The Best #Virginia Fish Fry: Louise Lucas' Afternoon on Crystal Lake
PORTSMOUTH, VA — OK first off let’s talk about the food. Black Virginia News will feature Black owned businesses at many of the events we cover. Many of them perform services that stay in your mind days after the event for all the right reasons. Large Brothers Catering produced amazing seafood and chicken for An Afternoon on Crystal Lake on September 24. The setup on beautiful Crystal Lake Drive in Portsmouth was enchanting.
The political message was clear as host Louise Lucas and State Senator Mamie Locke once again re-emphasized that “out democracy is on the line.”
“You need to make yourselves an ambassador of one and get those folks out so that we could elect up and down the ballot people who are about saving democracy,” Lucas told the crowd sitting in white chairs in front of a gazebo near gorgeous Crystal Lake in Portsmouth.
Election Day 2022 is 42 days a away. Early voting in Virginia started on Friday, September 23. There is SAME DAY registration but it is not promoted widely by the Virginia Department of Elections which has the info in fine print — a point Gaylene Kanoyton informed attendees.
Like at so many other recent political events, speakers have emphasized the importance of political engagement and voting at a time in American history the entire system may be on the line. Last year 36,000 voters failed to cast a ballot in the contest between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin and Youngkin pulled off an upset victory by 60,000 votes.
Before 2021 it was becoming clearer that a major political party — the GOP — has a substantial number of members questioning the validity of Biden’s election. Local elections is the place where MAGA-right wing Trump Republicans are focused. Lawsuits against school board members and the hounding of local election officials out of their positions is part of the strategy. These actions happen at a time when Blacks and other minorities are gaining a louder voice and more political power. The U.S. is expected to be a majority-minority nation by 2045.
AFTERNOON ON CRYSTAL LAKE. Attending State Senator Lucas’ annual event were Congressman Bobby Scott, House Minority Leader Don Scott, former Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax, State Senator Mamie Locke, Delegate Angelia Williams Graves, Delegate Nadarius Clark, Portsmouth City Councilwoman Lisa Lucas-Burke, former Portsmouth Sheriff Michael Moore and Vernon Tillage who is running for Portsmouth City Council.
A $50 ticket earned a very adequate dinner of fish and fries or chicken and fries and it was quite nice indeed. The nearby lake made for a beautiful background as speakers from Leader Don Scott to former Lt. Governor Fairfax laid out the details of what it will take for democrats to maintain control of the U.S. House and recapture control of the Virginia House in 2023.
“I need you to be with us every step of the way for this fight. When you stick your head up like Louise Lucas did they tried to arrest her,” Fairfax said referring to the 2020 attempt by Chesapeake residents to prosecute Lucas for the removal of a Civil War statue in Portsmouth. The city would later settle with her for $300,000 in January 2022.
There were several references to political gamesmanship and the need to “fight for what is right” as political discourse and tactics become increasingly confrontational.
Lucas’ next challenge (2023) is an unlikely one. She must run against fellow State Senator Lionell Spruill after Democrats miscalculated the redistricting process and failed to control the district lines as the party in the majority.
No one can predict the outcome of the 2023 Senate race pitting Lucas against Spruill. What can easily be predicted is that it’s likely to be a bruising battle and likely to be close.
The midterm election are on the horizon but so is 2023 when. House of Delegates members and State Senators are on the ballot. But many are warning: Don’t look past the 2022 election.
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