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John
The Mother of Presidents. Old Dominion. The Great Commonwealth.
From Arlington all the way down to Abingdon, from Richmond out to Roanoke, from the Eastern Shore of Chincoteague and the coast of Virginia Beach on the Atlantic, over the rolling hills of the Piedmont region and the Blue Ridge Mountains, down through the Shenandoah Valley, and all the way out to the Appalachian Plateau, Virginia has much to offer and on behalf of the Virginia Young Democrats, it is my honor as VAYD President to invite y’all to join us in December to experience the Commonwealth for yourself.
The Virginia Young Democrats invite you to join us in Arlington, Virginia from December 1 through December 3 to see what Virginia is all about, while also being a stone’s throw away from the Nation’s Capital. Right across the Potomac from DC, Arlington is home to the Pentagon, the final resting places of President John F. Kennedy and Medgar Evers at Arlington National Cemetery, and where almost all of your US Senators live the majority of the time. We invite you to come and hear from Virginia state and local elected officials and organizers on why state and local elections are the most important.
We are in a unique position here in Virginia because year after year after year we have major elections and we can attest just how important each and every one of those are in the state of our democracy. In the past few years through our efforts in the State Legislature and in local offices, Democrats have taken Virginia from being one of the hardest states to vote into being the easiest. We became the first state in the South to abolish the death penalty and to legalize cannabis. And in the former heart of the confederacy, we have taken down the statues memorializing a racist, lost cause, and elected a formerly incarcerated, defense attorney and veteran as the first Black elected official to be leader of a major party in the House Delegates, Don Scott, and the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress (and former VAYD President), Jennifer McClellan.
We have also had our setbacks these past couple years and we are in the midst of one of, if not the most important, elections in our lifetime. This year we are in an off year election where we don’t have any statewide offices or federal offices on the ballot, while all 140 seats in our General Assembly are up for grabs. This election will determine what happens to Virginia when it comes to being the last safe haven for abortion, gun safety, and voting rights in the South. It will determine whether or not that vest wearin’, no jump shot havin’, Larry Bird wannabe, Glenn Youngkin becomes a front runner for the GOP nomination in 2024. And it will be a bellwether for President Biden’s re-election chances.
And that is why our programming will be centered on our theme: “All Politics is Local”, where we emphasize the overwhelming importance of State and Local elections and offices in our everyday lives and the tremendous influence they have on shaping America’s political landscape. We will be featuring speakers from all over Virginia to talk about organizing for state races, organizing in rural areas, turning out voters in diverse and differing areas of the state, and running for office as a Young Dem.
We are excited to see you there and can’t wait to see y’all in Virginia.
Sincerely, |
