r/Virginia

While I know many of you are sad because of the courts, no need to worry or fight them. DEMS can pick up 2-3 seats in a great year with the right candidates and campaigning.

In the 2nd district (easiest pickup), Elaine Luria is running to retake her old seat, which she lost to Jen Kiggans. Luria should focus on economic issues such as opposing tariffs and continuing funding for healthcare. She should not over-tie Kiggans to MAGA (as she has not lied about the elections) and she can briefly mention the “cotton picking” comment scandal. Luria should also mention her support for the proposed offshore wind farm in Virginia. She should distance herself from DEM leadership and run a little independent.

In the 1st district (little harder), Shannon Taylor is running against Rob Wittman. I never considered this district competitive, but Spanberger won it in 2025, meaning DEMs could win it if they have a great candidate and boost turnout. Rob Wittman is a typical MAGA Republican, and Taylor should focus on affordability and other economic issues such as healthcare, similar to Spanberger. Taylor should also run more independent of democratic leadership and announce she won’t support Jeffries or be a rubber stamp for DEMs.

In the 5th district (hardest), Tom Periello is running to reclaim his old seat against incumbent John McGuire. McGuire seems to be the most right wing and most MAGA representative, as he attended the Jan 6 rally and many other stop the steal rallies. He only defeated Bob “Bad” Good because of Good’s vote to oust McCarthy and support of Desantis. Tom Periello won in an upset back in 2008 and only narrowly lost in 2010 despite supporting ACA (which was seen as controversial and risky for him). Periello should focus on healthcare and affordability.

All of them should also focus on climate change.

While running for Mayor in 2024, candidate Avula’s top priority in the “Thriving neighborhoods and affordable housing” section of his platform stated: 

As Mayor, he will:

• Fight displacement of long-term residents and expand the supply of deeply affordable housing for low-income and working residents.

His third bullet point in that part of his policy platform claimed he would “strengthen protections and resources available for our most vulnerable residents.”

Somewhere between that lofty rhetoric and today’s reality, Mayor Avula has pushed back against any type of relief for property owners since taking office. Last year, he fought successfully against a four cent reduction in the real estate tax rate that he said would be a disaster and favored targeted tax relief. Last week, however, the administration once again professed their opposition to relief in general. This time, it is opposition to a proposed ordinance that would provide targeted tax relief and disrupt the pace of gentrification and offer a deferral to those who qualify and help people stay in their homes until they decide it’s time to sell instead of being driven out by ever increasing assessment and tax bills.

The administration spoke out against 4th District Councilwoman Sarah Abubaker’s plan at the April Finance Committee meeting, according to Sarah Vogelsong at The Richmonder. They claimed this one program alone would cost too much and require 20 new financial analysts in the Department of Finance. The entire department currently employs 20 such analysts (including management). At one point during the discussion, the city’s director of revenue administration Ken Martinez also said “we don’t feel this is really a core function of the Department of Finance.”

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/community/rva-5x5-is-targeted-tax-relief-just-the-first-step.html

I'm Rob Tracinski, and I'm running for the Democratic nomination for Congress in Virginia's Fifth District, which runs from Charlottesville down through Lynchburg to Danville and also takes in a lot of rural Central and Southside Virginia--like Louisa County where I've lived for the last 30 years.

I'm running to rein in the power of an out-of-control president and restore the constitutional balance in Washington, DC. I like to say that I think the US Congress is a good idea, and it would be nice if we had one--instead of the kind of rubber stamps we have now, like our incumbent John McGuire.

And yes, I used to be a Tea Party guy. But I don't think going from the Tea Party to No Kings is that big a leap, when you think about it--and I'm disappointed more people didn't follow that path.

You can find out more at my website, TracinskiForCongress.com, or you can Ask Me Anything here. Post your questions, make 'em tough and probing, and I'll start in tomorrow morning answering as many as I can.

EDIT: Since some people are missing this, the plan was that I was posting the announcement now, and I'll be online tomorrow, Wednesday, May 20, answering them. Thanks!