Wilder School Poll on Harris/Trump; Kaine and Cao on Reparations, HBCU Funding; Mayoral Forum in Richmond
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Latest Wilder School Poll Shows Tighter Race
On Oct. 2, the Wilder School at VCU released poll results from Sept. 16 to Sept. 25. Early voting started in Virginia on September 20.
The latest Wilder School poll shows Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of Republican nominee former President Donald Trump 43% to 37%. The numbers represent a “slight dip in support compared with last month’s VCU Wilder School Commonwealth Poll, which had Harris leading Trump 46% to 36%,” according to the Wilder School’s release.
🚩 See the full Wilder School poll here
Among Independent voters, Trump leads Harris 29% to 16% according to the poll, with 16% saying they would not vote and 19% undecided. The polling sample included 832 adults, ages 18 or older, living in Virginia. The margin of error for the poll: ±4.64.
The Wilder School held a symposium recently which can be viewed below:
“The slip in the Harris lead, though not alarming, should be a wake-up call, as the sampling error of plus or minus 4.64 sends a message. Independents could make a real difference. The race in Virginia could be decided by who gets their voters to turn out, and voting has already started,” said L. Douglas Wilder, the 66th governor of Virginia, in a statement.
Kaine and Cao Against Reparations
At Norfolk State University in the Wilder Performing Arts Center, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and his Republican challenger Hung Cao were asked about reparations for the descendants of enslaved Americans. Neither offered words supporting reparations. Kaine mentioned a bill by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker to “study” the issue. Cao was definitively against reparations.
The U.S. government has paid reparations to other groups that have been the target of unjust treatment by the U.S. government. Examples include the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which provided reparations of $20,000 ($40,000 in 2023 dollars) to each surviving Japanese American who had been interned in camps during WWII. Over 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to live in camps and deemed a national security threat, with no evidence or due process, after the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
The U.S. government has settled multiple lawsuits brought by Native American tribes sought to compensate for broken treaties, forced relocation and land theft. The 2010 case of Cobell v. Salazar led to a $3.4 billion settlement over government mismanagement of Native American trust funds.
In 1619 on August 25, at what is now Fort Monroe in Hampton, the first enslaved Africans arrived in the English mainland American colonies. The 1860 value of free labor of Africans that eventually built the U.S. into a super power has been estimated at between $2.7 and $3.7 billion. Contemporary estimates of the value of free labor from 1619 to 1865 have landed north of $5 trillion.
🚩 The full U.S. Senate debate can be viewed here.
Both candidates were also asked bout HBCU funding. Both Cao and Kaine stated they support funding.
Above:📍Virginia House of Delegates member Bobby Scott greets President Jimmy Carter in 1980. First Lady Rosalynn Carter is at center. Carter celebrated his 100th birthday on Oct. 1st.
Richmond Mayor: Latest Debate.📍On Oct. 1, the five candidates for Mayor participated in a forum that was aired on VPM’s YouTube channel, see below:
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