Clint Jenkins Comes within 70 Votes of Being Mayor of Suffolk; Pat King, Wes Smith Win in Chesapeake; After Dems Lose Again to Trump, the Critiques Begin
🚩 There are 62 days until the Virginia General Assembly convenes on Jan. 8, 2025 in Richmond
🚩 There are 74 days to Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2025
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Election Notes in Virginia 🍁 Details of November 5, 2024
Dr. Pat King and Les Smith won seats on the Chesapeake City Council 🦀 Hampton Vice Mayor Jimmy Gray was elected Mayor of Hampton with 69% of the vote after outgoing Mayor Donnie Tuck announced he wouldn’t run again for re-election 🦀 Former Delegate Clint Jenkins came within 70 votes of being the next Mayor of Suffolk, but lost to inclement Mike Duman 🍁 Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover was able to hold off a challenge from Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas Burke 🍁 Michelle Mosby lost to Dr. Danny Avula who will be Richmond’s next Mayor 🦀 Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander easily won re-election 🦀 Incumbent Hope Harper (18.5%) along with Randy Bowman (16.9%) and Carolyn Campbell (14.7% ) were the top three winners for the Hampton City Council race 🍁 For Hampton School Board, Tina Banks-Gray (22%), Stephanie Jackson Afonja (21%), Ann Stephens Cherry (20.6%), Reginald Woodhouse (19.1%) and Natalie Kidd (16%). They will join Jason Samuels, Joseph Kilgore and Richard Mason 🍁 Barnes — who served a four-year term on the council — got 11,361 votes (11.6%). In Portsmouth, 4 term incumbent City Council member D’Andre Barnes and and Mark Whitaker finished fourth and fifth in a race that requires a top three finish 🍁 School Board member Kenya Gibson won with 39.21% of the vote over Ann-Frances Lambert for Richmond City Council
JD Spain, Sr. Wins Seat on the Arlington County Board
JD Spain, Sr. was elected to the Arlington County Board. He will be the only Black member of the Board after the departure of Christian Dorsey. Spain is a U.S. Marine veteran and a former President of the Arlington NAACP.
I am deeply grateful to the voters of Arlington for embracing our message of "Building a Representative Government Where Every Voice Matters." I pledge to represent all Arlington residents, regardless of zip code, as we strive to find common ground. My time on the campaign trail has equipped me with a profound understanding of the issues and challenges we will face together. I am eager to embark on this important journey for our community on January 1, 2025,” wrote JD Spain, Sr. after his big victory.
After Dems Lose Again to Trump, the Critiques Begin
In March of 2020, President Joe Biden said, “look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else. There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.”
How to Lose
But at 80 years old, Biden announced he was running for a second term in office. Reporting would later reveal that his aides worked to hide the President’s cognitive decline. The staff limited appearances and scheduling. But on June 24, 2024, a problem that was an open secret in Washington was viewed for over an hour by 67 million people. Looking doddering and at times confused, Biden had one of the worst presidential debate performances in history.
After almost thirty days of intra-party infighting, it wasn’t until Sunday, July 21, 2024 that Biden dropped out of the presidential race. The date was 107 days to Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. Democrats would have to build a presidential campaign around a new nominee in less than 100 days.
The moment placed the Democratic party in the difficult position of having to scramble to confirm a nominee, build a message, name a new Vice Presidential nominee and against a former President with high name recognition and a built-in cult-like following. Further, the new nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, at first had to adopt and defend the unpopular policies of the president she served under — with Biden’s staff chafing if she failed to.
Despite an energetic coalition building campaign, on Nov. 5, Donald Trump defeated Vice President Harris and won the popular vote for the first time in three presidential races.
Here Comes the Infighting
Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders launched the first big rocket of criticism at the Democratic Party tech day after Election Day. Democrats are struggling with the question of how to react to Donald Trump winning a second term in The White House.
“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right,” wrote the progressive left Senator.
The progressive group Our Revolution also called on Democrats to “return to working-class roots” and focus on labor and “reject corporate influence.”
“From day one, we’ve been sounding the alarm, warning the party that abandoning the working class for the donor class would lead us here,” said Joseph Geevarghese, Executive Director of Our Revolution.
“While the Harris campaign focused on moderate coalitions and endorsements from Republicans like Liz Cheney, working families and young people who wanted economic and social justice felt ignored. Voters wanted a champion who spoke directly to their needs—not a campaign captured by wealthy donors and corporate interests.”
“Or maybe that so many voters seem to support someone who ran on racism and misogyny explains why they are put off by a multiracial party that ran a woman for president,” journalist Nicole Hannah Jones wondered on social media.
Racism and patriarchy are factors mentioned often in Trump’s success. In the last two weeks of the campaign, Trump referred to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “a bitch,” a speaker at Trump’s Oct. 30 rally referred to Puerto Rico as “garbage,” Trump’s ruling mate referred to Vice President Harris as “garbage” and Trump used violent and threatening language towards former Congresswoman Liz Cheney.
But Norfolk’s own Cornell Belcher defended Biden this morning. The top pollster appears on MSNBC regularly.
“The so-called “rage” at Biden is predictably misdirected &part of the problem. They r raging at the guy who actually beat Trump in 2020 & garnered more votes than anyone ever (thnk u maybe)Biden’s didn’t stop Dems frm having historic 2022. This is missing the forest for the trees,” Belcher said.
“I think this is the most damning result for Democrats. The people who had the most direct experience with Democratic governance—fucking HATED it. We have to do better,” wrote Yimbys for Harris co-founder Armand Domalewski.
“So ‘college education’ is the 2024 version of 2016’s ‘economic anxiety’. Got it. Jumping through hoops trying to avoid the obvious,” wrote Cliff Albright of Black Voters Matter on Nov. 6. “All I’m gonna say is some of y’all spent a lot of time questioning/doubting Black men and not enough on white women and Latino voters,” he later added.
Russian interference once again was seen in the 2024 election. There were multiple bomb threats made to election sites in Black areas of Georgia, a key state on the electoral map that Trump won.
As the analysis continues there may be something no one has considered: That this was coming anyway no matter what Democrats did. Trump offered no specific policies on many things Trump had no policy for. But the rise of authoritarianism and white supremacy has been in the news for over a decade in other countries.
Perhaps Trump is what voters wanted. Over 15 million voters did not participate. That number and why those voters checked out will be analyzed moving forward.
After Election Debriefs
🗓️ Sunday, November 17th, 6:00pm: Virginia Grassroots Coalition Meeting. Zoom Link: https://georgetown.zoom.us/j/98422844279
🗓️ Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia is hosting our post-election update on November 14th. https://ppaf.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIpd-Ghqz0jEtb3m8tMCsliDGFt81A4CEhy#/registration
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