DLCC Announces Virginia Spotlight Endorsements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 4, 2019
PRESS CONTACT: Matt Harringer
[email protected] | (202) 449-6740

 

 

WASHINGTON — With just two seats needed in each the Senate and the House of Delegates to gain majorities in both Virginia General Assembly chambers, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is announcing the endorsement of 17 Spotlight candidates.

 

“This November, our Spotlight candidates are going to finish the job Virginia Democrats started in 2017. Each of them brings their own set of unique qualities that make them a great fit for the districts they’re running to represent,” said Jessica Post, Executive Director of the DLCC. “After historic wins in 2017, Democrats expanded Medicaid — and after winning this November, Democrats will move Virginia forward on education, health care, and voting rights.”

 

The DLCC has appointed a dedicated staff member to the state for the first time in the organization’s history, helped lead candidate trainings, and pledged to invest more than $1 million to support Virginia state Democrats.

 

“This incredible early support from the DLCC is going to be instrumental to winning control of the General Assembly,” House Democratic Leader Eileen Filler-Corn said. “While Republicans are talking about politics and grasping to gain support for Trump’s failed agenda, we’re focusing on the real issues Virginia families care about.”

 

The first round of Virginia Spotlight candidates includes both incumbents and challengers:

 

Incumbents: Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy (HD-2); Delegate Wendy Gooditis (HD-10); Delegate Chris Hurst (HD-12); Delegate Danica Roem (HD-13); Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler (HD-21); Delegate Elizabeth Guzmán (HD-31); Delegate Kathy Tran (HD-42); Delegate Hala Ayala (HD-51)

 

Challengers: Missy Smasal (SD-08); John Bell (SD-13); Larry Barnett (HD-27); Dan Helmer (HD-40); Sheila Bynum-Coleman (HD-66); Karen Mallard (HD-84); Alex Askew (HD-85); Shelly Simonds (HD-94); Phil Hernandez (HD-100)

 

 

“As a first-time candidate, having the extra resources from the DLCC has given our campaign an early advantage. Working together through November, we’re going to win this seat and bring real change to Richmond,” said Missy Cotter Smasal, the Democratic nominee for the 8th district Senate seat in Virginia Beach.

 

The DLCC and state Democrats have flipped more than 400 state legislative seats from red to blue since 2016, including 15 seats in the Virginia House in 2017.

 

The endorsements follow the committee’s announcement that it set a new fundraising record for the first quarter of a new cycle, raising more than $2.93 million in the first three months of 2019, and an upset red-to-blue flip in a Trump district on Tuesday.