Politics
Meet Shawn Harris, the Democrat who seeks to oust Marjorie Taylor Greene
‘I wouldn’t be running unless I thought I could win’
Shawn Harris, a cattleman in Northwest Georgia who served in the military for 40 years and retired as a U.S. Army brigadier general, is running for the congressional seat now held by far-right U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
He connected with the Washington Blade last week to discuss his candidacy as a Democrat in Georgia’s deep-red 14th Congressional District — and why his promise to deliver for constituents who have been failed by their current representative is resonating with voters across the political spectrum.
“As it stands today, I’m the lead candidate on the Democratic side,” Harris said, with “three other gentlemen running against me in the primary,” but “I am the lead candidate that has already received major endorsements,” including from Marcus Flowers, another Black veteran and Democrat who ran against Greene in 2022, and VoteVets, which is backed by more than 700,000 donors/supporters.
Harris said, “This race right now is in a situation where the district’s Democrats, Republicans, and independents are actually now truly looking at Marjorie Taylor Greene and saying, ‘she has been up there for three and a half years. What has she actually done for the district?’
He said voters are telling him, “‘I hear her always screaming about, you know, impeaching somebody, but I don’t know what she has actually done for the district.'”
A couple of weeks ago, Harris noted, Greene claimed credit for bringing millions of dollars in federal infrastructure investment to her district, only to retract the statement because the money came thanks to President Biden and the Biden-Harris administration through a bill she had voted against.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene has got herself in a situation where she’s in a civil war with the Republican Party,” he said. “She hates every Democrat that walks the face of the earth, and on top of that, she doesn’t have anything that she can stand on that says what she’s actually done here inside the district — so we have a clear path to actually beat her.”
“Based on information that we received from Marcus on what went right, what he thought he could improve, and how he raised the money, we have taken everything that he did right and brought it to our team,” Harris said. “Errors that he had, we looked at it and went with a different approach — so where I’m at right now, we’re going to every zip code in Northwest Georgia; we’re not overlooking anybody.”
Harris said he has secured support from Democrats, independents, “and we have figured out how to get Republicans to also vote for me.”
Voters can relate to Harris’s life and career
“I was military and I was high-level military,” he said. “So, it’s very easy for Republicans to Google my name and look at my history. My last assignment was in Israel. So that was a very high-level position.”
“The second piece,” Harris said, “is I raise cattle. I raise Red Angus cattle. I’m actually in my office looking out the window at them right now.”
He noted that agriculture dominates Georgia’s economy, particularly “cattle and wineries,” and also said he is an active member of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association and U.S. Cattlemen’s Association.
“Most cattlemen, at least here in this area, are Republicans,” Harris said, so during the group’s meetings, “they get a chance to meet me just as Shawn, just as another cattleman.” At the same time, he said, “they come out here and visit me on the farm” and vice-versa.
“We help each other out” with challenges on the farm, and recently Harris said he has been hearing concerns about Greene’s opposition to the Farm Bill because it includes funding for SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) even though the legislation also “covers when farmers have drought, or hurricanes or tornadoes, or like the fires that just happened out in Texas; it helps them to replace whatever they lost.”
During “this past cattlemen’s association [meeting] two days ago, we all took up money to send to the farmers out there to try to help them get back on their feet,” Harris said. “What they’re saying to me is, ‘in three and a half years, Marjorie Taylor Greene has never been to a cattlemen’s association-type meeting anywhere.’ Okay? So you think about that.”
Harris added, “I just told you that the number one industry up here in North Georgia, northwest Georgia, is agriculture. Then on top of that, it’s cattle, and she don’t even come and talk to that particular group?”
“I think she looks at it like that’s beneath her,” he said. “When you talk to cattlemen and cattlewomen, we are just everyday people, hard working everyday people, and we don’t get to sit around and watch the news and Twitter and all this kind of stuff — so in order to talk to them you’ve got to come out to their house and go out into the pasture and maybe help them with some things.”
When he visits other cattlemen and farmers, Harris said they often say, “‘you know, that guy was a general and he came over and helped you put your cow back in today.’ That is priceless. That is how you change hearts and minds.”
He hopes the experience will also “make them say, ‘OK, it’s OK to vote for Donald Trump'” but on “the second line [on the ballot] that will say Shawn Harris and Marjorie Taylor Greene,” these folks might choose to vote for the Democratic candidate or “if they skip it, the math starts going in my favor either way.”
“We have Republicans that have already come to me and are champing at the bit that are ready to start putting up signs, big signs in their pastures that will go out in mid-April that will say, ‘I’m voting for Shawn,'” Harris said.
He also discussed the significance of his military experience in the context of helping to better serve veterans in Northwest Georgia. “[We veterans are] just as diverse as everybody else,” Harris said. “And I’m going and talking to that group because I am a veteran, 100% disabled, so I know exactly what they’re going through,” particularly when it comes to challenges with getting healthcare and other services from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“So, when I talk to my fellow brothers and sisters that are veterans,” Harris said, “I talk about those issues and say, ‘you know what? I’m going to help fix this problem, I’m going to join with Sen. [Jon] Ossoff and all of the senators to get at it, but that’s one of the things that Ossoff is really working on up here in Northwest Georgia.”
Harris said many of the policy positions outlined on his website were informed by his experience going out and talking to veterans, famers, cattlemen, teachers, and others.
“In some of the different places that we’ve been, the LGBT community has been there and asked me some questions on where I stand. And I made it very clear, just like when I was in the military, where I said ‘I believe across the board in diversity, and everybody should have a fair shake’ — that’s the same thing I believe out here northwest Georgia, and that is directly in contrast to Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
Harris added that he has not yet had a formal meeting with members of the LGBTQ community, “but that community has already came to the other things and asked the question and I didn’t shy away from the question — that happened up there in Rome, Georgia.”
Asked whether, if elected, Harris might face blowback from conservative constituents over his support for LGBTQ rights, he was quick to say “no.”
“I’m not worried about any backlash or anything,” he said, because his voters “are picking me because I’m a leader,” which marks the “difference between Marjorie Taylor Greene and me — I’m going to listen to the people in my district, but I’m also going to vote and do the right thing for everybody in everybody in the district.”
Despite the efforts by Greene to “make everything seem like it’s to the extreme” including with respect to matters of LGBTQ rights, Harris said that in reality “most people out here — I don’t care if you’re Black, white, blue, or green — most people out here are laser focused on how they can get a high paying job so that they don’t have to drive to Atlanta or drive to Chattanooga, Tennessee, or drive all the way over to Huntsville, Alabama” for work.
Traveling these distances for work means “they stay over there for the week and come back on Friday,” Harris noted. “So in our area, we are breaking up the family dynamics, because either the husband or the wife is working two or three hours away from here, and so they are not here during the week.”
“What I’m trying to do,” Harris said, “and this is how I thread this needle, I’m trying to bring high-paying jobs here and generational jobs here so that people can still stay in this area, actually raise a family, and reach the American dream.”
Serving the needs of people in GA-14
Greene has discouraged investment in her district, Harris said, both by voting against legislation like federal infrastructure spending packages and by her extremism and refusal to work with Democrats as well as, in many cases, other Republicans.
“People are people,” he said, “and when you’re constantly out there screaming and saying negative things and saying whatever she’s saying all the time, when decision makers get a chance to make a decision, they’ve got to make whatever is the best decision for their organization. But if they say, ‘wait a minute, the person who is representing that area doesn’t seem like they want to be a team player,” then the calculus becomes, “‘where else can we take our business?'”
“What I plan to do,” Harris said, “is work very closely with the defense community and the space community and see what we can get moved from Huntsville — or whatever’s the next hot thing, to get that to be brought into the district.”
He recalled a conversation with former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, whom Harris was briefing in Israel, in which the Alabama Republican explained that “pretty much anything that we do in the military when it comes to defense industry or space, it all comes to Huntsville, Alabama.”
Shelby told Harris that “he wanted to make sure that in his district, no matter whether you had a GED or a Ph.D., everybody could get a high-paying job.”
“And that is what I’m trying to do for this district,” Harris said, “because we’ve got people that are already driving to these other places” to find this kind of work, so “why can’t we bring it right here? We’ve got plenty of land, plenty of space, and nothing but opportunity to make it happen — we just need the right representative to make people want to come here and do business with us.”
“I want to make sure that everybody has the same opportunities that Marjorie Taylor Greene had to have a company here, to do what they want to do with their lives,” Harris said, “and right now, Marjorie is cutting people off from opportunities.”
He added, “Her job in Washington, D.C., is to make sure that we get federal dollars into this area so that we don’t get left behind and that’s what worries me is if we continue to fight and argue, that opportunity is going to pass by our region of Georgia.”
Additionally, “Marjorie Taylor Greene is in a fight with Gov. [Brian] Kemp and that part of the Republican Party,” Harris noted. “Hence, when the state is doing certain things, we’re missing out on certain opportunities simply because Marjorie Taylor Greene is in a civil war with them.”
From the federal down to the state and the local level, the primary goal, Harris said, is “making sure we’re on the same sheet of music so that we can make things better for the people around here.”
How to beat MTG
“Marjorie Taylor Greene came in at the right time for whatever she’s trying to make herself out to be,” Harris said. “She basically came into the district — when I say came to the district, she moved from the Atlanta area into the district. And as Donald Trump was rising, she was one of the early ones that got in behind Donald Trump and rode his coattails.”
In the years since she began serving in Congress in 2021, he noted, Greene has managed to convince many rural constituents to believe what she is saying, “based on the information that she puts out here,” often through “soundbites.”
However, Harris said, often “because they have met me” or because they have moved to the area from elsewhere in the country, “people are starting to say, ‘wait a minute, what she’s telling us is not true. And we can do better.'”
“Marjorie Taylor Greene is my greatest asset,” he said. “She does something every day that actually helps me. She wants to oust the Speaker of the House for passing the budget to keep the government open. At the end of the day, here in our district, if the government shuts down — we’re not rich here, OK? We will feel it a lot faster than somebody running around New York City.”
“So, when Marjorie is saying them things, she is not even taking consideration of how this is going to affect the people in this district,” Harris said.
“Across the board, everybody is embarrassed on how she conducts herself up there in Washington, D.C., because it makes all of us down here in Northwest Georgia look like a bunch of idiots because she’s our representative,” he added.
“And if they get in behind me, and we win this thing, you would never ever have to deal with Marjorie Taylor Greene’s craziness again,” Harris said. “Because I don’t even want to repeat some of the crazy things that she has said about many communities, many communities, and that’s what gives me my energy every day to actually put things in place to actually beat her.”
The campaign, Harris said, is going to get ugly. “On social media is where I run into the Marjorie Taylor Greene people that are very bold.”
For instance, “Somebody took my picture and posted it and said, ‘hey, 90+ percent of the people that look like this guy here are the ones committing crimes.’ But guess what? Because I spent all those years in the military and I’m a leader, I did not get upset. I said, ‘you know what, OK, got it. Let’s come back positive.’ We came back positive. And the whole Twitter universe said, ‘Oh, that’s the leader that we want.'”
“I wouldn’t be running unless I thought I could win,” Harris said. Up first is Georgia’s Democratic primary election on May 21.
“In order for me — based on the people that come out to vote, based on who’s registered and all these kinds of things — the number for me to win the primary is 15,029,” Harris said, “And that gives me a 54% of the votes, so that’d be a decisive win” and position the campaign to “continue to work on more independents and more Republicans to come over to us.”
Looking ahead to the general election on Nov. 5, Harris said, “In order to beat Marjorie Taylor Greene, I need help throughout this country, because it’s going to take a lot of money to beat Marjorie Taylor Greene — and like I’ve already said, our area is not the richest part of Georgia.”
“So, in order to pull all of these things off, I’m actually appealing to the people on the ground; I’m talking to everybody face to face, going to every zip code,” he said. “But at the same time, if you go and look at me on social media, I’m on every platform out there. Every platform. So we’re fighting in the social media world and we fight face-to-face.”
“Marcus Flowers showed us, as Democrats, how to raise a lot of money into these types of races,” Harris added. “I am blessed that people are believing in me and actually want to give their hard earned dollars to our campaign and we’re being very smart and strategic about how we spend those dollars and trying to save as much as possible” because “we’ve got to get to the primary, but we try to save as much as possible so we have a war chest when we go over into the general.”
With respect to current fundraising targets, he said “we have a very good start right now.”
To win in November, however, “it’s going to take millions of dollars,” Harris noted. “So we’re constantly asking people, ‘please go to my campaign page, Shawnforgeorgia.com and donate; and if you can’t donate, just pray for us.'”
Harris pointed to Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s successful reelection bid last year, after a challenging race in his “ruby red” state. “He talked about all the things that President Biden and Vice President Harris are doing with infrastructure and taking care of people — all those kinds of things, insulin, the whole nine — and he talked about those things,” Harris said. “That’s what I’m doing here.”
The White House
From red carpet to chaos: A first-person narrative of the WHCD shooting
The Blade’s WH correspondent Joe Reberkenny recounts his night at the WHCD after a shooter attempted to gain entry.
It started as any White House Correspondents’ Dinner is supposed to go—I assume. I’ve never been to one before this, but based on other events I’ve attended at the Hilton, including an HRC gala, it all seemed fairly normal.
There was a lot of traffic. Police had blocked off streets encompassing a large portion of Adams Morgan—particularly around the hotel. The president was making his first appearance after boycotting the event during his first term, so there was a sense of anticipation. It took me about 45 minutes to go just under a mile from my apartment to about three blocks from the hotel in my Uber. I waited until the last possible second before I felt like I was going to be late—6:30—to get out of the car, because it was raining and I was wearing my green tux.
I walked up to a group of people checking tickets at the base of the hotel. They seemed to just be glancing at the tiny, index-card-sized tickets rather than conducting any kind of full security screening outside. As I walked from that first checkpoint to the drive-around drop-off area, I joined what was essentially one long line for the red carpet. It eventually split into people who wanted photos and those who didn’t—but again, there was no real need to show anything beyond that small ticket upon entering, and even that wasn’t being checked closely.
A light went off in my head; I felt that, given the speed at which security was checking tickets, they couldn’t fully see the foil logo and tiny table numbers from that distance. I remember thinking that if I had a similarly sized piece of paper, I could have gotten through up to that point.
I also noticed there was no real security checkpoint or metal detectors upon initially entering the hotel grounds—unlike what I had seen at the HRC gala the year before.
I waited about 35 minutes in line in the car drop-off area—without cars, since it had been repurposed to corral press and their guests before entering the building and heading onto the red carpet. I took my photo, then went up the escalator to meet my date, Jacob Bernard from Democracy Forward. They wouldn’t let him onto the red carpet without his ticket, so I gave him his, which I had been holding. He was already inside the venue despite not having his ticket on him and had been at one of the pre-parties.
That also struck me as odd—that you could access a pre-dinner party without a ticket or going through any visible security.
After I found him, we took a photo together at a step-and-repeat past the main red carpet area around 7:45. Oddly enough, a group of my friends—gays who I regularly see on the dance floors of the gay bars of Washington, who work in various government and media-adjacent fields—found me, and we took pictures together. None were White House correspondents or held a “hard pass” to the White House (security credentials that allow entry into the White House complex).
Another light went off in my head that indicated party crashers probably shouldn’t be getting inside to an event that is supposed to be one of the most secure rooms in the country.
After the photos, I could see groups of people being moved from pre-party spaces in various meeting rooms on other floors and directed toward the main floor where the red carpet had been.
My guest and I went back up to the main floor and walked through a small security checkpoint that included only a handful of metal detectors. From there, I went down the stairs from the lobby into the International Ballroom, where we took our seats at Table 200. I talked to a few people I knew—very traditional pre-event chit-chat. The vibes felt good. It was my first time attending, and I was genuinely excited.
Around 8:15, the Marine Corps Band played and “Commandant’s Four” color guard presented the flags. We were then told to take our seats.
They introduced the head table—the president, first lady, vice president, and members of the White House Correspondents’ Association board. Weijia Jiang, senior White House correspondent for CBS News and president of the WHCA, gave a brief speech, essentially saying we would eat first and then move into the main program, which was supposed to feature mentalist Oz Pearlman.
At this point my table, 200 which included members of the Wall Street Journal, the Blade, and a European outlet all started eating. About 15 minutes later, Washington Hilton staff began clearing plates and preparing to bring out the next course.
As they cleared the plates, I heard four loud bangs.
I saw hotel employees immediately start ducking. They seemed to understand the gravity of the situation much faster than most attendees, including myself. At first, it sounded like a tray might have fallen over (but I later found out that wasn’t the case).
After about 30 seconds of watching some people duck, others look around in confusion, and some continue eating and drinking, I got down. I kneeled with my chair in front of me as a kind of barrier. Being at Table 200, I felt somewhat removed from where the actual incident occurred.
Then I saw the president being whisked away quickly by Secret Service, along with the first lady and others at the head table.
My reporter instincts kicked in. I grabbed my phone and started filming. I saw SWAT team members rush into the ballroom and onto the stage, clearing the area. I captured a video of people looking around, confused about what had just happened.
A few minutes later, the room was told by the WHCA president to hold on—that they would provide more information and guidance on what would happen next. There was some indication that they might try to continue the event despite what had occurred.
Everyone started frantically checking X to see if any major outlets were reporting. I was receiving texts from family, friends, and colleagues about the rapidly unfolding situation.
I walked to the bathroom—twice, technically. I couldn’t find it initially because it was hidden behind black curtains. (Later, those curtains were removed, and the men’s room was in clearer view.)
During the first walk to the bathroom, I called my editor to tell him what was happening. He instructed me to start sending copy to another editor, who would get it online. The ballroom had almost no service—it’s in the basement of a 12-story hotel—so it was a challenge. I utilized SMS fallback (since iMessage wasn’t working) to send updates.
I returned to the table, where people were still hovering—calling editors, scrolling, texting, sending photos and copy. I was already drafting my story and sending it in chunks, adding details as I gathered more information.
I walked my guest toward the bathroom again, which was on the opposite side of the ballroom from our table, so I had to cross what felt like a sea of journalists, PR officials, guests, and others on their phones, talking and scrolling. My guest pointed out that the press pool was being held in an alcove away from the ballroom doors and escalator exit—not in the ballroom with everyone else.
“Alive” by the Bee Gees was playing over the speakers in the bathroom, which felt a little too on the nose.
On my way out, I heard someone speaking over a microphone and rushed to the ballroom entrance. WHCA President Weijia Jiang was speaking. She announced that the event was over and the space was being evacuated.
She also said that President Trump would hold a press conference at the White House in about 25 minutes.
That’s when I knew it was a race against the clock.
I called my editor a second time to update him and asked if I should head to the briefing (knowing the answer would be yes). He confirmed.
Then the crowd began to move. People grabbed purses, bottles—some left belongings behind. Even though it was technically becoming a crime scene, no one was actively forcing us out. It felt more like a collective understanding: It was time to go.
I texted my guest: “OK, I have to go to the White House. I’m so sorry to leave you.”
I made my way with the sea of people toward the one exit we were allowed to use and zipped between women in fancy gowns and men looking like penguins.
I put on my hard press pass, opened the Capital Bikeshare app, reserved the closest e-bike, and headed out.
I walked up Columbia Road to 20th and Wyoming, grabbed the bike, and rode down Wyoming, then 18th, cut over to U Street, and went straight down 16th to the White House. That ride was exhilarating. I also filmed an Instagram Reel updating my followers on what was going on. I could see tourists and D.C. residents alike looking at me from their cars and the sidewalk, obviously confused as to why a man dressed in a tux had hopped on a bike.
I got off the bike where 16th Street meets Lafayette Square and darted toward the first White House security checkpoint, where they were verifying press credentials. Luckily, I had mine. After that, it turned into a mad dash. Everyone who made it through started moving quickly.
The sound of heels on what I think was cobblestone—or maybe brick—sticks with me. My own shoes were clacking as I ran toward the White House alongside other journalists in heels and dress shoes.
At the Secret Service checkpoint, there was a separate line for hard pass holders. Having my hard pass let me skip much of the impeccably dressed line of journalists who didn’t think to bring their hard pass with them.
It was probably the most exquisitely dressed press crowd I’ve ever seen—tuxedos, gowns, full makeup. It felt like something out of “The Hunger Games.”
I went through security, put my belongings through the metal detector, entered my code, grabbed my things, and ran to the briefing room.
The White House
Grindr to host first-ever White House Correspondents’ Dinner party
App’s head of global government affairs a long-time GOP-aligned lobbyist
Gay dating and hookup app Grindr will host its first-ever White House Correspondents’ Weekend party on April 24.
The event is scheduled for the night before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, an annual gathering meant to celebrate the First Amendment, honor journalism, and raise money for scholarships.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is organized by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a group of journalists who regularly cover the president and the administration.
An invitation obtained by the Washington Blade’s Joe Reberkenny and Michael K. Lavers reads:
“We’d be thrilled to have you join us at Grindr’s inaugural White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Party, a Friday evening gathering to bring together policymakers, journalists, and LGBTQ community leaders as we toast the First Amendment.”
The Blade requested an interview with Joe Hack, Grindr’s head of global government affairs, but was unable to reach him via phone or Zoom. He did, however, provide a statement shared with other outlets, offering limited explanation for why the company decided 2026 was the year for the app to host this event.
“Grindr represents a global community with real stakes in Washington. The issues being debated here — HIV funding, digital privacy, LGBTQ+ human rights — are daily life for our community. Nobody does connections like Grindr, and WHCD weekend is the most iconic place in the country to make them. We figured it was time to host.”
Hack said the company has been “well received” by lawmakers in both parties and has found “common ground” on issues such as HIV funding and keeping minors off the app. He credited longstanding relationships in Washington and what he described as Grindr’s “respectful” approach to lobbying.
Hack, a longtime Republican-aligned lobbyist, previously worked for several GOP lawmakers, including U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), and U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.).
According to congressional disclosure forms compiled by OpenSecrets, Grindr spent $1.3 million on lobbying in 2025— more than Tinder and Hinge’s parent company Match Group.
“This is going to be elevated Grindr,” Hack told TheWrap when describing the invite-only party that has already generated buzz on social media. “This isn’t going to be a bunch of shirtless men walking around. This is going to be very elevated, elegant, but still us.”
He also pointed to the company’s work on HIV-related initiatives, including efforts to maintain federal funding for healthcare partners that distribute HIV self-testing kits through the app.
The event comes at a particularly notable moment for an LGBTQ-focused connection platform to enter the Washington social circuit at a high-profile political weekend, as LGBTQ rights remain under constant attack from conservative lawmakers, particularly around transgender healthcare, sports participation, and public accommodations.
2026 Midterm Elections
HRC endorses Va. ballot initiative to redraw congressional districts
Referendum to take place April 21
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization, has endorsed a Virginia ballot initiative that would allow the state to redraw its congressional districts this year, ahead of the 2030 Census.
Currently, Virginia’s Redistricting Commission — a legislative body made up of eight legislators and eight citizens, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats — is responsible for redrawing congressional districts every 10 years following the Census. The proposed amendment would temporarily shift that authority to the Virginia General Assembly through 2030, before returning it to the commission in 2031.
Supporters say the push for the amendment comes in response to anti-democratic moves by several Republican-led state legislatures following demands from President Donald Trump, which have resulted in newly gerrymandered congressional maps that advocates argue disenfranchise pro-equality voters.
Under the proposed map in Virginia, Democrats could gain as many as four of the five seats currently held by Republicans in this fall’s midterm elections, when control of the narrowly divided House is up for grabs.
Six states — including Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina on the GOP side — enacted new maps last year at Trump’s behest. The most significant Democratic counter-effort so far has come from California.
HRC President Kelley Robinson issued a statement backing the measure, encouraging Virginia voters who support democracy to vote “yes,” saying it would ensure “the will of the people is heard.”
“Voters should choose their leaders, not the other way around. But anti-equality lawmakers around the country, in service to Donald Trump’s assaults on democracy, are trying to undermine our elections and engineer their preferred outcome in the midterms,” Robinson said. “The American people are ready to take Congress back from the anti-equality, anti-freedom politicians that have been abusing their power to hurt all our communities and bend government to the will of a wannabe king.”
U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, who represents Virginia’s 8th Congressional District that encompasses much of Washington’s suburbs, including Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, and parts of eastern Fairfax County — has also voiced support for the measure. He has called Trump’s attempts to influence elections ahead of the November midterms a “betrayal of our democracy,” emphasizing that while the fight is ongoing, this effort is a step toward correcting the situation.
“It’s not a done deal by any means,” Beyer said in an op-ed for the Cardinal News. “We have to effectively make the case that even though this seems unfair in Virginia, it’s totally fair for America, for those of us who believe that taking back the House is the most significant thing we can do to stop Donald Trump.”
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is another staunch supporter of the amendment, arguing that it would, through bipartisan means, help counterbalance Trump’s efforts in what remains an uphill battle.
“As early voting begins tomorrow on Virginia’s redistricting amendment, voters should know that Virginia’s approach is different. It is temporary, directly responsive to what other states decide to do, and — most importantly — it preserves Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting process for the future,” the first female governor of the state said in a statement. “I supported the formation of Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission in 2020, and that support has not changed. What has changed is what we’re seeing in states across the country — and a president who says he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats before this year’s midterm elections.”
“Virginians have the opportunity to take action in response to this extraordinary moment in history,” she added. “That’s why, as a Virginia voter, I’m voting in favor of this amendment.”
Virginians for Fair Elections, the group responsible for marketing the initiative, has raised nearly $50 million dollars, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan organization focusing on sharing public documents related to financial matters of the state. The ads notably feature former President Barack Obama, who supports the measure and has hailed it as a way to “level the playing field.”
In a recent Politico article, a person close to the White House, granted anonymity, suggested the outlook for Trump’s governing majority is weakening — particularly following the unraveling of the Iran war — underscoring why the administration is pushing Republican-led states to maximize their advantage ahead of the midterms.
“This war in Iran almost cements the fact that we lose the midterms in November — the Senate and House,” the person said.
According to The Economist, Trump holds a 37 percent approval rating, with 56 percent of respondents disapproving of his handling of the presidency.
This is not the first time Virginia has held a special election for a statewide ballot initiative. Most recently, in 1956, voters approved a measure that led to the use of public funds to provide tuition grants for students attending nonsectarian private schools.
Early voting is already underway in the Old Dominion, with Election Day set for April 21.
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I’m telling the scared little girl I once was it’s okay to feel free
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Opinions5 days ago
ROSENSTEIN: Chavous for Democratic D.C. Council-at-Large
