Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Let me file that under fuck it.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Cole, when it comes to calico cats, restraint is overrated.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

You are here: Home / Political Fundraising / Targeted Political Fundraising 2023-24 / Balloon Juice for Virginia: We Did It! Just $1,373 Needed, and Then We’re Done!

Balloon Juice for Virginia: We Did It! Just $1,373 Needed, and Then We’re Done!

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We have $100 left on Balloon Juice Angel Match #5, and we have one more Angel Match in waiting.

IF we can match all $600, that means $1k in donations (Angel #5 & #6 together), so we only need $1,373 in donations to reach our final goal of $25,000!

Can we raise $1,328   $1,039   just $814  $599  $424  $399  $289   $239  more today?

The first 4 people who donate $50 can get double-matched!  ($25 from match #5, and $25 for match #6)

Okay, we had our 4 people donating $50 that were double-matched, thank you!

Reader Interactions

67Comments

  3. 3.

    Another Scott

    +$129.  Thanks WG, angels, and everyone.

    We won’t get this chance to crush Gov. Fuzzy Vest’s dreams again.  Let’s get it done!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  17. 17.

    JAFD

    Good evening, fellow Jackals,

    This is the beginning of a seventh straight rainy weekend in Gotham.  Have put a few bucks in this cause to warm up me soul.

    Stay healthy, and have great weekend, everyone

  22. 22.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Some candidates in Virginia – not enough! – are explicitly running pro-abortion ads to take advantage of conservatives overturning Roe v. Wade to the point where now the state Republican party is running an ad basically trying to pretend they aren’t anti-abortion, saying they support “reasonable” restrictions on abortion after some amount of weeks and then lying to say they support exceptions.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    Our BJ angel just added her $500 because she won’t be around this evening – she has faith that we will get there!

    So as soon as the thermometer says $24,500, we will be at our $25k goal, just waiting for our other Angel who is overseas to wake up and add his $500!

  25. 25.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @WaterGirl: It could work because suburban Virginians by and large just need plausible deniability to vote Republican. Statewide elections can be swung by liberal NoVA. These aren’t statewide elections.

    I am in Virginia. My xGreat Grandfather settled the Shenandoah Valley 300 years ago.

  26. 26.

    Geminid

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Republicans would rather Virginians don’t think about abortion rights at all, so it’s good they are playing defense on this issue.

    The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on this prospective ad campaign last week. Republicans saw they were being hurt by a Democratic ad campaign warning Virginians that Republicans intended to outlaw abortion. So now they are spending money trying to blur the issue- and reminding voters that there is an issue here.

  29. 29.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @WaterGirl: Can’t go wrong supporting Democrats. Feggans could win his district if there’s turnout. Unfortunately, the folks who would tend to vote Democratic don’t turn out in non-presidential election years. Pope Adams probably has no chance. Her district looks solidly rural.

  34. 34.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @WaterGirl: Virginia is only blue insofar as NoVA weighs in one state elections or creates enough population for more liberal leaning VA districts. The rest of the state is rural or suburban (think white flight) outnumbering small cities that might be liberal. The large Hampton Roads region just continually brings in new military personnel that largely vote conservatively.

  38. 38.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @WaterGirl: Suburban Virginia is the real battleground these days. Virginians are generally types that make no waves, generally want to preserve the status quo and aren’t interested in standing out. They were more or less horrified by Trump’s presidency and that was reflected in the subsequent elections where Democrats were actually able to take control of the state legislature for a small time.

    Then Youngkin came along and told them, “Hey, I’m different. I’m worth three hundred million dollars and I have class. You can vote for me and not have to worry about a bunch of crazy shit.” That gave suburban Virginia permission to vote Republican again, which they already want to do.

  42. 42.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @WaterGirl: I don’t think that’s the case. He’s way more cagey than that. I think Youngkin could jump in the presidential race and be the immediate front-runner. He’s basically Romney without the liberalism.

  47. 47.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Complicating things is you make between $8-9/hour in the Virginia House and Senate so you need to be independently wealthy to do the job.

  48. 48.

    Another Scott

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Yes, it’s bad. But it’s actually worse than that.  They’re “part time” and cannot raise campaign funds when the legislature is in session.

    House of Delegates – $17,640/year + per diem
    State Senate – $18,000/year + per diem

    But we cannot change it without holding the majorities.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  50. 50.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Another Scott: It’s why we wind up with reps like Ron Villanueva who went to prison for business fraud. Full disclosure: I know Ron Villanueva and once hired his younger brother. Fuller disclosure: military contracting fraud is the number one business in Hampton Roads.

  56. 56.

    Geminid

    This conversation got me thinkng about the question: where the heck are all those Virginia Democrats?

    The numbers from the 2020 Presidential election shed some light on the answer. Afterwards, Politico published an article that said Joe Biden won votes from 2,413,000 Virginians and gave a breakdown by county and city.

    Northern Virginia accounted for at least 942,000 of them. That would be Arlington County (105,000); Alexandria (66,000); Fairfax County (420,000); Loudon County (138,000); Prince William County (153,000); and Stafford County (40,000). And four smaller NoVa cities- Manassas, Manassas Park, Fairfax and Falls Church- totaled 40,000.

    There were a total of 314,000 Democrats voting in Richmond (92,000) and adjacent Henrico (116,000) and Chesterfield (106,000) Counties.

    The Hampton Roads area had 404,000 Democratic voters: from Virginia Beach (117,000); Chesapeake (66,000); Norfolk (64,000); Newport News (53,000); Hampton (46,000); Portsmouth (30,000); and Suffolk (28,000).

    Albemarle County had 42,000 Democratic voters and Roanoke City and County together had 47,000. I think Montgomery County had over 40,000 but I’m not sure if that included Blacksburg and Christiansburg. The rest of the Democrats are scattered elswhere around the Old Dominion.

    Greene County, where I live, had 4,163 Democratic voters. We like to say, “As Greene County goes, so goes…Greene County.”

    The Politico article had three relevant demographic statistics:

    The percentage of Virginians with a bachelor’s degree was 38%.The median for all other states was 31%.
    Virginia’s non-white population was also 38%. The median for all other states was 28%.
    Virginia’s median annual income was ~$71,000. The median for all other states was ~$59,000.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    Okay, just $289 more needed – and the two angels have added their $500 matches – so the thermometer shows the real amount.

    oh, and plus $50 for the first of 4 $50 matches that is not in yet.

  62. 62.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Geminid: Chesapeake is literally Christland. I was surprised they had more Democratic votes than solidly Democratic cities. Probably the law of big numbers.

  63. 63.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Geminid: I could have sworn that Alexandria city is larger than that, although you’re only citing the Democratic votes, so that’s probably correct. Although my perceptions are off because a lot of Fairfax county has an Alexandria mailing address.

  64. 64.

    Geminid

    @Just Some Fuckhead: There are also a lot of Black people living in Chesapeake, like there are all over Tidewater and much of the rest of rural, urban and suburban Virginia.

    If you told those Black people in Chesapeake that they were “living in Christland,” they might respond, “Thank you! God is good.”

  65. 65.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Geminid: Some of the core cities have many more black people than Chesapeake. Norfolk has 20K more black people than Chesapeake and a total population almost the same as Chesapeake.

    Of course, Norfolk also, whether through negligence or malevolence, regularly has voting equipment shortages that have black people standing in line for hours to vote.

  66. 66.

    Geminid

    @Just Some Fuckhead: And a lot of white people, including the many who live outside Northern Virginia, vote for Democrats too. Even rural white people like me.

    But like you said above, the suburban districts are now the political battlegrounds in Virginia. I think that’s the case in most states today.

    But I’m curious: where in the Shenandoah Valley did your ancestors live? I lived in Augusta County for 8 years and really liked it.

  67. 67.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Geminid: My dads (surname) family started in Augusta County sometime after 1760. Some of them branched out to Bath County and Rockbridge County where my dad was born. My mom’s (surname) family started in Augusta County too, around 1730, when it was still Orange County. They branched out to Highland County, Bath County and Alleghany County, where my mom was born.

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