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Is Corey Stewart A Political Liability For Virginia GOP Candidates?

David Streever | July 10, 2018

Topics: Corey Stewart, Elaine Luria, Midterms, Scott Taylor, Tim Kaine, VA Election Watch

Call it trickle-down repulsion.

GOP Senate candidate Corey Stewart, known for his fondness for Pres. Donald Trump and violent rhetoric, is already an unlikely challenger against Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine, but the Democratic Party of Virginia is hoping that his unpopularity will limit Republican turn-out statewide. The state party is trying to use Stewart as a wedge issue in other races statewide. In the second district, Democratic challenger Elaine Luria invoked Stewart, asking her opponent,  incumbent Rep. Scott Taylor, to either endorse or repudiate his fellow Republican.

We stand by every word of it. Do your Member of Congress (@BarbaraComstock, @DaveBratVA7th, and @Scotttaylorva) stand by every thing your standard-bearer @CoreyStewartVA has said? Please ask them, thanks! https://t.co/9TFPIkJO03

— Virginia Democrats (@vademocrats) July 6, 2018

“He should reject the fact that Corey Stewart stands next to racists and anti-Semites,” Luria said, according to Bill Bartel for The Virginian-Pilot. “If he doesn’t have the fortitude to reject those values, then I think he stands with him.”

On its face, it’s not an unusual request. In the Trump era, Taylor is seen as a more moderate Republican than Stewart, and even received Luria’s vote in his last election. If he disavowed Stewart, he’d join the ranks of national and local Republicans who have distanced themselves from the candidate. Stewart is known less for a specific platform–mostly, he’s just anti-immigration–and more for his close association with well-known anti-semites and alt-right extremists. In a recent tweet, he said he’d “kick @timkaine’s teeth in,” tagging Kaine’s twitter account.

Despite that, Taylor refused to commit yet, telling the Pilot that he didn’t “give a shit” about Stewart. “No one else does either way,” he added, although the state GOP seems to have been throw in to turmoil by Stewart’s candidacy. Just months before the election and days after Stewart’s victory, state chairman John Whitbeck, who endorsed Stewart’s opponent Nick Freitas, stepped down, along with two other party leaders. According to Jenna Portnoy and Laura Vozzella in a recent Washington Post article, even a long-time Republican fundraiser in Virginia sees Stewart as a liability that could hurt Taylor and Rep. Barbara Comstock, who is also seeking reelection this fall.

Taylor’s statements brought negative attention from national outlets like The Hill and The Root. Taylor told the Pilot that he isn’t racist, saying he named his son, Sterling, “after a black guy,” something Monique Jordan, news writer for The Root, highlighted in a recent article on the controversy. “For the tl;dr crowd, Taylor said there is no way he can be a racist because his son is named after a black man. Taylor’s son is named Sterling. It’s not the blackest name ever, but I guess?” wrote Jordan, adding, “Seems like it would be a lot easier for Taylor to say he doesn’t support Stewart.”

On Twitter, Taylor criticized The Hill for their coverage of his defense, noting that his son was named after fellow serviceman Sterling Sharpe, who was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan.

It's really sad, but perhaps not surprising, that @thehill & writer Aris Folley, would editorialize baselessly trying to make someone out to be a racist Oh…& yes the kid was named after a black guy who was killed giving his life for them in Afghanistan. https://t.co/jPPfPIqGze

— Scott Taylor (@Scotttaylorva) July 9, 2018

Democrats have used social media to pressure Rep. Dave Brat, Comstock, and Taylor, but so far, the tactic has only seemed to stick with Taylor, possibly because of his response. Stewart’s likely impact is still debatable, but it appears that the Democratic strategy has had its intended effect, putting Taylor on the defensive and bringing national attention to a race that was considered an easy Republican victory by early polling and analysts.

Protests Against Trump’s “Zero Tolerance” Immigration Policy Being Planned All Over Virginia

RVA Staff | June 20, 2018

Topics: activism, Dave Brat, ICE, immigration policy, Inhumanity, President Trump, protest, Scott Taylor, Zero Tolerance

As outrage continues to mount over President Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policies, protests are planned for all over Virginia. For those who have been living under a proverbial rock and have not been following the news, Trump’s newly implemented policy removes children from their parents when they are caught crossing the border illegally. Since the policy has been implemented, it has been reported by the executive that 2,342 children have been separated from their parents at the border between May 5 and June 9 – amounting to about 65 children a day.

Once taken from their parents, these children are put in detention centers in places like McAllen, Texas, where they have been photographed sleeping on the floor with mylar blankets and imprisoned in chain-link cages. Children as young as four-months-old have been reportedly separated from their parents and ProPublica has recently released audio from inside a detention center where one ICE agent can be heard saying “we have an orchestra here” in reference to all the screaming children. Sexual assaults against mothers of separated children have also now been reported by guards and staff at one of the detention centers in Texas in a recent complaint filed against Department of Homeland Security.

NBC reported on this yesterday saying, “Women at the 500-plus bed center, which opened in August, told attorneys that staff have been removing mothers from their cells at night to engage in sexual acts, promising immigration help in exchange for sexual favors, and groping women in front of children, according to the complaint.”

Due to the inhumanity of this policy and the way in which it is being implemented, there will be a series of protests taking place in the next week all throughout the Commonwealth. Dates, times, and locations can be found below:

Virginia Beach:

June 21 at Congressman Scott Taylor’s office in Virginia Beach Town Center, sponsored by Indivisible 757.

Richmond:

June 22 at Congressman Dave Brat’s Office, meeting at the CVS on 10901 W Broad St, Glen Allen, sponsored by Together We Will – Henrico.

Washington DC: 

June 30, in front of the White House, sponsored by the Women’s March, along with seven other activist organizations and networks.

Norfolk:

June 30, Disrupt Baby Snatching at the US Customs and Border Patrol Offices in Norfolk at 101 E. Main Street, hosted by Disrupt the Elite.

Farmville:

July 1, Weekend of Action at the ICE Detention Center, meeting up at the Farmville Train Station, 510 West Third Street, sponsored by a coalition of grassroots organizers.

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