Received this e-mail this morning from Stacy Abrams (D. GA) organization, Fair Fight:
Voting in Virginia is already underway, and TODAY is the last day to request a mail-in ballot. You can request your ballot by filling out and submitting this form. Once you’ve filled out your ballot, return it to your registrar's office or to a dropbox as soon as possible. Go to IWillVote.com to find a dropbox near you.
You and I know that voting is not a magical solution, it is a process. That means we must continue to vote over and over again to shape the choices we want and to shape the policies we need. And we must vote up and down the ballot for candidates who represent our values, like my friend Terry McAuliffe. Fair Fight is doing everything we can to ensure voters have good information and resources during this election season — we want to make sure you get out and vote in this critical election.
If you’d prefer to vote in person, find your early voting polling place here — and then go vote tomorrow! Visit IWillVote.com to find your polling location and make an early voting plan today.
Then, do what I do: Make a plan, make a backup plan, and make a backup to the backup plan. Once you have made a plan, share it with your friends and family. Ask them to make a plan as well.
Remember: The last day to vote is November 2. And we need to hear your voice at the ballot box—whether you’re mailing your ballot in or casting your ballot in person.
Thank you for being an active participant in our democracy.
— Stacey
Click here to fill out the form for a mail-in ballot.
Click here to find your early voting polling place.
Click here to find your regular voting location.
Here’s a quick update from The Washington Post on early vote totals:
When looking at absentee and early in-person voting this year, it’s important to remember that last year’s presidential election was unusual — in that it was held during the peak of the pandemic, with more than 100 million Americans deciding to vote early because of that and the expanded access to mail balloting that came along with it. In Virginia, 2.7 million voters chose that option instead of going to the polls on Election Day.
This year, the numbers look quite different. As of Wednesday, 497,000 Virginians have cast their ballot, with 323,000 doing so in-person and 174,000 by mail according to L2, a national voter roll vendor. Another 183,000 early ballots have been sent out but not yet returned.
By contrast, on Oct. 22, 2020, 12 days before the presidential election, more than 1.5 million Virginians had already voted, and another 1.1 million ballots were outstanding. While this nearly 70 percent drop in early voting may seem large, it is expected.
On the one hand, the number of people who decided to vote absentee last year was particularly high because of the pandemic. In addition, Virginia usually sees a large drop in the fraction of voters that vote early in gubernatorial elections relative to preceding presidential one.
In the 2016 presidential election, 567,000 Virginians voted early, and in the 2017 gubernatorial election the number was only 192,000 — a 66 percent drop. Similarly, between the 2012 presidential election and the 2013 gubernatorial one, 73 percent fewer Virginians voted early.
This lower propensity to vote early is also reflected in polls, in which two-thirds of Virginians who are intending to vote said they are planning on voting in person on Election Day — compared to only 40 percent who did so last November.
This pattern is in marked contrast to what we observed in the gubernatorial recall election in California last month. where 9.3 million out of the 13 million ballots had been cast early. The two states do have very different early vote regimes though. California automatically sends a ballot to every registered voter, while Virginia has voters apply to vote by mail.
The New York Times also points out the hypocritical irony behind Youngkin urging his voters to vote early:
His campaign texts supporters asking if they know their early voting site, and door knockers ask if voters have requested a mail-in ballot. Youngkin holds rallies near early polling locations, including a recent one in Rockingham County after which the campaign said 100 people walked in to vote.
“We’ve been encouraging all Virginians to come vote, vote early,” Youngkin said when he cast his own ballot weeks before Election Day on Nov. 2.
There is no small irony in that message. Former President Donald J. Trump has loudly, falsely and egregiously claimed that early voting, especially by mail, led to a “rigged” election in 2020 that cost him a second term. (His latest provocation was a statement on Thursday: “The insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. Jan 6 was the protest!”)
In response to baseless claims of fraud, Republican-led states around the country have enacted laws this year to narrow access to the polls by groups that tend to vote for Democrats.
Virginia, where Democrats are in charge, has gone the opposite way, expanding voting access, including establishing a 45-day window to vote early in person or by mail, and extending the hours and locations of early polling sites.
Youngkin, a former financial executive who reminds many of an even-tempered Mitt Romney more than the bullying Trump, has still catered to the Trump base that believes the former president’s election conspiracy theories.
Youngkin early on said his top issue was “election integrity,” code for the false view that the 2020 vote was stolen, and he offered supporters a “membership card” in his Election Integrity Task Force. He campaigned with State Senator Amanda Chase, a prolific spreader of conspiracy theories about Jan. 6. This month he said voting machines should be audited, even though Virginia’s Elections Department audited machines after the 2020 vote and confirmed the results. (Trump lost by 10 points.)
Still, Youngkin has invested heavily in turning out his supporters early, a strategy at which Republicans once excelled in many places. An early vote, cast in person or by mail, means a campaign doesn’t have to pursue that voter with phone calls and door knocks in the final frenzied weeks.
But McAuliffe hasn’t taken the race for granted and unlike Youngkin, he’s actually proud to have big names in his party help him get out the vote:
President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris, Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and former Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams all have stumped for McAuliffe or are scheduled to campaign before the Nov. 2 election.
With polls showing a dead heat and Republicans appearing more motivated, Democrats are scrambling to make sure their base turns out.
“It's really nice to have people come in and help create the enthusiasm and the importance of getting out the vote,” said Susan Swecker, chairwoman of the Virginia Democratic Party. “We are very proud to have Barack Obama back to remind us what is at stake and that all roads for 2022 and 2024 lead through Virginia.”
Youngkin, meanwhile, has tried to carve out his own brand, striking a delicate balance between giving just enough red meat to motivate his party’s Trump-loving base, but not enough to alienate Trump-loathing suburban moderates — both of which he will need to win.
“Both sides are probably doing the right thing,” said Michael DuHaime, the GOP strategist behind former Gov. Chris Christie’s two terms in New Jersey, an even bluer state than Virginia that is the only other one holding an election for governor this year.
“It benefits the Democrats in a state that's trending much more Democratic, much more progressive, to make this race kind of a nationalized, ideological race,” DuHaime added. “For Youngkin to win, you want this race to be about Virginia issues. You don't want it to be about national issues. You don't want it to be about Donald Trump.”
Youngkin has invited some national conservative leaders to campaign with him, including former Housing Secretary Ben Carson, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. But they came earlier, for lower-profile events, and are not part of his closing strategy.
Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Virginia and she had a simple message: Don’t Texas Virginia.
“You want to know what matters? Let’s talk about the right that every woman in America has to make decisions about her own body, and not have other people tell her when she should make that decision, how she should make that decision, or if she should make that decision. Don’t Texas Virginia,” Harris said, referring to a campaign sign in the crowd.
“[Terry McAuliffe] has the life experience and professional experience, the experience of this state. If you know Terry McAuliffe you know he’s a fighter and he fights with his heart and soul,” said Harris.
“We’ve got to make it clear we’re not taking anything for granted. This election requires more than your vote – it requires your work,” Harris said. “There is nothing about this moment in time that is not about the coexistence between crisis and opportunity. How that all balances out will depend on who’s in a role of leadership. Does it weigh in favor of crisis, or does crisis turn into opportunity?”
Also, friendly reminder, President Obama will be in town tomorrow:
Former President Barack Obama will campaign with Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe this Saturday at Virginia Commonwealth University.
McAuliffe and Obama want Virginians to mobilize and make a plan to vote early ahead of the Nov. 2 election. Early voting is open until Oct. 30.
The grassroots event with Obama will take place at The Compass from 1 to 3 p.m.
Tickets are required due to limited space. RSVP is required for attendance but does not guarantee a ticket.
And President Biden will be back on Tuesday:
President Biden will campaign with Terry McAuliffe next week in Virginia, where the Democratic former governor is locked in a tight race with Republican Glenn Youngkin for the state's top elective post.
McAuliffe’s campaign announced Thursday that Biden will headline a rally at Virginia Highlands Park in Arlington on Tuesday evening.
The appearance will mark the second time that the president has campaigned in the state for McAuliffe, a longtime friend who held the state’s Executive Mansion from 2014 to 2018. Virginia prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms, and McAuliffe is only the second to seek a comeback since the Civil War.
Biden won Virginia by 10 points over President Donald Trump last year, but his approval in the state has plunged since the military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, and as Biden has failed to get Democrats in Congress to advance his domestic agenda.
McAuliffe’s campaign announced Thursday that Biden will headline a rally at Virginia Highlands Park in Arlington on Tuesday evening.
The appearance will mark the second time that the president has campaigned in the state for McAuliffe, a longtime friend who held the state’s Executive Mansion from 2014 to 2018. Virginia prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms, and McAuliffe is only the second to seek a comeback since the Civil War.
Biden won Virginia by 10 points over President Donald Trump last year, but his approval in the state has plunged since the military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, and as Biden has failed to get Democrats in Congress to advance his domestic agenda.
But even with the Democratic brand tarnished, McAuliffe has not shied away from appearing with Biden and the party’s biggest names in the one-time swing state, which turned solidly blue while Trump was in the White House. Former president Barack Obama will campaign with McAuliffe on Saturday in Richmond.
Youngkin has had a much more complicated relationship with Trump, his party’s undisputed leader.
Youngkin embraced Trump as he sought the GOP nomination for Virginia governor and has continued to lean into themes popular with Trump’s fans, including flirting with the former president’s false claim that Biden stole the 2020 election. But Youngkin has tried to do that without alienating the suburban swing voters who left the party in droves under Trump.
Youngkin refused to acknowledge for the first four months of his campaign that Biden had legitimately won the White House. He did so once he’d secured the nomination but continued to play to Trump’s false claim about the election by stressing the need for greater “election integrity.”
Trump phoned in to a Republican rally in suburban Richmond last week where Youngkin supporters pledged allegiance to a flag said to have flown ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington. Youngkin had publicly thanked the host for arranging the event, headlined by former Trump aide Stephen K. Bannon, but did not attend; a day later, he tried to distance himself from it by saying pledging to that flag was “weird and wrong.”
Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin will launch a campaign bus tour on Saturday in the greater Richmond area.
It's the same day as Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe's rally with former President Obama and the Youngkin campaign told The Hill that the tour, dubbed the Win with Glenn Bus Tour, is an effort to show off its grassroots support.
Additionally, the campaign said the tour through Virginia will purposefully not feature any national surrogates and instead include Virginians whose stories represent the campaign's message.
According to details released exclusively to The Hill, the 10-day bus tour will include get-out-the-vote rallies, church services, retail shops, law enforcement events, and stops to other establishments like farmers and restaurants.
The tour will consist of 50 stops, 42 localities, and 38 counties.
Speaking of bus tours:
By the way, looks like Youngkin is trying to inject some Anti-Semitism into riling up his voters:
GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin is facing allegations of antisemitism after accusing allies of Jewish philanthropist George Soros of a shadowy campaign to place secret political operatives onto Virginia school boards.
In an appearance Tuesday night at a rally at the Burke Volunteer Fire Department, Youngkin tried to link Soros, his Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe, and cultural debates roiling some suburban Northern Virginia public school systems. In particular, some parents are protesting equity initiatives they associate with critical race theory, an academic framework that examines how systemic racism is ingrained in the country’s history.
“The present chaos in our schools lays squarely at the feet of 40-year politician Terry McAuliffe. It just does,” Youngkin said at an appearance Tuesday night. “But also at George Soros-backed allies, these allies that are in the left, liberal progressive movement. They’ve inserted political operatives into our school system disguised as school boards.”
When Youngkin, who some polls show is tied with McCauliffe, said Soros’s name, some in the crowd of about 700 people hooted and hollered.
Soros is a Hungarian-born billionaire who has given tens of billions to charity, in particular through his pro-democracy Open Society Foundations grant network. His critics sometimes use antisemitic tropes to characterize him, such as the suggestion that Jewish people are secretly pulling society’s strings.
“Evoking George Soros as a shadowy funder is an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. This is an unacceptable statement from Glenn Youngkin,” U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) tweeted Wednesday evening.
This type of Trumpian bull shit is proving that Trump is still a big factor in this race:
Terry McAuliffe may be running against Glenn Youngkin, but his ultimate rhetorical opponent in the closing days of Virginia's off-year gubernatorial race is a Republican who lost a year ago.
"We don't need a Donald Trump in khakis," McAuliffe said of Youngkin while launching his campaign's final bus tour on Friday in Arlington.And voters at McAuliffe's rally on Thursday evening with Vice President Kamala Harris clearly got the message."He is a bad photocopy of Trump," Nelson Zaragoza, a mechanic from Stafford, Virginia, said of Youngkin, comparing him to former President Donald Trump. "He supports everything that Trump has been trying to push, he is doing the same thing."The level Democratic campaigns in Virginia have focused on Trump over the last few months has turned the off-year elections into the biggest test yet for whether the former President, who motivated historic Democratic turnout for the years he was either on the ballot or in power, still motivates the party's base to vote in extraordinary numbers. This lesson, determined by how the tight Virginia's races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general end up on November 2, will reverberate within the Democratic Party for years, as both official party committees and outside organizations try to understand how to motivate voters after four years of Trump in the White House.McAuliffe, a candidate who rarely does subtlety, has not minced words about tying Youngkin to Trump, who remains unpopular in Virginia a year after losing the commonwealth by 10 points. His ads have pilloried Youngkin as a Trump acolyte, the former Democratic governor has repeatedly called him a Trump "wannabe," and, in the closing weeks of the campaign, McAuliffe is warning that Youngkin and Trump are "running together" and the former President "wants to use this election to get him off the mat to get him ready for 2024."This nationalization has played out most notably in Northern Virginia. In cities like Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church, lawn signs that say "Youngkin=Trump" dot umpteenth patches of grass, as McAuliffe hopes to engage the vote-rich and growing area of the commonwealth that dramatically turned against Trump in 2016 and 2020."Despite what some say," said Susan Swecker, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, "Trump and his agenda are on the ballot, too."The potency of this messaging is particularly important this year, with Democrats worried that their voter base -- which may be exhausted by an endless stream of what they've been told are critical elections -- is now less interested in turning out for the November election. Polls have backed up these fears, with Republican enthusiasm for the race far outpacing Democratic enthusiasm.But voters like Zaragoza and others also expressed concerns on Thursday night that some of their friends were not as engaged in this race.Adina Wells, a 58-year-old woman who attended McAuliffe's rally with Harris, said many of her friends are "not as engaged" in the gubernatorial race as they were in the presidential election a year earlier because "some of them fail to realize that if you have somebody who supports (Trump in office), that could help him.""I don't want him to get back in," Wells said of Trump. "That is a motivating factor."To counter these worries, McAuliffe and his top surrogates have been looking to motivate Democrats with base-boosting issues like abortion and what they see as a responsible response to Covid-19 while warning that a win for Youngkin would be a win for Trump -- who has not campaigned here for the Republican nominee."Democrats still get fired up about Trump," said David Turner, a top operative at the Democratic Governors Association, adding that the messaging is particularly important "when turnout is uncertain, and we need to motivate people to go out and vote."Renae Schumann, a voter who stopped by the early voting office in Chesterfield County last week to cast her ballot for McAuliffe, is one of those voters."Absolutely he is on the ballot, too," Schumann said of Trump. "If you are not actively against him, I feel like you're for him. In no way has Youngkin showed or stated that he's against him, so in my mind it's clear."
Virginia’s election, which will take place Nov. 2, is one of two governors races held in the off year that follows a presidential election. It is often seen as a referendum on how the current presidency is going and as a potential bellwether for what may come in the next year’s midterms. Historically, whichever party wins the White House typically loses the governor’s mansion in Virginia; McAuliffe, who won in 2013 while Barack Obama was president, is the only exception to this trend in the last several decades.
This year, there’s a twist. In this election, there are two presidents up for review: the current and the former. A quick, two-day swing through Virginia last week that included conversations with more than two dozen people showed that the last five years are sharp in the minds of voters, many of whom said they plan to support McAuliffe not so much because they adore him, but because they associate the Republican Party with Trumpism. BuzzFeed News spoke to voters in Richmond, whose suburbs are ripe for competition and where McAuliffe will appear with Obama later this month; Charlottesville, a Democratic bubble and the scene of the 2017 white nationalist rally; and Culpeper, a town in a county that voted for Trump over Biden by nearly 20 points.
Trump hovers over the race “10,000%,” said Tori Marsh, 24, a furniture salesperson in Charlottesville. “I feel like he polarized the whole entire nation.” While she wishes there were a candidate “that we hadn’t heard forever and wasn’t basically an old white man,” she plans to vote for McAuliffe more as a vote against Youngkin.
Most people who planned to vote for McAuliffe and had voted for Biden were tepid on both. “Eh,” said Nancy Tisdale, 67, a nurse in Charlottesville, when asked how she thinks Biden’s doing as president, adding that she thought he’d fumbled the Afghanistan withdrawal. Asked if she liked McAuliffe as a candidate, she said, “Better than the other choice.”
McAuliffe and his team seem well aware that tying Youngkin to Trump is one of their strongest arguments. McAuliffe has labeled Youngkin as a “Trump wannabe” and emphasized the former president’s endorsements of the candidate. After Trump called into a rally last Wednesday featuring former Trump aide Steve Bannon, McAuliffe’s team put together an ad featuring the audio to tie Youngkin to him further. (Youngkin was not present at the rally.) McAuliffe’s prominent centering of Trump in his messaging evokes similar tactics that California Gov. Gavin Newsom successfully used to keep his seat in his recent recall election.
“Frankly, and unfortunately, because he still has such a hold on so many elements of the Republican Party and he’s engaging in this race, so even for those who would rather have him off their minds, he’s made himself present here,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who represents a competitive Richmond-area district, in a phone interview with BuzzFeed News.
Spanberger pointed to Trump’s endorsements, the rally last week, and Republicans using a flag at that event that had been “defiled” because it was used in the violent pro-Trump insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6. (The Washington Post reported Youngkin initially “ducked” a question on the use of the flag; he ultimately issued a statement calling it “weird and wrong to pledge allegiance to a flag connected to January 6.”)
“I think for a lot of people, they are concerned that Trump’s legacy in the Republican Party looms large, and do we want that type of leadership and governance here or not?” Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, who ran in the gubernatorial primary against McAuliffe, told BuzzFeed News after the tour of the Boys & Girls Club teen resource center. Most of what she hears from voters, she said, is “Who’s going to help meet my needs?”
Those needs and priorities differ from voter to voter, but a lot of what’s happening nationally was really hitting home. Asked what issues were most important to them as the election approached, several voters planning to cast ballots for the Democrat pointed to the attacks on reproductive rights in Texas (which McAuliffe has been talking about on the trail) and the COVID-19 response (Youngkin has opposed vaccine mandates).
Also, Hillary Clinton is helping sign up volunteers. Received this e-mail from Clinton last week:
Friend --
Less than a year after grassroots donors and volunteers across the country delivered a resounding defeat to Donald Trump in the 2020 election, Trumpism has reared its ugly head once more — this time in Virginia.
Five times now, Donald Trump has announced a full-throated endorsement of Glenn Youngkin, the self-funding extreme Republican nominee for the Governor’s race who already spent millions of his own dollars on this election.
Let me tell you, extremist Republicans will stop at nothing to get their hand-picked candidate elected Governor. Help my friend Terry McAuliffe take on Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate by signing up to volunteer for Democrats in Virginia today.
As we saw during the events of January 6th, leaving Trumpism unchecked in any corner of our country is not an option.
It’s on us to fight back against the return of Trumpism. We must unite behind a proven leader like Terry McAuliffe, who has taken on Republican extremism before — and won.
Believe me — I know a dangerous Republican extremist when I see one.
– Hillary
Onward Together
120 W 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
United States
Click here to sign up to GOTV.
And Stacy Abrams is helping with GOTV efforts as well.
Received this e-mail from Fair Fight:
Only THREE WEEKS remain until Election Day and Virginia Democrats urgently need your help to keep Virginia blue! In 2017, Republicans took control of the House by a single vote. Can you sign up today to help voters who need to fix their mail ballot so that it can count—all from the comfort of your couch?
The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and the entire House of Delegates are on the ballot.That's why we need you to make sure if someone has their mail ballot rejected, they get the chance to fix it right away.
This year, House races will be razor thin, and the Governor’s race is a toss-up— with an anti-voting, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist on the ballot.
At a time when our democracy hangs in the balance as GOP-controlled states push hundreds of anti-voter bills and try to sabotage our elections, Virginia achieved incredible victories under unified Democratic control—like expanding Medicaid and enacting an omnibus pro-voter law.
Now, the Virginia Democrats need your help to defend the majority, protect that progress, and send a strong message to the country: 2020 was just the beginning—we're still fired up and ready to go!
Can we count on you to join these opportunities from the Virginia Democrats?
Cure Absentee Ballots! We need to make sure every eligible vote cast for Democrats is counted. Join a Ballot Cure Phone Bank — held every Tuesday at 6PM, Thursday at 4PM, and Saturday at 12PM EST. Once you are trained, you can make calls on your own time! Sign up at TinyURL.com/VACureCalls.
Ready for more ways to get involved?
Become a Super Volunteer! Do you have at least 5 hours to give each week between now and Election Day? Are you ready to take your volunteering to the next level? Become a Voter Protection Super Volunteer—many roles are available and most can be done from the comfort of your home! Sign up at TinyURL.com/VAVoterProSuperVols.
Recruit Poll Observers! Virginia Democrats want to make sure there are enough poll observers at all the polling locations that we need. Help build their poll observer team from the comfort of your home by going to TinyURL.com/VARecruitingCalls—and share the link with a friend!
And Be a Poll Observer! Are you able to volunteer in person in Virginia during Early Voting (September 17-October 30) or on Election Day (November 2)? Be a poll observer! Poll observers are the eyes and ears on the ground, responding to the needs of voters and ensuring that every eligible Democratic voter is able to successfully cast a ballot. Full and half-day shifts are available. Reserve your spot and sign up for online training by going to TinyURL.com/VAPollObservingSignup.
Thanks, and let’s get it done!
Team Fair Fight Action
Click here to sign up for Cure Phone Bank.
Click here to sign up to volunteer.
Click here to sign up to recruit poll observers.
Click here to sign up to be a poll observer.
Early voting in Virginia has already started. Click here to register to vote, look up your voting info, find your polling place or ballot drop-off location.
Democracy and Health are on the ballot this year and we need to be ready to keep Virginia Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with McAuliffe and his fellow Virginia Democrats campaigns: