Bullet Pointing the Virginia Campaigns
Donald Trump and Ranked Choice Voting.
Rather than do a deep dive here, I have linked my recent column on Donald Trump and Ranked Choice Voting, Candidate Interviews, great analysis with Ben Tribbett, and some bullet points from observing the statewide campaigns:
First a shout out to Volkswagen! VW was named to the top 100 Most Influential Companies by Time Magazine. Their ID.4 Electric Vehicle was named World Car of the Year 2021. VW is the only Virginia headquartered company to make this list and is a global leader of electric vehicles with a sales goal of 1,000,000 EVs this year.
The Republican nomination for governor is still up in the air between the four main candidates Amanda Chase, Kirk Cox, Pete Snyder, and Glenn Youngkin.
The great unknown is whether or not Glenn Youngkin can get his signed up delegates to the convention sites. Many of them have never participated in a Republican primary let alone an unassembled convention. He signed up 17,000 out of the 53,00 or 32% - enough to win the first ballot.
State Senator Amanda Chase’s voters are rock solid for her. She will do well on the first ballot, but it’s hard to see her doing well down ballot.
The Republican Lt. Governor nomination was thrown into turmoil last week with an outrageous and anonymous text message aimed at Delegate Glenn Davis. Maybe the Ranked Choice Voting format helps him if he picks up voters angry at the negative and probably illegal campaign tactics. Lawsuit was filed today in Norfolk to find the perp(s).
GOP race for Attorney General - Jason Miyares in control but there was a negative mailer sent out last week aimed at Chuck Smith. Smith must be in better position than most think.
Democratic nomination for Governor - Terry McAuliffe won the endorsement of the Washington Post Ed Board. Solid get for the Macker and keeps him on the glide path to the nomination.
Delegate Hala Ayala followed up Ralph Northam’s endorsement with several other legislative leaders including Sen. Jeremy McPike and Del. Betsy Carr as well as EMILY’s List. For now, the race is still close as voting is now underway. Race is Slight Tilt to Ayala, but Del. Sam Rasoul, Andria McClellan, and Sean Perryman still digging hard.
Forecasting out issues that might tip the election in the fall is always difficult BUT what will happen to real estate property tax bills with the huge increase in the sale prices of houses especially in suburban districts at the same time the Biden Administration is raising taxes at the federal level? Could be a double whammy for Democrats - but will that issue hit in 2021, 2022, or 2023?
Will those bills hit the same time schools re-open?
Timing is everything and…
Voting starts September 18th.
Column - Donald Trump and Ranked Choice Voting - comparing the Republican nominations from 2016 and 2021.
Also Candidate Interviews - Sergio de la Pena candidate for Governor and Delegate Jason Miyares candidate for Attorney General.
And breaking down the Republican and Democratic nominations with Democratic consultant Ben Tribbett: