RK ARCHIVE - Raising Kaine Endorsements: Recap

Donald McEachin over Benedict Lambert in the 9th Senate district. This one is an absolute "no brainer," and was actually taken well before we started our formal endorsement process. The bottom line is that Lambert disqualified himself in October 2006 when he disgracefully endorsed and campaigned for George Allen in an election to decide the fate of the U.S. Senate. That's inexcusable, and now it's time for voters to show Lambert what they think.

Henry Light over Johnny "Roadblock" Joannou in the 79th House District. The fact that Mark Warner has strongly endorsed Light should tell us everything we need to know about this race. Joannou is a DINO (Democrat in Name Only) who opposed Mark Warner on his most important initiatives, and who is praised by right-wing Republicans in the House of Delegates. He's also been involved in some very shady dealings and refuses to answer questions. In contrast, Henry Light hails from the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Go Henry!

Morris Meyer over Rex Simmons in the 40th House district. Nothing against Simmons, we just really liked Morris Meyer's strong stands on the environment, fighting for working Virginians, and progressivism in general. That's why we unanimously endorsed Morris to take on Del. Tim Hugo (R) in the 40th District.

Charlie Hall over Linda Smyth for Providence District Supervisor. This one is as clear as they can be. To read our unanimous endorsement of Charlie Hall, click here. Yesterday, on WAMU radio, "Amy from McLean" commented that giving a "multi-billion dollar public project" less than a week of review and no public hearing..."borders on malfeasance." Robert Puentes from the Brookings Institution said that the caller's frustration with lack of transparency and "lip service given to performance and accountability" by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors demonstrates that "public trust is really at stake" in this election. Vote Charlie Hall on Tuesday!

Last but not least, Raising Kaine has endorsed Del. Dan Bowling over Kilgore protege Mickey McGlothlin in the 3rd House district; Go Dan!

P.S. We did NOT endorse in the Sullivan-Vanderhye (34th House district) or Galligan-Barker (39th House district) races. In both cases, we believe that Democrats would be well served by either of the contenders winning the nomination. We also nave no feel for who's going to win either of these races, but we certainly urge everyone to cast their ballot!

P.P.S. I personally urge everyone in Arlington to vote for the "Best Treasurer in North America," Frank O'Leary, over tax cheat Bob James. I don't believe I've ever seen a clearer choice between one superb candidate (Frank O'Leary) and another (James) who would be a disaster for Arlington. Go Frank!

Comments

23rd House of Del. (martha - 6/7/2007 9:15:45 AM)

As of right now Del. Shannon Valentine has no Republican opponent.She has money and lots of support and appeal.
If I am not mistaken someone over at NLS said that if she doesn't have an opponent that makes Valentine a rock star...well maybe she is!

Jackie Jackson for the 74th! (Bill Kuster - 6/7/2007 10:22:34 AM)

and Jackie Jackson over the field! A next generation progressive Democrat.

I was hoping Jackie would come on RK (Lowell - 6/7/2007 10:37:36 AM)

and discuss her candidacy with our readers. There's still time, please tell her to drop on by! :)

Funny.... (Doug in Mount Vernon - 6/7/2007 10:57:40 AM)

I agree with all of these except the Charlie Hall endorsement. I am not a big Linda Smyth supporter or anything--just an observer. But the way you guys have trashed her really makes me recoil from him for some reason.

We certainly have NOT trashed her (Lowell - 6/7/2007 12:16:08 PM)

unless you believe that stating the facts constitutes "trashing." Also, how many times are you going to come on here and tell us how horrible we are? It's really tiresome; we know you don't like the way we do things here, we got that message a LONG time ago. Why keep repeating it ad nauseum, cuz we're not changing the way we do business.

Oh my! (Doug in Mount Vernon - 6/7/2007 12:41:39 PM)

Hostile, aren't we?

I never said you or RK are horrible, Lowell. Give me a break. I've appealed to you to be more respectful.

You have every right to advocate the way you want to. In my opinion, you have at times unfairly "trashed" Linda Smyth.

That doesn't mean I don't like the "way you do business". In fact, I've quite admired RK for a long time which is one of the reasons I'm kinda upset about the blogging on this race.

Anyway, keep up the good work, Lowell.

Just tired of your incessant criticism. (Lowell - 6/7/2007 12:55:54 PM)

After you've repeated the same point about five times, that you think we're "trashing" Linda Smyth - which all of us here at RK completely disagree with, btw - it gets a bit old. That's all.

All in all.... (Doug in Mount Vernon - 6/7/2007 11:04:48 AM)

I think there's some REALLY good chances for the Democratic Party to improve its candidates this year...especially in the legislature!

disappointing about 34/ 39th (J.Scott - 6/7/2007 3:39:07 PM)

I found the fact that no endorsements were given in the 34th/39th abit well forgive me becuase I like you guys alot..cowardly. We are well past the party line mentality, at least I thought we were and while I understand the support will be there for either as a nominee anyway thats exactly why I think we owe it to each other to break it down and come up with the best choice. To simply say will support the result and would be happy with either and then go on and make distinctions in other races and do not really undertand...I am sure though you will enlighten me

Very simple. (Lowell - 6/7/2007 4:02:27 PM)

You can call it "cowardly" all you want, but the fact of the matter is that we set the bar high for these endorsements: 5 votes out of 6. For the 34th and the 39th, we were deeply divided, with some people supporting one candidate, others supporting another. In those two races, we didn't reach 5 votes, not even close, hence no endorsement. Personally, I like all four candidates in those two races and think they'd make fine legislators. I will strongly support the winners, and assume that you will as well.

34th/39th (J.Scott - 6/7/2007 7:38:23 PM)

Fair enough Lowell. It appears as they both will be closer than I thought. What do you think the chances of any of them winning in the general?

Either is winnable. (Lowell - 6/8/2007 5:53:05 AM)

They're both increasingly "blue" or at least "purple" districts. The outcome will depend on the relative strength of the campaigns.