By Marcus R. Motta: Virginia Democrats put their stamp on Virginia law in a whirlwind session of the General Assembly last winter, but they could not come to agreement on a Paid Sick Time (PST) bill even though the COVID-19 virus had already established a beachhead in the state. The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP), a Richmond based…
When superstars like Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, and Elizabeth Guzman, a pioneer Latina in the Virginia House, swear by a BlueCard, you know they are on to something. The Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) BlueCard is a powerful tool to empower diverse Democratic voters to turn out on Nov. 5 – or earlier. The BlueCard is…
By Brad Swanson: Ricardo Alfaro is a man on a mission. As the newly elected president of the Latino Democratic Caucus in Virginia, he has crafted an ambitious workplan to expand the group’s reach and counter the rising tide of fear engulfing the Latino community in the Trump era. “No one should feel unsafe going to school or grocery shopping…
By Kimberly Davis: A curious alteration of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s famed Impressionist painting “Luncheon of the Boating Party” has captured attention at recent events. Wait, isn’t that state delegate candidate Dan Helmer (dist. 40) in white? And there’s some other familiar faces there… Many of these faces and close to 200 more showed up for a real-life boating party on Sunday,…
Virginia refers more of its public school students, in percentage terms, to police than any other state. Now Northern Virginia state legislators want to address this troubling problem in the upcoming General Assembly session starting Jan. 9th in Richmond. Seven local legislators, all Democrats, held a forum recently in the Richard Byrd Library in Springfield, Va., to discuss the dysfunction…
By Karen Kirk: Virginia freshman Delegates Elizabeth R. Guzman, David A. Reid and Kathy Tran talked about what motivated them to run for office, what surprised them when they arrived in Richmond and their outlook for 2019 at the Blue Wave Forum held on Sept. 25 at James Madison High School in Vienna. State Sen. Scott Surovell, who asked the…
More than 100 people took a stand for clean energy in Virginia on Sunday at the 2nd Annual Mother’s Day Climate Rally at Veterans’ Amphitheater in Fairfax, VA, sponsored by the the FCDC National Affairs Committee and the NOVA Climate Movement. Speakers included VA District 34 Sen. Chap Peterson and three Virginia delegates, Carroll Foy, Elizabeth Guzman and Vivian…
by Brad Swanson: Two prominent Virginia elected officials took turns Saturday night at a fund-raising event to celebrate recent Democratic victories and rally party members to take over the House and Virginia state legislature. Speaking first, Va. Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D- 31) used her story as the first Hispanic female immigrant to win election to the state House of Delegates…