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Morrissey Has “No Scores To Settle” In Senate, Lays Out Policy

VCU CNS | September 16, 2019

Topics: Democratic Party of Virginia, Democratic Primary, General Assembly, Joe Morrissey, Rosalyn Dance

Joe Morrissey’s two-fisted reputation precedes him, but behind the fisticuffs, his policy positions are the sort that should please his fellow Democrats.

When Joe Morrissey staged a primary challenge against Sen. Rosalyn Dance, he also faced off against the state’s top Democratic leadership — Gov. Ralph Northam, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe — who supported the incumbent.

Morrissey has been disbarred twice, convicted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and canonized in Virginia history for punching a defense lawyer in 1991 while he served as Richmond’s commonwealth attorney. The last time he served in the General Assembly, he spent his nights in jail and his days representing constituents. 

Yet, Morrissey swept the primary with 56% of the votes after running a campaign that put him directly in front of voters; going door-to-door converted into a surprising win. Now he seems surely bound for Capitol Square representing the 16th Senate District, which includes Petersburg and Hopewell, part of Richmond and parts of Chesterfield, Prince George and Dinwiddie counties. 

The party largely snubbed Morrissey during the competitive primary, but now Democrats are sidling back with an eye to the January 2020 legislative session, and concern over who Morrissey may caucus with. 

In the past few weeks, Morrissey confirmed he had coffee with Northam’s chief of staff, Clark Mercer, and beer with McAuliffe. Democrats aren’t the only ones courting Morrissey, who received phone calls from Republicans after his primary win. 

“Fighting Joe” Morrissey indicates that the fights he’s most interested in now are the ones for his constituents.

“I’m not going to the Senate to settle old scores. I’m not going there with any type of ‘I told you so,’” Morrissey said when asked about his future political relationships.

Morrissey touts a legislative agenda that would make Democrats beam, citing environment and criminal justice reform as his biggest priorities. 

An analysis of his 2008-2015 legislative record shows Morrissey voted mostly with his party, according to the Richmond Sunlight database records. He championed legislation dealing with gun control, environmental policy and criminal justice reform, including a proposed constitutional amendment that would have restored civil rights to individuals convicted of felonies.

The linchpin of his current environmental focus is excavating and recycling coal ash rather than capping coal ash ponds

“There’s a coal ash pond 100 feet from the James River. Don’t think that it won’t seep into the river,” Morrissey said. “That’s why I’m against simply capping — putting a cover — over toxic coal ash and saying that everything is going to be okay — it’s not going to be okay.”

Morrissey also has ambitious plans for criminal justice reform, pointing to the steep cost of incarceration versus drug court.

“I favor doubling the number of drug courts in Virginia,” Morrissey said. “The recidivism rate for people that go through a drug court is 6.1% while the recidivism rate for people that go through the Department of Corrections is 61%.” 

Morrissey wants to bring parole back for felons, which was abolished in 1995. He compared parole to auto insurance demerit points that are used to incentivize safer driving.

“I want to incentivize people to behave in prison, to take advantage of programs, and to not commit other crimes in prison or abuse drugs. How do you incentivize them? Reinstate parole,” Morrissey said. 

Other criminal justice reform goals include automatic restoration of rights for felons leaving prison, establishing a mental health court and permanently ensuring that drivers can’t have their license suspended or revoked over unpaid court costs or fines. 

Of the $66,000 in contributions Morrissey’s campaign has received as of the most recent filing report, the bulk is from his own coffers: $25,000 from his own checkbook and another $25,000 from the law practice he established, Morrissey & Goldman LLC. The third top donor is Verona-based Nexus Services, which helps immigrants post bond and provides them with GPS monitoring devices while they wait for immigration cases to be heard. 

“I’m going in there kind of like a free agent, with no debts that I have to pay back,” Morrissey said. Democrats eager to flip the Senate may rest easier when they hear his policy positions, but Morrissey is careful to note that constituents are his primary concern. 

“I can go in there and vote for the legislation that’s best for Virginia and best for the citizens of the 16th District,” he said. “Then what’s best for the party, and then what’s best for Joe Morrissey — in that order.”

Written by Jimmy O’Keefe, Capital News Service. Top Photo via Joe Morrissey/Facebook

Fighting Joe Is Back On The Ballot

Jimmy O'Keefe | June 10, 2019

Topics: Democratic Primary, Joe Morrissey, Ralph Northam, Sen. Rosalyn Dance, VA state Senate

Tomorrow’s Democratic primary, pitting incumbent Rosalyn Dance against notorious Richmond political figure Joe Morrissey, will likely decide the 16th District’s next State Senator.

In the past decade, Joe Morrissey has brandished an AK-47 on the floor of the House of Delegates, spent three months in jail after being convicted of sex crimes, and placed third in Richmond’s 2016 mayoral election. Now he may be heading to Virginia’s Senate.

Voters in Virginia’s 16th Senate District will go to the polls on Tuesday, June 11. With no Republicans filed to run in the district, the Democratic primary between Morrissey and incumbent Rosalyn Dance will likely decide who will be representing the district for the next four years.

Senate District 16, comprised of parts of Petersburg, Hopewell, and Richmond’s East End, as well as parts of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, and Prince George Counties, has been represented by Dance since 2014.

Currently seeking her third term as state senator for the district, Dance has a long history in public service. She served as mayor of Petersburg from 1992 through 2004. The following year, she was elected to represent the 63rd district in Virginia’s House of Delegates, an office she held through 2014 when she won a special election to replace Henry Marsh, who retired that same year.

Dance speaks at Replenish Richmond’s I Have A Dream Festival on June 1 (via Senator Rosalyn R. Dance/Facebook)

Dance is perhaps best known in Virginia for a bill introduced in 2019 to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2021. Dance has been introducing similar legislation over the last three legislative sessions, but never to any success; the most recent bill was defeated along party lines 21-19 in January.

Though the legislation didn’t pass, Dance has been able to tout the attempt during her re-election campaign.

“I have always strived to make a difference, to put my constituents first, to improve their lives and to govern with our values and principles,” Dance said in a press release at the launch of her re-election campaign.

Securing the funding for the construction of a hospital in Dinwiddie County and co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill to clean up coal ash ponds in Chesterfield County have also been achievements Dance is emphasizing as the primary election nears. A member of the Senate Finance Committee, Dance has built up status during her time in Virginia’s capital that makes her attractive to voters.

Dance with Governor Northam at a May 2 campaign stop. (via Senator Rosalyn R. Dance/Facebook)

While she is a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, which repeatedly called for the governor to resign during his blackface scandal in February, Northam’s The Way Ahead PAC has donated $10,000 to Dance’s re-election campaign. Northam and Dance have publicly accompanied one another several times in the past few months, including an appearance at a luncheon for the United Negro College Fund. Other prominent Virginian Democratic figures, including Senator Tim Kaine and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, have lent their support to Dance.

Despite some big names backing Dance, Joe Morrissey is staging a competitive run against the incumbent.

Morrissey has a long and storied history in Virginia politics. In addition to running for state Senate and hosting his Fighting Joe Morrissey morning radio show on WJFN, he is also currently appealing his second disbarment. His first disbarment came in 2003 on account of “frequent episodes of unethical, contumacious, or otherwise inappropriate conduct,” according to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He was reinstated to the bar in 2011.

Morrissey was disbarred a second time in 2018. The disbarment followed a highly publicized scandal in which Morrissey was jailed for three months after being convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2014.

Morrissey with wife Myrna on his wedding day in 2016. (via Joe Morrissey For Senate/Facebook)

The conviction came after it was discovered Morrissey was having sex with a 17-year-old receptionist employed at his Henrico law office. A member of the House of Delegates at the time, Morrissey was pressured by members of his own party to resign. Today, Morrissey and his former receptionist are married with three children.

Though clearly controversial, Morrissey has a reputation in the district of being able to get things done. He enjoys strong support from working class African-Americans who see him as someone that can improve material conditions in the district.

“I think I can make Senate District 16 better,” he is quoted by the Village News as saying at an event in Richmond last month.

As his campaign kicked off, Morrissey vowed to push for the decriminalization of marijuana, increased funding for infrastructure, and more representation for Petersburg, a city the Richmond Times-Dispatch quotes the candidate as saying is in need of more advocacy.

Like Dance, Morrissey has also come out in favor of a higher minimum wage.

Morrissey meets with voters on the campaign trail in Hopewell. (via Joe Morrissey for Senate/Facebook)

The final week of the race has been characterized by controversy regarding the Morrissey campaign’s finance reports. Dance criticized Morrissey’s claim that his campaign only had two expenditures to report. “Everyone knows campaigns are filled with expenditures, large and small,” the Progress-Index quotes Dance as saying.

The Morrissey campaign responded to the attack, saying that a processing error made by campaign manager Whitney Spears is to blame.

The finance report incident is the latest in a series of controversies that has been rattling the Virginia Democratic Party in 2019. Governor Northam’s blackface scandal was the catalyst for the unveiling of sexual assault allegations directed at Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, as well as Attorney General Mark Herring’s admission of having worn blackface in the 1980s. Some in the party fear that a figure like Morrissey in the Senate could create problems for Virginia Democrats who are looking to win back the full trust and support of voters.

The primary is being held on Tuesday, June 11 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. All registered voters regardless of party are eligible to vote in Virginia’s primaries. To find out if you live in the 16th State Senate District and are eligible to vote in this primary, enter your address into the “Who’s My Legislator?” database at whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov.

Top Photos via Facebook (Joe Morrissey For Senate/Senator Rosalyn R. Dance)

Opinion: When Will the Democratic Party Finally Listen to the Next Generation?

Cassie Jacobs | June 29, 2018

Topics: Democratic Party of Virginia, Democratic Primary, Virginia Democrats

A week ago I wrote an opinion piece for this publication titled, “How To Kill the Democratic Party of Virginia” after attending the Blue Commonwealth Gala in Richmond on June 16. I had no idea that this opinion piece would create as many arguments and as much division as it has.

I have been called a “traitor”, an imitator, and told to “become an agent of change” and be “more involved in the party”. I disagree with all of this. Nonetheless, I have been called out, verbally attacked, and sternly spoken to as if I were a child. These interactions were naturally from Virginia Democrats. I’m not sure if this occurred because the title of my piece was so shocking, or if I just hit a raw nerve within the party by saying what lots of people (especially young people) are thinking, and how can we not? Look around at what’s happening nationally.  

Either way, the blowback was surprising and emotionally draining. But let me tell you a story:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an activist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, beat long-standing Democratic Congressman and New York City political powerhouse Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th congressional district Democratic primary race.

What does this win tell you? It tells me that the Democratic Party has become old, tired, and is not listening to the young people it should be recruiting as its next generation. Crowely even refused to debate Cortez publicly–part of a long trend of the party being patronizing and dismissive towards young people.

What was Ocasio-Cortez doing during the last weeks of her primary campaign? Protesting at an ICE detention center in Texas. This is what we want to see as young Democrats. This young woman stands for the abolition of ICE, universal Medicare, criminal justice reforms, a federal jobs guarantee, and free college tuition. She was at Standing Rock, from April 2016 to February 2017, when Native Americans protested against a natural gas pipeline cutting through their sacred North Dakota land.

On the other hand, Crowly presents like a Republican: He voted to create the Department of Homeland Security, voted for the war in Iraq, is a monied Democrat, and has not been challenged in 14 years. Too many elected Democrats struggle to believe that a change is upon the party. They still believe this is the party of Hillary and Bill Clinton, and consistently struggle to understand why this is a bad strategy.

One of these Democrats is House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. In a statement after Ocasio-Cortez’s win she said, “The fact that in a very progressive district in New York it went more progressive—Joe Crowley is a progressive, but more to the left than Joe Crowley, is about that district. It is not to be viewed as something that stands for everything else.”

Pelosi’s refusal to acknowledge that Ocasio-Cortez’ win is a threat to establishment Democrats is a wake up call to what young people are shouting at the top of our lungs: what is happening right now in the party is not working.

How would you describe today’s Democratic Party, nationally and in Virginia? Is it a party that is divided over ideology and outreach? Have the Democrats protected us from the hate, fear, and restriction of civil liberties being restricted (because the current administration excels at dividing and conquering)? Does the party have a strategic plan to fight against Trump’s next Supreme Court appointee (his last nominee was supported by at least three Democratic Senators)? Is this a party that looks eerily similar to the Republican Party in the way it is financed by corporate donors who reject a progressive agenda?

Now, more than ever before, Democrats in Virginia and nationally need to band together and adhere to a strategy that represents the party’s next generation. Democrats have won the popular vote in six out of the past seven presidential elections, but conservatives continue to dominate both houses of Congress and now the Supreme Court–that is reflective of political failure.

Republicans will use their control of the Supreme Court to exert policy control nationally for many generations to come, which will damage unions, uphold voter suppression, and, in every way, threaten Roe v. Wade and LGBTQ rights.  

In the years ahead, there are other justices that may also need to step down given their age (Ruth Bader Ginsberg is 85, Stephen Breyer is 79), resulting in more liberal seats opening during the Trump Presidency.

So the question once again becomes, what is our strategy? Because older establishment Democrats will not have to bear the brunt of this, we will.

As a thought exercise, I can describe what I envision the Democratic Party in Virginia and nationally to look like moving forward: a party focused on protecting the environment, removing money and corporations from politics, healthcare for all, eradicating ICE, making education a priority, resolving the student loan debt crisis, investing in critical national infrastructure, and re-establishing the middle class–something the party has moved away from.

Ocasio-Cortez’ win shows that the sentiment in my original opinion piece was not wrong or misguided. Progressives are ready for a change in leadership. It is important for me to highlight how many strangers have tweeted, messaged, and emailed me to say that they agreed the Democratic Party is being unrealistic regarding their expectations for the average member.

The Democratic Party needs to do better and stop turning their noses up at candidates like Ocasio-Cortez. The Democratic Party would prefer that moderate centrists candidates continue to run, but we don’t live in moderate times.

The only silver lining about the 2016 election is nothing is safe anymore with regards to status-quo politics. Ocasio-Cortez and her progressive platform is an excellent example. I for one am going to keep working for the most progressive candidate, the one whose platform aligns with the issues that impact my life and the lives of the those around me, the patients I see in my practice, and the voices that seem to be forgotten in the current Democratic Party. If you’re a candidate like Ocasio-Cortez, count me in as someone who will work relentlessly to ensure you’re elected.

Former CIA Agent Abigail Spanberger is on a Mission for Virginia’s 7th District

Landon Shroder | May 3, 2018

Topics: 7th District, abigail spanberger, dan ward, Dave Brat, Democratic Primary, Democrats, Republican, virginia

When asked about making the jump from intelligence professional to civilian politics, former CIA agent and Democratic primary candidate for Virginia’s 7th District, Abigail Spanberger, had a very distinct answer. “My whole role was to become a subject matter expert on a variety of different topics at a variety of different times.” As an intelligence professional, Spanberger had to use her analytical skills to cover issues like nuclear mitigation, science, technology, and narco-trafficking. 

While these skills on the surface might seem to apply only to the world of a professional spy, Spanberger explains how they have prepared her for life on the campaign trail. “What is the most transferable of these skill-sets is understanding really complicated topics that have inter-related challenges and then communicating them back to other people.” And as a legislator, this is how she would assess the most critical issues that her district and the US faces; as a series of policy initiatives that connect across issues.  

Campaign Mural

Spanberger, like her primary opponent Dan Ward, stands out in this election cycle because of the vast foreign policy credentials she gained while working abroad. A former law enforcement officer for the US Postal Inspection Service, Spanberger went on to become a core collector with the CIA, responsible for enlisting sources and gathering intelligence that informed national security policy. To obtain this position, recruitment can take anywhere between 12-18 months and includes extensive background checks and polygraph testing, along with medical and mental evaluations. 

RVA Mag caught up with Spanberger at her campaign office in Henrico to take the temperature on what is happening around the globe and how her experience abroad is playing out on the campaign trail. 

“My experience in foreign policy and in the intelligence world would be incredibly unique,” said Spanberger, when asked if she would tackle foreign policy in Congress. Indeed, her experience is unique and she is only one of two other women with these spooky credentials running for Congress this cycle. The other being Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat running in Michigan who was also in the CIA. Despite this, she was quick to clarify that her passion for serving was not only her commitment to country, but also helping people understanding complex things. 

My interests can easily pivot from North Korea nuclear policy to Latin American leadership issues to health care, tax policy, and mental illness,” said Spanberger.  

Nonetheless, a lot is happening in the world, and it is not often that one hears directly from a former CIA agent running for Congress about the dangers lurking in the shadows.

“We are at a point of strange instability,” commented Spanberger, expanding on her worldview and the challenges the US faces. “In particular for other countries, you could always generally always guess where the US was going to go as it related to foreign policy. You could always generally understand the ribbon that tied all of our actions together.” Like most, she was quick to comment on the President Trump’s Twitter feed, acknowledging that US strategy now varies “tweet to tweet”. She summed up this kind of foreign policy as “wholly phrenetic” and lacking the continuity that foreign countries need to “engage with us diplomatically.”

Because of the frenzied inconsistency of this strategy, foreign policy professionals have been at a loss for how to conduct business. Yet from a certain perspective, gains have also been made, such as the announcement that North and South Korea will officially end hostilities after 65 years. This presents a problem for Democrats running on foreign policy credentials, something Spanberger was pressed on in terms of how the administration should be credited. 

“This is more complicated than it outwardly looks,” she replied, before admitting, “It is to strange of a turn of events. There is a play somewhere and a variety of options as to what it can be, maybe that is a little too pessimistic. Normally I am an optimist.” 

Campaign HQ

One of the defining features of this political age is the way in which fringe messaging which borders on the conspiratorial has become mainstream, and this year’s election cycle in Virginia is no exception.  

In fact, the sitting incumbent for the 7th District, Congressman Dave Brat, has been called out more than once for re-tweeting conspiracy theories, most notably after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Spanberger has not been immune to this messaging either, being pinged by publications like The Gateway Pundit as being part of a “deep-state conspiracy” due to her CIA background. 

“So I have gotten the deep state narrative,” she said. “I would write something on Facebook about healthcare and they would write ‘you’re deep-state we shouldn’t listen to you’.” This messaging has only been emboldened by a roster of up and coming Democrats who have foreign policy and intelligence credentials, along with Trump’s attacks on the Justice Department claiming they are engaged in a deep-state conspiracy against his presidency.

Goals

“There are a couple of us running and the Washington Post ran an article about Elissa and me, and that got a lot of play and that’s when it picked up.” In an age of foreign-based social media campaigns, Spanberger was quick to point out that these were not Russia bots, but people living in Virginia’s 7th District. 

While foreign policy is built into the DNA of the Spanberger campaign, her focus still remains local.

Asking about her priorities if she makes it to Congress, she was quick to name three: financial stability, gun-violence prevention, and healthcare; something she spoke enthusiastically about, “We find ourselves in a place where premiums are continuing to rise, estimates are thousands of people in the 7th District are going to lose their healthcare.” Explaining how healthcare can be addressed, she commented on the need to bring back the individual mandate as a way of strengthening the Affordable Care Act, along with allowing Medicare to negotiate its own prescription drug prices. “There is a variety of things we can do to positively impact someone’s life as it relates to healthcare, and we need to be doing all of it.”  

Before closing out, Spanberger was asked what her message is to young people and her answer was reflective of 2018. “Everything is political. Whatever it is you care about it is linked to politics..nothing will change until the people who want it to change get involved.”

Photos by Landon Shroder

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