By Karen Kirk: It was time for FCDC members to party on Saturday, to celebrate the holidays and the great victories of 2018, but it was clear that a new election was on the horizon. Chair Dan Lagana reminded everyone that after the holidays, “it’s time to get to work.” Next year will be a very important election year, said…
By Roberta Kellam and Dr. Vivian Thomson: Ed. Note: The authors formerly served on state environmental regulatory boards. Their views are personal. Gov. Northam has failed the citizens of Virginia with his sudden decision to appoint two new members to the State Air Pollution Control Board just as the board is considering a controversial permit for a natural gas pipeline compressor…
By Karen Kirk: Winning the decades-long fight for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is in Virginia’s court, or actually its General Assembly. And the push is on to finally get it passed in 2019 in both Virginia’s Senate, where it has passed five times, and its House of Delegates, where it has languished in committee year after year. In 2018,…
By Sharon Bulova: I read with shock and disappointment the Nov. 29 report by Ms. Diane Burkley Alejandro, Special Report: Local police may be helping ICE make Fairfax a national leader in immigrant detention. This report uses data to draw a number of false or misleading conclusions meant to stoke fear in a community already under immense pressure from the…
The heated topic of money in politics in Virginia drew a star-studded list of speakers and a large, boisterous audience to a forum on Nov. 28th at the Mason District Government Center. State legislators, candidates and activists took turns detailing the corrosive effects of corporate money on politics throughout the Commonwealth, calling out Dominion Energy, the NRA, the Koch industrial…
By Diane Burkley Alejandro: There is a family separation crisis right here in Fairfax County. The nation was rightfully shocked when 2,600 children were separated from migrant families crossing the border. Why then isn’t the Fairfax Board of Supervisors incensed that 12,037 Fairfax immigrant families have been torn apart by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—and that Fairfax law enforcement, working…
Nearly 100 voters who could not make their own way to the polls had their voices heard in the recent midterm elections thanks to volunteer drivers organized by Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC). The Ride to the Polls program gave a lift to 96 voters who were elderly, handicapped, infirm, newly American or had language barriers. “Most touching to me…
By Susan Laume: Carlos Hopkins, secretary of Virginia Veterans and Defense Affairs, headlined a veterans town hall in Springfield on Monday, Nov. 12. About 45 veterans, family members and guests gathered at American Legion Post 176 in Springfield for the event, organized by state Sen. George Barker (D-39), state Dels. Kathy Tran (D-42) and Vivian Watts (D-39), and Veterans of Foreign Wars…
Members and guests of Springield District Democratic Committee (SDDC) celebrating victory in the recent elections with a chili cook-off on Nov. 9 at the Fairfax Railroad Museum. The district achieved a turn-out rate of over 71 percent of registered voters, presumably giving strong support to local winners Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va), Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11) and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-10).…
Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment are sponsoring a 10-day bus tour across Virginia to urge legislators to make Virginia the 38th and final state necessary to achieve ratification. The bus stopped in several locations in Fairfax County on Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11, after visiting Richmond, and continued on to Fredericksburg. The bus tour is run by VAratifyERA, a non-partisan,…
By Todd Thurwachter: During October, FCDC’s Voter Registration and Education Committee (VR&EC) mounted a blitz to reach thousands of voters before the Oct. 15 registration deadline, registering at least 16 voters at local festivals and engaging thousands with voting materials, including VOTING: What you Need to Know cards in English and Spanish. VR&EC also encouraged voters to manage their own registrations online and vote early…
By Todd Thurwachter: Ahead of the Nov. 6 election, Democrats have made a sustained effort to register and educate Latino voters in Fairfax County – who now constitute 16% of the population, and are heading higher. The campaign has contacted tens of thousands in Fairfax and neighboring counties, led by the Voter Registration & Education Committee of Fairfax County Democratic…
Reported by Janelle Hartman and Stephanie Witt Sedgwick: Postcards may be old technology, but they are being revived as an effective tool in the arsenal of Fairfax County Democrats to get a robust turnout at elections on November 6th. Numerous postcard parties have been held in Fairfax County throughout the campaign season to target registered voters with personal appeals from…
By Brad Swanson: George Mason University (GMU) students delivered a 2,000-signature petition to the office of university President Angel Cabrera on Thursday demanding an end to influence by donors such as radical libertarian Charles Koch over academic appointments and course material. The protest was part of a National Day of Action sponsored by UnKoch My Campus, an organization dedicated to…