PFAW Member,
I’m writing to ask for your help in the critical elections happening in Virginia in just 11 days.
I am proud of what we accomplished in Virginia during my time as governor. We brought the right to vote to people who were the victims of a racist, Jim Crow-era policy that permanently disenfranchised citizens with past felony convictions by restoring rights to over 180,000 Virginians. We expanded educational opportunities for Dreamers in Virginia, signed an executive order to combat LGBTQ discrimination, defended women’s health clinics from right-wing attempts to shut them down, and so much more… but it was all in spite of Republican majorities in both houses who fought us every step of the way. Just think what we could have done with Democratic majorities in our legislature.
In fact, as governor, I proudly vetoed more extreme right-wing legislation than any other governor – attacks on women, LGBTQ people, immigrants, workers, health care, voting, and the environment. My 120 vetoes were a Virginia record.
And then in 2017, with the help of People For the American Way and PFAW members like you, Democrats cut the Republican majorities significantly, giving Virginia the ability to continue the fight we started when I was governor and finally pass the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion so that hundreds of thousands of low-income Virginians were finally able to get health care coverage.
But all of these accomplishments could be lost if Republicans win this year and expand their majorities in the state legislature.
Yes – count me in! I’ll chip in now>>
Virginia is an increasingly important bellwether state on the national stage, and it can be the first southern state in the modern era to have its government controlled by Democrats from top to bottom. Just imagine what we can accomplish then.
That’s a story that could inspire blue waves all across the country next year. And we are SO CLOSE to making it happen – we only need to flip TWO SEATS in each chamber of Virginia’s legislature!
That’s where you and People For the American Way come in. PFAW and its members like you have been instrumental in helping to defeat right-wing extremism and Trump’s bigoted campaign playbook in Virginia, steadily moving the Commonwealth in a more progressive direction over the past several election cycles.
PFAW’s extraordinary work has been critical to driving up turnout and the Democratic margin among Virginia’s fast-growing Latino community. And Virginia has been the perfect example of the power of Next Up Victory Fund, as it has worked to build a deep bench of progressive candidates who can strengthen our democracy and reflect the diversity of our nation.
This election is a chance not only to continue that work but to finish the job.
We have less than two weeks to go and Republicans, backed by endless corporate and right-wing Big Money, are running on Trump’s campaign playbook of lies and bigotry.
Please chip in as generously as you can to PFAW now to flip Virginia blue!>>
Recent polling has shown that Virginians WANT Democratic majorities in the legislature by double digits! But because of Republican gerrymandering, flipping the two seats needed in both the Senate and the House of Delegates to make that happen is a steep uphill climb.
And gerrymandering is a central issue in this election for another reason: because whichever party wins the majorities in this election, before next year’s national census, will control the redistricting process that will draw the district maps for the following 10 years – including federal congressional districts!
What happens in Virginia will have tremendous national consequence. Redistricting will impact the makeup of Congress; the party that wins will seize momentum for 2020; a Democratic win could embolden Democratic efforts nationally to hold Trump accountable; and with Democratic majorities in the Virginia legislature, we could even finally pass the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (only one more state is needed to ratify!)…
Thank you for everything you do in the ongoing fight for progress and the American Way.
--Terry
Terry McAuliffe
72nd Governor of Virginia
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Do not reply directly to this e-mail. Please use [email protected]. Trouble viewing the email? THANK YOU for your support of People For the American Way! This email was sent to [email protected]. Reaching you over email is the best way we have to let you know about the ways you can take action to fight the Right Wing and defend our constitutional rights and values. If you have any thoughts, comments, or criticisms, or if there's a better email address at which to reach you, please let us know>> If you'd like to unsubscribe from our list, you can do that here>> Radical Right extremists are trying to turn back the clock on a century of advances in civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, the social safety net and more… With Donald Trump in the White House, they’re waging an all-out assault on the fundamental pillars of our country – democracy, checks and balances, a fair and independent judicial branch, and core values like fairness, equality, and justice for all. PFAW is fighting back every day with: ✔ Grassroots organizing But we can’t do this vital work without the robust grassroots financial support of our members and activists.
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