By Karen Kirk: Immigration has helped Virginia rise from poverty to affluence, notes Sen. Tim Kaine. Kaine does the numbers: In 1968, only 1% of Virginians were immigrants and the state ranked 38th in income per person. Today, immigrants make up 11% and we have shot up to become the 12th richest state in terms of per capita income. Although correlation is…
Rain clouds were low but spirits high, as the Springfield District Democratic Committee held its 18th Annual Smoke n’ Roast on Saturday evening, May 19, in Clifton, Va. A sizable crowd enjoyed burgers and ribs, while hearing from elected county and state officials. Four of the six Democratic candidates for the Virginia’s 10th Congressional District seat spoke at the…
Each week until the Va-10 congressional district Democratic Party primary election on June 12, The Blue View will ask all six candidates to respond to a key question on an important issue in 100 words or less. This week’s question: How should Congress, with you as a member, respond to the opioid crisis? Answers below from candidates, in alphabetical order: Forty percent of opioid…
By Susan Laume: A letter sent in 2014 by a child desperately seeking relief for her pain spurred Virginia State Sen. Dave Marsden (D-37th District) to act. The compassion he felt for that child’s suffering from intractable epilepsy started the senator on his four-year journey to assist those in extreme pain. In 2015, Marsden first sponsored a bill that allowed…
By Stephanie Witt Sedgwick: Fifty-plus canvassers gathered early Saturday at a bare bones campaign office in Ashburn. Their task: canvass their assigned neighborhoods looking for unidentified Democrats and finding out what issues mattered to them. It’s all part of a broad voter identification program going on throughout Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. The goal is to find the new voters who…
By Karen Kirk: After spending 34 days living in trees to block the Mountain Valley Pipeline from being built on their property in Roanoke County, Red Terry and her daughter Minor are taking their fight around Virginia this week. They were joined by Virginia Delegate Mark Keam, 35th District, Delegate Sam Rasoul, 11th District and attorney and activist Jonathan Sokolow…
Each week until the Va-10 congressional district Democratic Party primary election on June 12, The Blue View will ask all six candidates to respond to a key question on an important issue in 100 words or less. This week’s question: As a member of Congress, what would you do to improve transportation infrastructure in Northern Virginia? Answers below from candidates, in alphabetical order:…
By Stephanie Witt Sedgwick: Gun control is a hot issue in the Democratic primary campaign for Congressional District VA-10 as candidates head into the final month before the June 12 polling day. The six candidates view incumbent Barbara Comstock as an easy target on this topic, given her “A” rating from the NRA and a spot on the top ten…
By John Parks: The Parkland school shooting hit me hard, as teaching runs deep in my family. My mother was a teacher as are two of my children, one a principal. And I have 7 school-age grandchildren. When a shooting happens in a school, it immediately becomes personal. That could be one of mine. I am infuriated at hearing Wayne…
Editor’s Note: Another in our periodic surveys of local grassroots organizations, compiled by Holly Hazard. This time: Herndon-Reston Indivisible. Herndon-Reston Indivisible’s mission is to fuel a progressive network to resist the Trump agenda while electing Democrats who support our values of transparency, inclusion, tolerance & fairness. HRI is led by a steering committee: Heidi Zollo, Carrie Bruns, Anne Alston, and Joanne…
By William Berkson: Tax reform is not a zero-sum game. Since Ronald Reagan lowered taxes in the 1980s, followed by George W. Bush in the early 2000s and Donald Trump last year, middle class income has stagnated despite productivity increases, and overall economic growth has been mediocre. Instead of lose-lose, we can have win-win, bolstering both fairness and economic growth…
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: Democratic elected officials took turns praising Virginia’s role in turning the tide after the disastrous 2016 election and urging continued attacks on Republican majorities in the mid-term elections in November. The politicians were speaking at Sunday night’s Jefferson Obama Dinner, the main fundraising event of the year for Fairfax County Democratic Committee. “We wake up tomorrow in…
Each week until the Va-10 congressional district Democratic Party primary election on June 12, The Blue View will ask all six candidates to respond to a key question on an important issue in 100 words or less. This week’s question: Under what circumstances should we withdraw from Syria? Answers below from candidates, in alphabetical order: The question needs to be, how should we intervene?…