WASHINGTON — The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is announcing 17 Spotlight candidates in Virginia who stand ready to stop the GOP in their tracks as Republicans work tirelessly to drag the commonwealth backward and ban abortion. The DLCC’s Spotlight Races program highlights exciting and groundbreaking candidates, flip opportunities, and races that are critical to winning legislative majorities.
Coming off a successful midterm cycle, one of the DLCC’s top priorities this year is defending our majority in the Virginia Senate and taking back control of the Virginia House of Delegates. The DLCC and Virginia Democrats have already secured the first flip of 2023 with Sen. Aaron Rouse’s critical victory in Virginia SD-07 – successfully defeating an anti-abortion Republican candidate to expand the Senate’s Democratic majority heading into the fall.
“The DLCC is fired up to show the Virginia GOP to the door this November and stop their extreme crusade to ban abortion access and roll back progress in the commonwealth,” said interim DLCC President Heather Williams. “While Virginia Republicans continue to attack free and fair elections and play politics with our children’s education, Democrats are working to put money back into families’ pockets, fully fund our public schools, and keep our communities safe. With the Republican Party proposing abortion bans in nearly every state, the only way to guarantee reproductive rights remain safe and legal in Virginia is to win back the House and defend Democrats’ Senate majority.”
From creating an economy that works for all to delivering a world-class education to safeguarding our freedoms in the face of GOP extremism, these Virginia Spotlight candidates are ready to show voters that they will tackle real-life issues, not partisan politics:
- Joshua Thomas (HD-21)
- Travis Nembhard (HD-22)
- Lily Franklin (HD-41)
- Susanna Gibson (HD-57)
- Rodney Willett (HD-58)
- Joshua Cole (HD-65)
- Jessica Anderson (HD-71)
- Kimberly Pope Adams (HD-82)
- Nadarius Clark (HD-84)
- Karen Jenkins (HD-89)
- Phil Hernandez (HD-94)
- Michael Feggans (HD-97)
- Schuyler VanValkenburg (SD-16)
- Aaron Rouse (SD-22)
- Monty Mason (SD-24)
- Danica Roem (SD-30)
- Russet Perry (SD-31)
The DLCC is the official Democratic Party committee dedicated to winning America’s state legislatures. Last year, the DLCC defied the odds by not losing any state legislative majorities, flipping four key chambers, and creating four new Democratic trifectas – the best midterm year for the party in power since at least 1934. State legislatures are the building blocks of our democracy and pass the policies that have the biggest impact on Americans’ day-to-day lives.
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