i’m at the northside library for the one millionth forum with hudson and galvin, candidates for the 57th district delegate seat. the primary can’t come soon enough.

got to the library as the candidates forum for VA’s 25th district was wrapping up and ooooof ben hixon said “there’s only so much money to go around,” re: making 4 year college more affordable. if you can’t dream big while campaigning, you’re not even gonna try in office.

even when they’re ALMOST THERE with a progressive idea, so many dems miss the mark. amy laufer, while talking about criminal justice reform, was talking about the importance of giving people their vote back, but said “if you’ve paid your fines, you deserve your voice back.”

access to any of your RIGHTS should not be tied to the ability to pay. this is just a modern day poll tax.

i feel like i say this every time but godDAMN the people who show up to these things are nearly universally white senior citizens.

they’re adding more seats to the room during a break. as he moved by me with chairs, a man jokingly said “i’m sorry there’s so many democrats here!” i’m not sure if that was just a joke about how crowded it is or an acknowledgement that this fact truly is a hardship for me.

no one had a coin so instead of a coin toss to decide who goes first, they flipped a miller high life bottle cap a campaign staffer had in his jacket pocket.

“governing is loving your neighbor. all of them, at scale,” says sally hudson in her opening remarks.
“districts like ours get to decide what kind of democrats we want to be.”

galvin says climate change and structural inequity are the two big challenges facing our district.

“city council is where i committed myself to ending poverty,” galvin says. (wow i didn’t know poverty was over, thanks kathy!)

first question is about legislative priorities & desired committee assignments.
galvin says “the most pressing issue” is “structural inequity,” which she defines as the rising cost of land?

galvin isn’t actually answering the question. she’s using the same talking points about priorities without actually outlining the kind of legislation that would address them.

hudson says her legislative priorities start with election reforms. “the reality is that we don’t really live in a democracy here in virginia,” because of the extreme gerrymandering.

she envisions a modern day voter rights act - automatic registration, same day voting, ranked choice voting, putting teeth in the antigerrymandering legislation. hudson hopes to serve on the privileges and elections committee.

the next question is about engaging with african american lawmakers who voted against redistricting.
hudson gives some background on the issue. she isn’t kidding about being really invested in the details of these things.

galvin’s answer is word salad.

next question is about the role of corporations in VA politics.

galvin says “big money is a dangerous habit to get into.” she says it lessens the power of the small donor (but no mention of non donor voters, cool)
she says she will not receive any donations from dominion.

galvin supports limiting donations from both corporations and high dollar individual donors.

hudson says many issues we face boil down to issues of corporate regulation. for example, when it comes to climate change, it’s companies like dominion standing in the way. in healthcare, optima got a monopoly in our area & jacked up rates.

hudson says a study shows 40% of legislation that goes through our statehouse is boilerplate language straight from corporate lobbyists. “they’re the 4th branch of government in our state,” she says of lobbyists. we need wholesale reform.

next question is about abortion. “how do you respond” to people who say abortion is murder? (weird way to ask this!)
hudson says this is an important question to her. she’s been a patient, employee, and donor to planned parenthood.

“there’s another me too movement waiting in the wings,” hudson says. we need to get better at talking about abortion, which she calls basic healthcare.

“so many of those women [who seek abortion] are already mothers.” hudson says there are so many reasons people seek abortion care, which is an essential right.
she is committed to “building a broader culture” where we can get better at talking about reproductive rights.

galvin starts out by saying there’s a lot of passion on both sides of this issue. “unequivocally i believe in a woman’s right to choose.”
“i’m in full support of the equal rights amendment.”
on a statutory level, we need to repeal TRAP laws that limit clinics.

next question is about income inequality and systemic racism & specifically asks for legislative solutions targeting the racism underlying income inequality.

galvin says we need to target the scourge of mass incarceration. she says she will introduce legislation to decriminalize marijuana “safely and fairly.” she will also seek commutation of sentences for “low level drug offenders.”

hudson says “there are so many legacies of jim crow” baked into our state code. “we systematically criminalize poverty.” investing more resources in public housing is critical.

hudson: raising wages for teachers, nurses, and counselors - these occupations are engines of upward mobility.
“we have been abandoning public funding across the board,” of education but especially at HBCUs.

next question is about public funding of 4 year college. hudson: there’s a lot of talk about free college at the national level. this question is about at the state level. our state budget is not prepared for this.

hudson: in VA, our top tax bracket kicks in at $18k. we are taxing millionaires and minimum wage earners at the same level. tax reform is a first step toward funding all the things we say we support.

hudson on free 4 year college: “my top priority would not be making it free for all across the board,” but investing in community colleges, specifically instructional support.

galvin: the question is about college, but she starts with talking about preK.

galvin is expressing incredulity that college was affordable when she went to architecture school in the 80s but isn’t now. she offers no solution but says we have to make sure education is for our children. 🤷‍♀️

next question is about health insurance. galvin says she saw the impact of the exorbitant increase in the cost of insurance in our area. (highest in the nation!) galvin says we need competition to drive down premiums. (the free market will save us, i’m sure!)

i can’t even tell what galvin is saying. is she saying the state should offer subsidies to low income families purchasing insurance on the exchange?

hudson says she is excited to hear galvin coming around on the idea of an expanded public option. galvin tries to interject that she supported it all along saying “that is not true! that is not true!” at hudson as she continues responding to the question

hudson says as someone with a chronic health problem, she knows what it means to navigate our broken healthcare system.
“now is the time to be pushing for public options.”

galvin says throughout her time in public office, she has made it a point to meet with “emerging leaders” and says she speaks annually at the high school leaders program at the sorensen institute.

this question is about engaging with young voters. kathy says she routinely invites the university dems to come to city council meetings where she will “acknowledge them.” wow intense youth engagement, nice.

and now closing statements. godDAMNIT kathy galvin only knows the name of one black person and it is dr martin luther king jr.

https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1119075603263705088?s=21

it’s an off off year and there is no republican challenger for this seat, which means the june 11 primary IS the election. you can vote absentee in person through june 8th!

i’m not sticking around for the forum with the candidates for the rivanna magisterial district county supervisor, i know everyone’s sad to hear it.