Countdown to Year-End – 5th Stop Virginia for 2022 Midterms

By the time we return to Virginia for the 2022 Midterms, we will have been through our first four 2022 primary elections in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, and Georgia.  In 2021 we all swallowed the bitter pill of watching Glenn Youngkin defeat Terry McAuliffe and gain a majority in the Virginia state house.  As hard as it is to think on these losses, Rideshare2Vote is committed to the voters of Virginia.  Our work to recruit and train more drivers starts now to support the Democrats running for the US House in 2022, especially 3 Democratic women being targeted by the GOP.  

There are currently 11 US House seats in Virginia, 7 held by Democrats and 4 held by Republicans.  The Virginia Supreme Court must now weigh in on a controversial redistricting plan, and Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have written to the Court to decry that “the most impactful geographic changes occur in the three districts represented by women…[but they] believe it is possible to spread the burden of changing district lines across the entire delegation, rather than asking the women in our delegation to shoulder a disproportionate burden.”  While we are hopeful that the Court will adjust these rigged maps, we will remain focused on connecting with low-propensity voters and getting them to the polls to support Democratic candidates statewide.     

We will begin driving Virginia voters in mid-June for early voting in the run-up to Election Day on June 21.  Our geographic focus will be on the regions where the three vulnerable female candidates are running – Richmond, Hampton Roads, and Central to Northern Virginia. 

Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s Richmond area 7th District is virtually eliminated under the proposed gerrymandered plan, with 1/3 of her District engulfed by the 1st District where she would be running against longtime Republican Rob Whitman, a 16-point winner in his last election.  A hunk of Spanberger’s district has also been gerrymandered into District 10, where she would have to run in a primary against fellow incumbent Democrat Jennifer Wexton.  Rep. Wexton is also significantly impacted in her home District 10, which has been stretched out of the Dem-friendly Northern Virginia area to include rural central Virginia as well.  Finally, Rep. Elaine Luria, based in Norfolk and along the east coast shoreline all the way across the water to the Maryland state line, would face a tough path to re-election as well.  Her current 2nd District also has a proposed expansion into rural areas in southern Virginia while losing some of her home area population.  As a 20-year Navy veteran, Luria is popular in the current 2nd District that includes the strong military presence of Hampton Roads and Norfolk, which is why Republicans are trying to dilute her current home base through the gerrymandered map. 

Every vote will matter for Dems in Virginia’s 2022 elections — Virginia Beach state Rep. Alex Askew lost his re-election bid by 127 votes, and Newport News’ Martha Mugler lost hers by just 94 votes.  We cannot let Republicans chip away at the Democratic majority in the US House, and we are ready to mobilize Virginia’s voters to support Democratic candidates statewide, especially these three very vulnerable woman incumbents.   

Please donate today to help us turn out the 2022 vote for Democratic candidates in Virginia in June, with voting still to follow in Florida.

by Sarah Kovich