by the Steering Committee May 30 the NRECA Building. Our program for the month and presented at the June 6 ACDC meeting, as the first part of the two-step amendment will be a panel to discuss Virginia’s environmental procedure. issues comprised of Sarah Bryan of the Sierra Club When the 2018 version of the Bylaws Climate Action Campaign and our own was adopted unanimously by ACDC in April, communications director, Jason Rylander, who in his Chair Jill Caiazzo asked the Bylaws Com- mittee to continue in operation so that there spare time is a lawyer with the Defenders of Wildlife. could be consideration of some procedural questions and other proposals that were not filed by the initial deadline for submitting suggested updates. amendments at its May 30 meeting. •Newly elected office holders, such as legis- The Bylaws Committee held a hearing Here’s a link to the 2018 Bylaws with lators and constitutional officers, as of that May 15 at which there was a vigorous dis- the proposed amendments in italics within the Nov. 15. cussion, primarily about the logistics of open- existing text: https://arlingtondemocrats.org/ • Members of the sustaining-donor pro- ing the biennial Reorganization Meeting to wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018-ACDC- gram (Roosevelt-Obama Society), as of that more voters. The Bylaws Committee then met Bylaws-Bylaws-Steering-2.0-Draft.pdf Nov. 15. May 22 and proposed unanimously clarifica- The main group of amendments is to • Dues-paying members of Arlington tions that recognize the financial and “sweat waive the $25 fee for Reorganization Meet- Young Democrats as of that Nov. 15. equity” contributions of so many Arlington ing for: • Precinct captains elected at the as- Democrats throughout the two years between • Voting and non-voting members of the sembled caucus that immediately precedes the Reorganization Meetings. The Steering Com- Steering Committee as of the Nov. 15 pre- Reorganization Meeting. mittee unanimously approved the proposed ceding the Reorganization Meeting. • Candidates for ACDC office standing for election at the Reorganization Meeting (who will have paid a $25 filing fee). The amendments maintain the practice that the fee can be waived in individual cases at the discretion of the outgoing chair. The amendments would specify that the Bumper sticker deadline for registering to vote at the Reor- ganization Meeting is left to the outgoing chair of the month but shall be no less than one week prior to the Reorganization Meeting. The filing deadline, in line with longstanding practice, will be specified in the call for the Reorganization Meeting, which also will set out the timeline for the meeting, candidate filings and voter registration. The amendments formalize the current practice of having agendas for the regular ACDC monthly meetings being made pub- licly available before the general meeting and specifies that precincts receiving a third pre- cinct captain will be based on active regis- tered voters as of Nov. 15 preceding the Re- organization Meeting. ACDC Voice, July 2018, Page 4 Annual Dem Donkey Ears Messenger is Listening to the doings slated for of Arlington’s Dems

as overheard by September 22 Dan Steen and Mädi Green Mark your calendar for the annual de- livery of the Democratic Messenger newspa- per to begin Saturday, September 22. Moving to Arlington: Our former chair, Kip Malinosky, is taking a job in For more than a third of a century, Ar- lington Dems have hand delivered a copy of Arlington this fall. Kip has long been a teacher of civics and social the Messenger to every door stoop in the studies in the Fairfax County school system. But he will now be working county. We can’t get into a lot of apartment closer to home as he will join Arlington Public Schools as the Interna- complexes, so we have to mail the Messen- tional Baccalaureate Coordinator for Thomas Jefferson Middle School. ger to most apartment dwellers. This will take him largely out of the classroom, but working with every It takes more than 400 volunteers to teacher in the school. cover every house in the county. Most are hit Passages: John M. (Jack) Cornman, a long time Arlington resident and on the Saturday and Sunday of Messenger Democratic activist, died in Goodwin House at Bailey’s Crossroads June Weekend, but some volunteers are not avail- 9. He was 84 and died from complications of cancer following a long able until after the weekend, and that’s fine. illness. Cornman was best known for chairing the 1974 campaign of The Messenger carries news about all the Joseph Fisher when he ousted Joel T. Broyhill after 22 years as the Democratic candidates and issues on the No- vember ballot and is the primary piece of cam- Republican congressman from this area. Cornman was part of the paign literature distributed each fall. campaign staff in many other Arlington County Democratic campaigns. Each route takes around 80 to 100 min- Born on the Main Line outside Philadelphia, he graduated from utes. Most routes make for a very pleasant Dartmouth College in 1955 and began his Washington career as a staffer jaunt around a neighborhood. But Arlington to Sen. Bob Bartlett of Alaska and then Sen. Philip A. Hart of , has a few routes with challenging hills—or, after whom the newest Senate office building is named. He went on to more accurately, a flat road down a valley with lead a number of national advocacy organizations. He was a long-time hikes to doors UP one side and DOWN the advocate for affordable housing and in 2003 founded the Alliance for other side. Housing Solutions in Arlington. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, There’s no need to engage in talk with Donna. any residents. You just tuck the Messenger They’re revolting in Alexandria: Next door neighbor Alexandria had a under the doormat or inside the screen door and then head on to the next house. wild Democratic primary with Vice Mayor Justin Wilson defeating As for those apartment blocks, we are incumbent Mayor Allison Silberberg, who four years ago defeated trying to recruit “Building Ambassadors” who incumbent Mayor Bill Euille. Meanwhile, two well-known members of can plug the Democratic slate inside those the six-member City Council lost re-nomination, Paul Smedburg and apartment complexes that outsiders cannot Willie F. Bailey, Sr. just walk into. Alexandria secedes from Jeff Davis Highway: Speaking of Alexandria, the If you live in a locked complex and City Council has just voted to change the name of Jefferson Davis would like to help out, contact Richard Skin- Highway as it passes through the city to Richmond Highway, the name ner at [email protected] and used in adjoining Fairfax County. The segments inside the built-up part he will fill you in on what being a Building of the city known as Patrick and Henry Streets will retain those names. Ambassador involves. We’ll have more details for you later Arlington’s segment of Route 1 remains Jefferson Davis Highway as the about how and where to volunteer to deliver state does not give the county the authority to change the name. If the the Democratic Messenger door-to-door. General Assembly agrees to allow Arlington to pick a name, local offi- cials have indicated they would likely go with Alexandria’s choice. J.E.B. Stuart ousted: The Richmond School Board has voted 6-1 to change the name of J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School, the city’s sole school named after a Confederate figure, to Elementary School. How’s that for a change?! The school board had the school’s students vote among seven proposed names. Obama came in last. The first choice of the students was Northside Elementary, after their neighborhood. ACDC Voice, July 2018, Page 5 pledges to be ‘vicious’ Corey Stewart, Virginia’s champion brickbat-tosser, won the Republican nomina- tion for senator in the June primary and im- mediately promised Virginians he would carry out a “brutal and vicious” campaign in his effort to unseat Sen. Tim Kaine. “We have to be very aggressive and bru- tal and vicious with regard to the truth,” Stewart told a reporter in an interview. In a tweet, he said, “Starting right now, we’re go- ing to kick the CRAP out of @timkaine ev- ery day until November 6th.” In his election night victory speech, Stewart said, “Virginia can continue with the prosperity and the progress of America under President Trump, or it can choose the past with everything we know that has failed—and that’s Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine.” That prompted the crowd to erupt in chants of, “Lock her up!” Stewart said, “That Senator Kaine says the good news is that there is a real choice. might just happen, by the way. And Timmy, too. Oh, we’re gonna have a lot of fun be- Statewide, Stewart won the nomination candidates with the toughest races asking tween now and November, folks.” by a mere 1.7 percentage points. Stewart got about Stewart’s impact on their campaigns. Stewart, who made a name for himself 44.9 percent to Freitas with 43.2 percent and Not a single one answered. statewide a decade ago by railing against il- E.W. Jackson with 12.0 percent. The first post-primary poll certainly legal immigrants, returned to that theme elec- In Arlington, it was noteworthy that the gives good reason for fear of Democratic com- tion night. He shouted against “criminal ille- County Board primary far outdrew the GOP placency. A Quinnipiac Poll of 1,082 Virginia gal aliens—and, by the way, they are ani- turnout in the loud and raucous senatorial pri- voters taken June 21-25 shows Kaine with an mals.” He said Virginians can choose to be mary. Of the 15,379 primary voters in Ar- astounding 18-point lead over Stewart—54 overrun by such foreigners or “we can arrest lington, 76 percent voted in the Democratic percent to 36 percent with 10 percent unde- them, deport them back to the country they primary. cided. came from and build the wall.” The crowd Stewart begins the race behind in funds The gender gap was also astounding, then erupted in chants of, “Build the wall!” and in polling. Most pundits rate the race an suggesting that Stewart’s in-your-face style Kaine said in an interview, “It’s going to easy win for Kaine. What Democrats fear repels women voters. Quinnipiac found Kaine be a real choice for Virginians, because he’s isn’t Stewart as much as complacency. Four favored 61-28 among women but just 46-45 told everybody it’s going to be ‘ruthless’ and years ago, Sen. was rated an among men. That’s a 33-point lead among ‘vicious.’ And I’m going to be an upbeat prob- easy and big winner for re-election. In the women versus a solitary point lead among lem solver. It’s a race, not just about two end, however, he won by just 8/10ths of 1 per- men. That is not just a gender gap; that is a people, but it’s like: Who does Virginia see centage point. Democrats worry about a re- gender canyon. when we look ourselves in the mirror.” peat and are emphasizing Get Out The Vote The polling gap is expected—even by The primary win was Stewart’s first suc- efforts statewide. In Arlington, where Kaine Stewart—to worsen a fund-raising gap. Prior cessful statewide victory in three tries. He is sure to win and win big, Democrats want to the primary, Stewart said he would need a lost the party’s nomination for lieutenant gov- Kaine to win bigger in order to offset Repub- single-digit polling margin in the general elec- ernor at a convention in 2013 and just barely lican majorities in many downstate jurisdic- tion to raise money. Minus-18 points does lost the GOP primary for governor to Ed tions. not do it. Gillespie last year. While Dems fret over complacency, Re- On May 30, he said, “After the nomina- To no one’s surprise, Stewart came out publicans worry about disgust—the fact that tion,… we’re going to get some polling out on top in Prince William County, where he is more than half of Republican primary voters there to show that it’s a toss-up. And, at that chairman of the Board of Supervisors. But it cast their ballots against Stewart and might point, the money will start flowing in.” was a big surprise that he won in the region’s just stay home on Election Day. The fear isn’t That isn’t materializing. other two biggest counties, Fairfax and that Stewart will lose, it is that Stewart will The National Republican Senatorial Loudoun. Stewart did not prevail in Arling- drag down GOP congressional candidates all Committee (NRSC), the main national body ton, however, where Republicans gave 55 over the state who are already struggling to for helping GOP Senate candidates, is usu- percent of their votes to Del. Nick Freitas, who fight the anti-Trump Blue Wave. ally silent about candidates it decides to aban- was the clear choice of the GOP establish- The Richmond Times-Dispatch emailed don. But not in Stewart’s case. Sen. Cory ment in the commonwealth. the campaigns of the six GOP congressional continued on next page ACDC Voice, July 2018, Page 6 Corey has rhetoric, if not cash or voters continued from previous page

Gardner, chairman of the NRSC, bluntly told reporters, “We have a big map…. And I don’t see Virginia in it.” Americans for Prosperity, the tool of the extremist Koch Brothers, also announced out- right that it would put no money into Virginia’s Senate race and would not even endorse Stewart. It had endorsed Freitas in the primary. The third big funding source for GOP candidates is the Republican National Com- mittee. It has been silent. However, it com- monly follows the lead of President Trump. And Trump has emerged as the sole Republi- can leader enthusiastically endorsing Stewart. In a dawn tweet the morning after the primary, Trump said, “Congratulations to Corey Stewart for his great victory for Senator from Virginia. Now he runs against a total stiff, Tim Kaine, who is weak on crime and bor- ders, and wants to raise your taxes through the roof. Don’t underestimate Corey, a major Corey Stewart (right) stands with the flag he likes to defend. chance of winning!” The Congressional Leadership Fund, a congressional nominees in six of the state’s Republican Party careened to the far right, GOP super PAC headed by Speaker Paul 11 congressional districts. Of the registered said after the primary: “This is clearly not the Ryan, already has paid field staff in Virginia. voters in those six districts, 6.4 percent par- Republican Party I once knew, loved and They are focused on avoiding defeat for Re- ticipated in the Democratic primaries. proudly served. Every time I think things publican congressional candidates. The ques- The state Republican committee, mean- can’t get worse, they do—and there is no end tion is whether they will leave Stewart off their while, quickly fell in line with its new nomi- in sight.” literature. nee. In a tweet that picked up on a Democratic As of May 23, when Stewart still had Party of Virginia’s comment on Stewart attack- three weeks to campaign for the primary, Fed- ing the father of New York Gov. Andrew Meet Wexton eral Election Commission reports showed Cuomo for allegedly making anti-Semitic com- Stewart had cash on hand of $160,606 versus ments, the Republican committee said, Kaine’s total of $10,692,748. “@vademocrats apparently love Jew bashing.” at Breakfast Ever since Trump took office, there has Shaun Kenney, a previous executive di- The second Saturday Breakfast will be been talk about an “enthusiasm gap,” with rector of the Republican Party of Virginia held July 14 at the usual spot, Busboys and Democrats eager to get out to the polls to show (RPV), said, “It’s not just eccentric, it’s of- Poets in Shirlington, with the focus on two opposition to Trump and Republicans dis- fensive. In a previous era, had a member of important races to flip seats. heartened and discouraged by Trump. There the RPV staff issued comments like that, I We will be hearing from Jennifer was some evidence of that in the primaries. would have fired them on the spot.” Wexton, who has just won the Dem nomina- Despite the major attention given the But the current RPV executive director, tion to oppose incumbent Republican Rep. GOP senatorial primary, GOP turnout was John Findlay, defended the tweet, saying, Barbara Comstock in the next-door 10th Con- down by 17 percent compared to last year’s “The grassroots voters of our party choose our gressional District. Arlington Dems will be GOP gubernatorial campaign. Many specu- nominees. Once the primary is over, we have providing help to Wexton, whose district lated that was why Stewart lost last year and a duty as an organization to support our nomi- touches Arlington where the George Wash- won this year—that mainstream Republican nee to the fullest.” ington Memorial Parkway leaves the county voters stayed home in droves this year out of David Ramadan, a former Republican to the north. disgust over Trump. But Stewart himself drew delegate from and a Mus- The breakfast will also have a unity as- 12 percent fewer voters this year than last year, lim born in Lebanon, was aghast. “They can’t pect with both Matt de Ferranti, our nomi- suggesting that even his supporters are fewer walk away from the nominee,” Ramadan told nee for the County Board, and Chanda in number the more the country reels under the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “But if the Choun, who lost the race to de Ferranti, Trump nominee decides to jump off a bridge, they speaking to the breakfast crowd, Statewide, 5.5 percent of registered vot- don’t have to jump off the bridge with him.” And don’t forget to bring cash for the ers cast ballots in the GOP senatorial primary. Former Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, meal as we get a single bill for everyone at- Meanwhile, Democrats held primaries for who bowed out of politics when the Virginia tending. ACDC Voice, July 2018, Page 7 De Ferranti takes on Vihstadt challenge continued from page one local Republican Party and, according to Fed- lenges facing Arlington. eral Election Commission records, has only He is the legislative director for a na- intelligent leadership shining across the contributed to Republican candidates for fed- tional education association focused on im- Potomac River against the hate and corrup- eral office – including 2008 and 2012 when proving schools for underserved children (Na- tion in Washington, D.C.” President Obama was on the ballot. tional Indian Education Association). Previ- While there are four offices on the No- Vihstadt is the only non-Democrat to win ously, he was an advocate for housing vember ballot, the County Board race will a seat on the County Board since 1999. His affordability with Habitat for Humanity and be the most hotly contested one for Arlington chief claim is that he brings balance to the Rebuilding Together. Democrats, who lost to Vihstadt twice in Board. Arlington voters will decide in Novem- No stranger to the hard work of govern- 2014—once in a spring special election to fill ber whether, in this transformational time, ment, Matt also served as an attorney for cit- a vacancy and then again in the November conservative handwringing focused on con- ies in California and and as chief of General Election. Vihstadt won in 2014 dur- straining investment or inspired progressive staff for a Democratic Texas State Represen- ing a brief outbreak of dissatisfaction concern- leadership planning for the future is what is tative. And, like so many of the most compel- ing a discrete local issue. A year later in 2015, needed to keep Arlington thriving in our com- ling candidates in this Trump era, Matt began Democrats were once again united and two petitive region. his career as a school teacher through Teach new Democratic members, Christian Dorsey De Ferranti, 44, lives in one of for America. and Katie Cristol, were elected to the County Arlington’s “vertical neighborhoods” near the In Arlington, de Ferranti currently serves Board by major margins. Courthouse Metro station. He has dedicated on both the Housing Commission and the Vihstadt has run in Arlington as an inde- his career to spreading opportunity for all, and School Budget Advisory Council, which he pendent although he has been active in the his experience is directly relevant to key chal- chairs. After the primary, Arlington Dems Chair Jill Caiazzo said, “We thank both Matt de Ferranti and Chanda Choun for conducting a Primary turnout unimpressive positive, issue-oriented and energetic primary. The primary turnout was unimpressive, 19 percent in 2017, when was We are excited to have Matt on the ballot be- as always, but not terrible. There have only nominated for governor and for cause he will move Arlington forward by been two previous occasions when there has lieutenant governor. The highest turnout in maintaining our excellent schools, address- been a Democratic primary for the County any Republican primary was also 19 percent, ing housing affordability, improving our trans- Board with no other office on the ballot to in 1996 when incumbent Sen. John Warner portation system and stimulating a strong draw out voters. The turnout this year was was under attack in his party for having re- economy for all.” 11,664 compared to 6,898 in 1995 and 15,251 fused to support Oliver North in his earlier in 2016, which was a highly contested race race for a Senate seat. involving an incumbent and drew a great deal Most Democratic nominations for the of media attention. As a percentage of regis- County Board have been determined at party tered voters, the turnout in 1995 was 7 per- caucuses. The largest turnout for any caucus Blue Victory cent, versus 8 percent this year and 11 per- was last year when four candidates ran for cent in 2016. In other words, the turnout the County Board nomination and three for Dinner proved doesn’t demonstrate anything good or bad for the School Board endorsement, drawing 5,972 this year. or barely half this year’s Democratic primary double winner The highest turnout in percentage terms turnout. And last year’s caucus turnout broke for any Democratic primary in Arlington was a record for a caucus turnout set in 1993. The Blue Victory Dinner in May proved both a financially remunerative and an emo- tionally stunning success. Ticket sales broke the $50,000 mark with 350 tickets bought in advance—one hundred Jerry Botland more than the previous dinner. The banquet room proved to be electric, Computer Consulting with excitement generated by Sen. Tim Kaine’s keynote address and by the appear- Troubleshoot and resolve computer and ance of seven of the women newly elected to computer related problems. the House of Delegates last fall. Perform upgrades, set-up wireless routers and print servers. The money raised—and the enthusiasm Transfer old files, address book and emails on display—will be the key forces behind the Blue Wave Arlington Dems seek to launch this from an old computer to a new one. fall to re-elect Senator Kaine, to elect our Phone: (202) 744-0542 — [email protected] nominee for the County Board, and to help all around the state to fill a majority of the state’s 11 congressional seats with Democrats. ACDC Voice, July 2018, Page 8

Williams Luria Lewis Spanberger Flaccavento Wexton When it comes to re-taking Congress, in Virginia it’s mostly in hands of women continued from page one in the 6th District, where incumbent GOP Rep. trict, where he is challenging Rep. Morgan Bob Goodlatte is retiring. A “general ballot” Griffith, the strongest Republican incumbent The other Democratic primary winners poll, asking district voters if they would pre- poll-wise. Flaccavento was the sole male win- are: fer a Republican or a Democrat in the House ner in the Dem primaries. His was also the • Vangie Williams, who is challenging in- from that district, gave the GOP only a three- sole Democratic primary without a woman cumbent Rep. Robert Wittman in the 1st Dis- point lead. The GOP recently picked as its contesting. Griffith is the only incumbent trict. Wittman had a strong lead in a poll be- nominee Ben Cline—but the party has dis- Republican who looks guaranteed to keep his fore the primary and he also has a substantial solved into a civil war. (See story on Page seat. war chest. 10.) The last district currently held by a Re- • Jennifer Lynn Lewis is seeking the seat • Anthony Flaccavento won in the 9th Dis- publican is the fifth, where incumbent Tho- mas Garrett just announced his retirement a month ago, shortly after Leslie Cockburn won the Democratic nomination at a convention. When he announced his retirement, Garrett was ahead in the polls but dismally far be- hind in fund-raising. The other four seats are all held by Democrats, none of whom faces serious chal- lenges—Bobby Scott in the Third, Donald McEachin in the Fourth, in the 11th and our own here in the Eighth. Here are the June ratings on the House elections by Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report. Democrats are shown in bold. Candidates are ordered by The Voice’s judgment of how endangered they are.

Dist Incumbent Sabato Cook 10 Barbara Comstock Leans D Leans D 2 Scott Taylor Toss-up Leans R 7 Dave Brat Toss-up Leans R 5 Thomas Garrett Leans R Leans R 6 Bob Goodlatte Safe R Safe R 1 Robert Wittman Safe R Safe R 9 Safe R Safe R 11 Gerald Connolly Safe D Safe D 8 Donald Beyer Safe D Safe D 4 Donald McEachin Safe D Safe D 3 Bobby Scott Safe D Safe D ACDC Voice, July 2018, Page 9 Panel of federal judges stops racial gerrymandering in the Commonwealth A panel of federal judges has ruled that 11 Virginia House of Delegates districts vio- late the Constitution because the GOP in 2011 packed many African-Americans into them so that African-Americans would have minimal power in the General Assembly. The ruling was handed down just days after the U.S. Supreme Court brushed aside re-districting cases that complained district boundaries in other states had been written to help the Republican Party. The Supreme Court has never denounced district boundaries drawn to help one politi- cal party or to protect incumbents. But it has drawn the line (pun intended) against racial gerrymandering. The Virginia case, therefore, will stand a much better chance in the Su- preme Court than other cases have. The 11 Virginia House of Delegates dis- tricts are in Hampton Roads, up the James River and around Richmond and Petersburg. The Republicans in the House created a rule that said African-Americans should constitute 55 percent of a district in order to say they had influence. Those bringing the suit said that is far higher than needed and that this stan- dard was actually adopted to cull African- Americans from adjoining districts and mini- mize their influence in those districts. We like to think that only Republicans engage in grotesque gerry- The panel of three judges said the bound- mandering. But think again. This is the 3rd Congressional Dis- aries of the districts need to be re-drawn by trict of Maryland, drawn for Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes. Note October 30. The next election for the Gen- that the district is contiguous; all those parts are linked. Maryland eral Assembly isn’t until November 2019. Re- publicans have said they will appeal to the is rated as the most gerrymandered state in the country by three Supreme Court. of the four standard measures of gerrymandering. The judges voted 2-1 to invalidate the current map. The judges in the majority were in the 100-seat House, giving them a two- roads separating predominantly white and pre- Barbara Milano Keenan of the Fourth Circuit thirds majority. But the map didn’t work this dominantly black neighborhoods,” as well as Court of Appeals in Richmond and Arenda last fall, when an anti-Trump Blue Wave re- heavily black municipalities that were divided L. Wright Allen of the U.S. District Court for sulted in the House of Delegates divided 51- between multiple districts. Eastern Virginia. Judge Robert E Payne was 49. And the only thing that prevented a 50- Nonracial justifications for the lines of- the dissenter. He is on the District Court for 50 draw was a tied vote in a Newport News fered at trial by a demographer who consulted Eastern Virginia. The two judges in the ma- district that was decided for the GOP by pull- on the map for the Republicans were “not jority were appointed by Barack Obama. The ing a name out of a bowl. credible,” the judges concluded. dissenting judge was named by George H.W. The case has already been to the Su- Gov. Ralph Northam called the ruling Bush. Judge Wright Allen is black; the oth- preme Court once. The three-judge panel pre- “good news for Virginia voters.” He has ad- ers are white. viously ruled that the districts were constitu- vocated a non-partisan redistricting process. Judge Keenan wrote for the majority, tional because they could be explained by rea- The panel’s ruling ran parallel to a 2016 “Overwhelming evidence in this case shows sons other than race, including compactness court decision that said the state packed too that, contrary to … constitutional mandate, and protection of incumbents. many African-Americans into the 3rd Congres- the state has sorted voters into districts based But the Supreme Court overturned that sional District, the only one then held by an on the color of their skin.” ruling, telling the judges they must look at African-American, Rep. Bobby Scott. The The map was drawn in 2011 after the whether race was the predominant motive. map was re-drawn with many African-Ameri- 2010 census when the GOP controlled the After a second trial, the panel came to a cans shifted to the 4th District, where State Sen. House of Delegates. With their new map, they different conclusion, pointing to boundary Donald McEachin, also African-American, at one point were able to win 67 of the seats lines that were “frequently small residential subsequently won the seat. ACDC Voice, July 2018, Page 10 Valley Repubs embroiled in own civil war The Republican Party in Virginia’s 6th had been filed with the Federal Elec- Congressional District has erupted in civil war tion Commission (FEC) charging since nominating its candidate for Congress. Sayre and the GOP committee with The 6th District takes in much of the having illegally worked to win the Shenandoah Valley and adjoining mountain nomination for Dunbar rather than communities. It has long been represented running the election impartially. by Republican Bob Goodlatte, who is retir- The new chair of the party, Jen- ing this year. nifer Brown, is clearly on the outs The party in the district is now at war with the majority of the committee, with itself. The district has long been viewed which has now voted 20-12 to spend as a GOP bastion, but the infighting might just up to $30,000 to hire a lawyer to open an opportunity for Democratic nominee defend the previous chair and the Jennifer Lynn Lewis to pull off a victory. committee against the charges. Civil war emerged at the district conven- But the committee has only tion that chose Del. Ben Cline over Cynthia $35,000 in the bank. That means it Dunbar as the GOP nominee to succeed can’t spend much to help its nomi- DUNBAR CLINE Goodlatte. The convention also ousted Scott nee in the coming fall election. . . . clash mars campaign efforts Sayre, a Dunbar supporter, as party chair. The losing Dunbar campaign Then it emerged that three complaints has accused the winning Cline cam- paign of being behind the complaints to the FEC. And some think the Dunbar campaign is now out to decapitate the Cline campaign. Cline had raised $270,000 by the end of April, so he isn’t dependent on the 6th District Arlington gets home Committee’s funds. But it isn’t known how much of that $270,000 was used up before the June convention. The campaign before grown field organizer the convention was bitter and likely expen- sive. An Arlingtonian and recent William & The new district party chair, Brown, said Mary grad has been named Arlington Field there was no need to spend any money hiring Organizer for the 2018 Coordinated Cam- a lawyer as the state Republican party would paign. provide that aid and pay for it. “[It’s] spend- The Coordinated Campaign is the state- ing money that is better used to help our nomi- wide campaign organization that works for nee,” she told the Daily News-Record of the entire Democratic slate. The Joint Cam- Harrisonburg. “It’s absolutely reckless when paign is the Arlington party organization that they would vote to spend this money when works on behalf of all the Democratic candi- we have free representation.” dates and issues on the Arlington ballot. Ken Adams, the GOP chairman in Nora LeValley has been named field Waynesboro who appeared to be the leader organizer for Arlington of the 2018 Coordi- of the effort to hire legal help, said, “These nated Campaign. She was born and reared are people who don’t even jaywalk and they near the junction of Columbia Pike and Walter see the power of the federal government be- Reed Drive, graduated from H-B Woodlawn ing unloaded on them.” and just a few weeks ago got her BA from the College of William & Mary. Arlington is expecting a second field organizer to be named very soon and another two to be assigned to the county before La- bor Day. LeValley’s main activity this summer is organizing weekly door-to-door canvasses and getting phone banks up and running. That means she’s on the hunt for volunteers and also locations from which canvasses can be NORA LeVALLEY launched in every corner of the county. If you can help with either, contact her . . . back home in Arlington at [email protected].