Coming into the November election the Republicans held a narrow majority in the Virginia House of Delegates.
You’ll remember that we supported 2 candidates in Virginia. We chose the closest of the close races. The ones that weren’t drawing the same money and attention as other races in the wealthier Northern Virginia DC suburbs. Our candidates challenged two first-term white Republican forced-birth-loving incumbents in the House of Delegates.
One candidate was Michael Feggans, who won the 51st seat – literally! – in the 100-member House of Delegates that gave Democrats the majority.
As a local television station put it: “With Feggans win, Democrats officially flipped [the House].”
We also supported “Good Kim” in HD-82. (aka Kimberly Pope Adams) When all the votes were counted, Bad Kim was ahead by 78 votes, and she declared victory on election night. But Good Kim was only down by 1/4 of one percent of the vote, so she requested a recount.
I will allow the process to take the full time and effort necessary to ensure that every valid vote is counted. While I am hopeful of the outcome, I will respect the results.” (Blue Virginia)
Tuesday was the Official Recount in the Virginia House of Delegates Race for HD-82 – the closest election in this year’s Virginia Legislative election cycle!
Good Kim – our Kim – gained ground in the recount, but in the end lost by 53 votes, out of 29,000 votes cast. So the gun-loving, abortion-denying woman who ran a fake abortion clinic won, and our Kim lost. Heartbreaking!
These races were right up our (targeted fundraising) alley on balloon Juice! I think we chose well, and we made a difference. And Good Kim nearly won! If we are winning all the races we support, all the time, then we aren’t choosing very well.
The message here isn’t woe is us, our great candidate lost, and the shitty forced-birth candidate won.
Instead, this is a reminder that every vote counts. That our work matters. A reminder that we chose well, and that we made a difference.
And Dems now have a slim majority in both chambers in Virginia, and that is a big Joe Biden deal. Well done, BJ peeps!
After the holidays, we’ll get back to work. The races won’t all go our way, but our actions can, and do, make a difference. So get ready, we’re gonna need to work our butts off in 2024.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.