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Hi Friend,
We’ve already laid the groundwork to flip the Virginia General Assembly. Two years ago, 15 red-to-blue flips—including five Flippable alums—broke the GOP’s supermajority in the House of Delegates and reduced its control of the chamber to 51-49 seats. Equally close margins in the Virginia State Senate (21-19) made this much clear: in the next election, a blue Virginia would be within reach.
Now, that election is just two months away.
Flippable alums Del. Kathy Tran, Del. David Reid, and Del. Danica Roem (left to right) at the Virginia General Assembly’s swearing-in ceremony in January 2018.
November 5th is our chance to build on 2017’s victories and flip the entire Virginia General Assembly. After Democrats’ record-breaking wins in 2017, the General Assembly successfully expanded Medicaid to 400,000 uninsured Virginians. Still, we’ve seen that without a majority, Democratic legislators can only make so much progress. In Virginia, a Democratic majority is the difference between ratifying and rejecting gender equality. It’s acting on gun violence to prevent a mass shooting versus adjourning a special session without holding a single vote on the issue. It’s passing policies that serve people over party—not the other way around.
And in the fight for fair democracy, a Democratic majority in Virginia is especially critical. After the 2010 census, the Virginia GOP drew racially gerrymandered Congressional and legislative districts to secure a built-in advantage (and it took five and eight years, respectively, for the courts to order and approve new maps). But the Virginia GOP didn’t stop there: in 2013, legislators approved a strict voter ID law that, combined with non-existent early voting and limited registration periods, makes Virginia the second-hardest state to vote in. Flipping Virginia is the only way to prevent yet another decade of unconstitutional maps and unfair elections.
To finish what we started in Virginia—and finally put a Democratic majority in charge—we need to help our candidates power through these last two months. The more dollars we raise now, the more voters our candidates can reach in these highly competitive districts during this crucial time. Please donate today to help our candidates finish strong and bring Virginians the government—and democracy—they deserve.
In solidarity,
Catherine Vaughan
Co-Founder, Flippable
Chief Strategy Officer, Swing Left
P.S. In case you missed it, we’re celebrating a big victory for democracy this week. Now that GOP-drawn legislative maps have been struck down in both Virginia and—as of Tuesday—North Carolina, state courts have set a promising precedent for challenging gerrymandering across the country.
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