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Princess Blanding, Sister of Marcus-David Peters, Announces Campaign for Governor

David Dominique | December 28, 2020

Topics: Liberation Party, Princess Blanding, progressive candidate, racial justice, Richmond Virginia, virginia, Virginia Governor, Virginia gubernatorial election

Princess Blanding, a prominent public safety, mental health and racial justice advocate, has announced her campaign to run for Governor of Virginia in 2021. Blanding has entered the race as the candidate of the newly-formed Liberation Party, which will compete as an independent party in the November 2021 election.

Blanding is the sister of the late Marcus-David Peters, a 24-year-old high school teacher and alumnus of Virginia Commonwealth University. Peters was fatally shot by a Richmond police officer in 2018 beside Interstate 64/95 while having a mental health crisis.

Photo by Breon Corbett / Wild Bunch Photography Collective

In 2020, Blanding was a steadfast presence in Richmond activism, speaking at multiple marches and demonstrations throughout the city and campaigning with progressive candidates for local office, including Allan-Charles Chipman and Joseph Rogers. During the General Assembly’s legislative special session in August and September, Blanding helped lead efforts to pass several police reform bills with varying degrees of success. 

While the legislature passed bills including the Marcus Alert and a ban on no-knock warrants, Blanding expressed frustration with the outcomes of the special session, calling the version of the Marcus Alert “a diluted, ineffective bill,” and highlighting the failure of bills such as HB5013, which proposed the repeal of qualified immunity in the state of Virginia — HB5013 passed in the House of Delegates, but failed in the Senate.

In a recent ceremony honoring the passage of the Marcus Alert, with Governor Ralph Northam and gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McClellan in attendance, Blanding asked the Democrats to “take a moment to pat yourselves on the back for doing exactly what this racist corrupt system…expected you all to do.” Blanding went on to say, “Make the Marcus Alert bill a watered down ineffective bill that will continue to ensure that having a mental health crisis results in a death sentence.” 

In campaign literature released today, Blanding and the newly formed Liberation Party proposed a broad gubernatorial platform for progressive, equity-driven change in Virginia, including racial justice, environmental justice, education, housing, healthcare reform, LGBTQIA+ rights, food sovereignty, pandemic relief, and labor rights.

Photo by Keshia E / Wild Bunch Photography Collective

Blanding now joins a crowded field of 2021 gubernatorial candidates, including several prominent Democrats. Former-Governor Terry McAuliffe, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, Virginia State Senator Jennifer McClellan (9th District), and former-Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy (2nd District), who resigned earlier this month to focus on her gubernatorial bid, have all announced candidacies. Delegate Lee Carter (50th District), has also filed paperwork indicating a possible run. 

In the race for the Republican nomination, which will be decided via a convention rather than a primary, former-Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Kirk Cox (66th District) is positioned against far-right provocateur and State Senator, Amanda Chase. US Congressman Denver Riggleman (R, VA-5) has indicated interest as well, but it is unclear whether Riggleman would run for the Republican nomination or as an independent. 

In Virginia, a candidate who loses a race for a party nomination is unable to subsequently run as an independent in the general election that year.

The Virginia governor’s race is one of just two in the country in 2021. The other race, to take place in New Jersey, will likely be a landslide in favor of Democratic incumbent Governor Phil Murphy.

Photo by Foster “Frosty” Johnston / Wild Bunch Photography Collective

The election will serve as a microcosm of nationwide political dynamics. Across the country, establishment Democrats like McAuliffe—a former DNC Chair and staffer for both Bill and Hillary Clinton— face current and future challenges from a new generation of diverse and dynamic Democrats. In Virginia, this is highlighted by the candidacies of three young Black Democrats, and the entry of Blanding as a third-party candidate. To date, no Black woman has ever been elected governor of the United States. 

Virginia’s Democratic landscape is further complicated by the potential entry of self-identified socialist Lee Carter, which is reminiscent of the 2018 upset by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY-14). Cortez created shockwaves in the Democratic Party, unseating Rep. Joe Crowley, a ten-term US Congressman who served as Democratic Caucus Chair in the US House of Representatives.

The contours of Virginia’s Republican race also reflect the dynamics currently at play within the GOP nationally. Chase has urged Donald Trump to “declare martial law” and pursue 2020 election conspiracy theories, while also stating that she will “never accept” Joe Biden as President of the United States.

The third-party campaign announcement of Blanding, an activist with considerable social justice bona fides, promises to further complicate the electoral calculus for Democrats. With McAuliffe’s 2013 victory during the Obama presidency as an exception, Virginia has elected governors from the opposite party of the sitting US Presidents in all elections since 1978 — ten of the last eleven gubernatorial races.  

Film Photo by Landon Shroder / Wild Bunch Photography Collective

This two-party jockeying and its impact on Virginia politics apears to be a critical impetus for the Blanding campaign. In a press release announcing her candidacy Blanding said, “The fight has moved from the streets and city government, to the state legislature where progressive change is imperative. Our time is now to create a future in which all Virginians see their values reflected in their leaders.”

And in a video on her campaign website Blanding promises to, “trust the science and use sound moral judgement as we transform the Commonwealth into a common good state that prioritizes clean energy, provides comprehensive health care for all, is economically thriving, ensures that Black Lives Matter, is gender inclusive, and guarantees housing security for all Virginians.”

Cover image by Landon Shroder / Wild Bunch Photography Collective

The Million Dollar Question: An Exclusive Q&A With Jennifer Carroll Foy

David Dominique | October 8, 2020

Topics: Cash Bail, General Assembly, Jennifer Carroll Foy, Jennifer McClellan, Marcus-David Peters, Marijuana laws in Virginia, Mountain Valley Pipeline, Terry McAuliffe, Union Hill, Virginia Governor, Virginia governor's race, Virginia Military Institute

RVA Magazine spoke to state Senator and candidate for governor Jennifer Carroll Foy about career politicians, the relationship between police and the military, and making real progress in Virginia.

Last month, as the Virginia General Assembly debated a variety of police reform bills, RVA Magazine sat down with Jennifer Carroll Foy, a member of the House of Delegates, representing Virginia’s 2nd House of Delegates district in NoVA. A public defender and former magistrate, Carroll Foy was also one of the first women to graduate from Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Carroll Foy is a 2021 candidate for Governor of Virginia, and hopes to be the first Black woman elected governor in the United States. 

DD: Good afternoon, Delegate Carroll Foy, and thank you for sitting with us. You’ve been quoted saying, “The politics of the past are not the change we need, and the politicians of the past won’t save us.” Were you referring to your opponents in the 2021 gubernatorial race?

JCF: If we want real change, we need a new leader with a clear vision on how to move us forward. There are career politicians running in this gubernatorial race, and with this movement, people want change. [2021] will be a consequential election: trying to keep the majority, defeat this invisible enemy called COVID-19, and jump start our economy here in Virginia. It takes creative solutions, and the status quo isn’t working any longer.

DD: To voters who look at Terry McAuliffe and might imagine a potentially stabilizing force with the experience to help Virginia through a challenging time, what would you say?

JCF: Now’s the time for new leadership, because we’ve never had a governor who has governed during a racial reckoning such as the one we have now. No one has ever governed during a recession more akin to the Great Depression. No one has ever governed in addressing the global pandemic that we have currently. So experience matters — and you have to have the right type of experience. As a former foster mom, public defender, magistrate judge, community organizer, I am here for the people, and I’ve always been on the side of fighting for the people. Do you want someone who has real world experience and who’s in this for them, or someone who may be in this for themselves?

DD: Could you point to anything during McAuliffe’s governorship where you felt he was not on the right side of people’s interests?

JCF: The Mountain Valley Pipeline is something that should’ve never happened when we’re addressing climate change here in the Commonwealth. We’re talking about racial equity here in the Commonwealth, knowing that it was going to go through a historically Black community in Union Hill. There’s a number of things I can point to say, hey we can do better, right? 

Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD: You mentioned “career politicians” earlier. Would you consider Senator [Jennifer] McClellan a career politician?

JCF: Yeah, she’s been in the General Assembly for almost two decades. [When I] say career politician, I mean people who are entrenched in politics. People are looking for a woman of the people, someone who understands a Virginian’s everyday struggle.

DD: Senator McClellan has supported progressive police reform bills during special session. For those on the left looking for legislative and policy contrasts between two gubernatorial candidates, how would you differentiate your record and platforms from McClellan’s?

JCF: While I’ve been in the General Assembly, I have been one of the most impactful and accomplished legislators, fighting for workers and women and families since day one. I’ve never taken a dime from Dominion, knowing they are a regulative monopoly here in Virginia. I’m for robust transformational policy, such as legalizing marijuana, reforming our criminal justice system. As the first public defender ever elected to the General Assembly, I have been championing cash bail reform and other policies to make our criminal justice system more fair and more equitable. Not because these are sexy, trending topics, but because I’ve always been in this fight, and I’ve kept all my promises made since I ran in 2017, whether it is cleaning up coal ash throughout Virginia [or] helping to expand Medicaid and give teacher salary increases.

DD: Increasingly, progressives are showing skepticism about the Virginia Democratic Party. Are you confident you can build a coalition to push through progressive policy?

JCF: Absolutely. I take it back to my training at Virginia Military Institute. Being one of the first women to ever graduate from one of the top military colleges in this country taught me how to work alongside any and everyone, because I am focused on the mission. 

If you are throwing around divisive rhetoric and are known for partisan politics, you won’t get anything done. How I’ve been able to be effective is leaning on that military training I’ve had and continuing, even in the majority, to reach across the aisle and pass a lot of my bills in a bipartisan fashion.

DD: Let’s talk a little bit about the military. 43 percent of the American military is made up of people of color. Many families of color see the military as their best hope for socioeconomic advancement. What are your thoughts on our American model, which leverages the promise of economic advancement to entice communities with fewer resources into the military and potentially into combat?

JCF: Going into the Armed Forces is an honorable task. Many people do it for many different reasons, whether it’s financial stability and security for themselves and their family. You go through a maturation process which I think is equivalent to nothing else, and it teaches life skills and politics. I think it teaches honor and integrity and public service in way that I don’t think you can get really anywhere else. I think it’s great and I would like to see more people, especially in this current climate, understand and acknowledge and respect the sacrifices that these individuals who enter the military are facing, especially with the recent attacks from Trump and some other cohorts, of questioning military leaders’ motives and calling people who are prisoners of war and died on the battlefield “losers” and things of that nature. This is a toxic climate right now, and I think we have to work vigorously to counter that with the truth. And the truth is the men and women in uniform are to be respected and honored above all else.

Carroll Foy during her time at VMI. Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD: In my view, we have to differentiate between institutions and individuals. Observers have drawn direct links between US domestic policing and US international military actions, explicitly connecting regimes like Israel to US police training. Our government, via the CIA, also fought to uphold South African apartheid, by helping to criminalize and locate Nelson Mandela before his imprisonment. Given that you’ve participated in the US military establishment, do you have a critique of the US military’s connection to structures of inequality worldwide, and how it may also connect to our domestic policing issues?

JCF: I think that’s a really good question, and so to answer your question: have I really sat and thought about those connections? I haven’t. What I can say is that when you think of the military, you have to think of individuals who are taking orders. Right? We have a Commander-in-Chief you have to listen to, and so if a soldier is thinking about questioning or debating orders, you’re talking about people’s lives at risk. You’re talking about missions being compromised, and so the problem is when people who are nefarious use the military as an extension or arm or tool or weapon to strike against their enemies or people they don’t deem desirable.

DD: What about the mode of intervention of the US Military, where we essentially occupy sovereign countries and install governments via various modes of persuasion, violence, and politics — are you critical of that mode of operation?

JCF: Yes, so it’s a hard question to answer, and here’s why: when we insert ourselves into foreign countries’ policies and we bomb these countries or we do things that is to their detriment, then do I think we oftentimes have an obligation to assist and help in their recovery and to build them back up? Yes I do. 

I am not critical of the US military for taking orders, and doing something they’re required to do. I would be more critical of the legislators and the Commander-in-Chief who have ordered them to do so, and so it’s about questioning their motives and their logic for jeopardizing the lives of Americans, of citizens, of soldiers. So it depends on what country you’re talking about. It depends on why we’re there, how long we’re going to be there, why we’re occupying. That’s why it’s hard for me to give a specific answer because it’s just different, country by country, situation by situation. 

But for the most part, I understand what it means to be ordered to do something, and you have to obey that order. If we have an issue with it, then we need to take it up with the people who are making decisions and not the people who are executing and doing what they’ve been charged and sworn to do.

DD: Are you critical of our relationship with Israel?

JCF: So that is something that I have to say that I’ve been thinking about. I can follow up with you on that.

Carroll Foy and her son Alex at the General Assembly on the day Virginia ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD: Would you commit to completely ridding the Virginia State Police of its inventory of military equipment that was provided by the United States military?

JCF: There’s nothing that I can think of right now that I would have exception to, so I’m going to say yes.

DD: Do you support a complete banning of no-knock warrants in Virginia? 

JCF: Yes, I do support banning no-knock warrants here in Virginia.

DD: There’s a split among some of the leading activists: some believe that civilian review boards should be mandatory and legislated down in detail in the bill, and others believe they should be optional and that municipalities should each decide the way these boards look. Where do you stand? 

JCF: Yes, I initially favored mandating because I felt like that is the direction we need to go, and some communities or localities may be reluctant because this is change and change can be scary. 

However, I’ve been hearing from a lot of the same activists that you are referring to, and they’re talking to me about why they don’t want it mandatory and that they don’t want these localities feeling it’s being pushed upon them then it’s going to be a lot of hostility. I’m still debating how I’m gonna fall on that, but I can tell you initially I was definitely for mandating civilian review boards because I think that’s one of the only ways you’re definitely going to get it in the localities who, let’s be honest, need it the most.

DD: At the moment, we have a conservative Democratic establishment standing in the way of the most aggressive police reforms in Virginia. If you agree we need to move the needle as far as the priorities and agenda of the establishment, how would you do so?

JCF:  That has been the million-dollar question. Democrats aren’t monolithic; you have people who represent different areas. Sometimes we’re not able to be as bold and transformational as we want because we may be outnumbered by centrists or moderates, people who don’t believe in complete bold change. 

The way that you alter that is to continue to elect leaders who will be bold and transformational until they are the majority. Then you can push this type of legislation through. Until that happens, there will always be a wall there, or a siphoning off of bills or parts of a bill that we really need in order to make change. That’s what at the end of the day has to happen. 

DD: Do you have a message that you want to send to Ralph Northam, Terry McAuliffe, Dick Saslaw, Creigh Deeds, Scott Surovell — Democrats who have been active in diluting and stifling the more progressive versions of the bills?

JCF: I work with many of these people, and I’ve gone toe to toe with a lot of them on a lot of good bills. I just have to continue to advocate and lobby and hope they see the light. But I’m confident because I know Virginia is trending to be bluer, and there won’t be a place for people who want incremental change, or who want to teeter on the fence. I think the change we need is going to happen on its own, and I’m excited to be in the Governor’s seat to help lead that change.

Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

DD:  The previous Commonwealth’s Attorney declined to bring charges in Marcus-David Peters’ case. Colette McEachin, the current Commonwealth’s Attorney, has said repeatedly that she’s looking at it. Richmond City Councilman Mike Jones has openly advocated for reopening that case. Do you have a position as to whether CA McEachin should reopen that case?

JCF: I do believe that the Commonwealth’s Attorney Office should reopen the case. It should be thoroughly investigated. He was having a mental health emergency, he was nude, there was no threat of harm or danger at that time — you can clearly see he didn’t have a weapon, given the fact that he had no clothes on.

Again, it goes to the lack of experience, the lack of training I believe these officers have, [the] crisis intervention training and de-escalation skills that they needed. They could have readily identified that this man is having a mental health emergency and called community services board and dispatched them out — come calm him down, and hopefully get him emergency custody orders so he can be treated. Oftentimes people are going undiagnosed, or they’re off their medications for whatever reason, and this is what happens. I have many clients like this, and I greatly empathize. I think the case should have another look at and should be thoroughly and independently investigated.

DD: What’s your position on marijuana legalization?

JCF: I support it so much that I am carrying the legalization of marijuana bill, even though some Republicans and Democrats have asked me not to. While I think that decriminalization will have a place in helping to reduce mass incarceration, it does absolutely nothing, according to a 2017 Virginia Crime Commission study, to address the racial disparities that Black and brown people suffer from our possession of marijuana laws. 

It’s time for Virginia to lead, and one of the things we can do is legalize the simple possession of marijuana for personal use. After that, we can tax and regulate it, and use that money for projects we haven’t had the revenue stream to be able to do.

I look forward to passing that bill next session. Statistics and polling show that the overwhelming majority of Virginians want the legalization of marijuana. It’s time for us to listen to the people we represent and get this done.

DD: Are you worried at all about the possibility of a third party on the left disrupting the Democratic gubernatorial race in 2021? 

JCF: It does not concern me. I’m not running against anyone else, I am running for the people of Virginia. At the end of the day, I know that I am the right leader for this moment, and that’s exactly why I’m running for Governor of Virginia.

DD: Are you confident your leadership is best positioned within the Democratic Party structure?

JCF: I’m a tried and true Democrat. People call me progressive, and that’s fine. I’m a strong Christian and I adhere to my Christian principles of housing the homeless and feeding the hungry and helping to make sure that everyone can work one job, put food on the table, have access to healthcare, and go to safe school. If that’s progressive, that’s great, but it’s just who I was raised to be.

Top Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy/Facebook

Jennifer Carroll Foy Wants to be Virginia’s First Female Governor

Brooke Nicholson | July 1, 2020

Topics: childcare, coronavirus, coronavirus virginia, covid 19, environmental issues, equal rights, Equal Rights Amendment, ERA, Governor, governor candidate, healthcare, increase minimum wage, Jennifer Carroll Foy, jrotc, junior reserve officers training corps, living wages, local politics, Medicaid, politics, prince william, richmond, stafford, thomas jefferson school of law, tjsl, unemployment virginia, va election, va elections, virginia candidate, Virginia Governor, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia politics, VMI

Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy has been working for change since childhood. Now in her run to become Virginia’s next Governor, she’s fighting for affordable healthcare, living wages, social equity, environmental issues, and more. 

Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy knew she wanted to play a part in social change since high school. Now this candidate for Virginia Governor and chief sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment is ramping up her campaign, despite the challenges this year has brought. Even in the middle of a pandemic, election season doesn’t wait for anything; and although the coronavirus has put a damper on just about everything in life, the run for electing the next Governor is on. 

As delegate for the state’s second district, which includes Prince William and Stafford County, Carroll Foy says she’s running for governor because Virginians can’t wait for change any longer — and describes what it’s like running her campaign during a global pandemic. 

“I keep hearing the same type of stories,” Carroll Foy explains. “A woman has to travel fourteen miles to take her daughter to the local McDonald’s so she can do her homework. They don’t have access to the internet. [Then] I went to Portsmouth, and I shook the hands of men and women who work 40 hours a week and bring home $14,000 a year. So while some people are doing well in Virginia, not everyone is having the same opportunity to reach the middle class and thrive.”

PHOTO: Virginia Democrats Swearing In, via Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy

Carroll Foy started her years in public service when she joined the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) in high school. After the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to allow women to attend Virginia Military Institute (VMI), she knew she had to attend. Carroll Foy became one of the first women of color to graduate from the state military school. She then pursued a Master’s degree, and later earned a law degree from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law (TJSL). She’s been serving her community ever since.

“I have seen the historic inequalities — in our educational system, our healthcare system, our environment, our economy — up close and personal,” Carroll Foy said. “I’ve experienced many of them myself. So as a working mom of two two-year-olds, working two jobs while paying a second mortgage every month [in childcare costs], and struggling with student loan debt, I can identify and understand the everyday challenges that Virginia families face. I live with them, too.”

Since 2017, Carroll Foy has committed her time to service in the Virginia House of Delegates. Along with sponsoring the Equal Rights Amendment, she has fought to expand Medicaid to 400,000 Virginians while helping with the unemployment process. She’s worked to ensure small businesses are tended to, and that kids still have access to school lunches during COVID-19. But unlike other seasons, this election season has proved to be a challenge, and no candidate is untouched by the coronavirus crisis.

PHOTO: Jennifer Carroll Foy

“My challenges I’ve faced thus far, and in this election, have been the same challenges that my companions are facing. In 2020 and 2021, it’s a fact that we’re running during a pandemic, something that none of us have seen in our lifetimes,” she said. “Then we have the civil unrest and racial reckoning happening right now, and [I’m] trying to lead in that area; pass policies that address police reform and criminal justice reform, while also dismantling a lot of systems that need to be up-ended and rooted in equity. One of the things that VMI taught me was to never get distracted about what’s going on. I’ve been able to do that, because I am not running against anyone in this race for Governor — I’m running for the people of Virginia.” 

In her time as a public defender for the state of Virginia, Carroll Foy has fought for and accomplished many acts of service. She recalls one of her proudest achievements during her time as a delegate, and describes the hard fight it took to accomplish. 

“One of my proudest moments [was] passing the Equal Rights Amendment. I remember fishing the idea to other legislators, that we need to make women’s equality the number one issue in Virginia, and I was told no,” Carroll Foy said. “That was a dead issue that no one was talking about. Luckily, there are advocates like Eileen Davis, who helped galvanize the VA Ratify ERA, [an organization] which houses advocates throughout the Commonwealth and the country to energize voters on this issue, such as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. That became one of the top issues on voters’ minds going into the voting booth in 2019.”

PHOTO: Jennifer Carroll Foy

After bringing to light issues of equality for women, Carroll Foy wants to bring internet access to rural Southwest Virginia and help families get out of the lower class. She’s completely focused on her goal, and says she has always been ready to fight for Virginians and their families.

“I am honored to be in a position to change the face of leadership in Virginia,” Carroll Foy said. “I am also focused on ensuring I bring diverse, high paying jobs to every corner of the Commonwealth.”

She plans to fully fund the education system to prepare Virginia’s children with a world-class education. She also plans to expand infrastructure — such as broadband internet access — to every corner of the state to “finally end the digital divide.” 

“As Governor, I will be able to help lead those changes,” Carroll Foy said, “and set the direction for who we are as Virginians and what we stand for.”

Top Photo via Jennifer Carroll Foy

Opinion: Voting Democrat is Still the Lesser of Two Evils for Progressives

Ryan Persaud | November 10, 2017

Topics: Democratic Socialists of America, Ed Gillespie, election, LGBTQ rights, Ralph Northam, va politics, Virginia Governor

I wasn’t enthusiastic about voting yesterday.

Although I took the day off because some of my professors canceled classes, I wasn’t in a rush to get to my polling place. After I spent my morning and early afternoon catching up on assignments, I headed out on that rainy, dreary day, ready to begrudgingly cast my vote for Ralph Northam and the other Democrats on the ballot. I felt hopeless. Gillespie had this election in the bag, at least I thought. Northam’s campaign had been underwhelming, to put it charitably, and I didn’t know anyone who was actually excited to vote for the Lieutenant Governor. Coming off of the surreal and deeply depressing 2016 Presidential election, I was bracing myself for the worst.

Thankfully, we now know that I was wrong. Northam defeated his Republican opponent Ed Gillespie by nine points, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. And in more riveting news, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Lee Carter defeated House Majority Whip Jackson Miller in the 50th district. Additionally, Democrat Danica Roem, an openly transgender candidate, defeated Republican and notorious bigot Bob Marshall in the 13th District. This effectively threw the longtime incumbent in the dumpster, where I’m sure he’ll angrily draft anti-transgender bills in silence for the rest of his days.

Although it’s important to acknowledge these victories and to celebrate them when they happen, it is equally important to acknowledge the failures of the Democratic Party, especially leading up to this election. After all, this election has been a nightmare for progressives, with Northam lacking in tangible progressive policies and values. Examining the flaws of Northam’s campaign, and the Democratic Party as a whole will help us understand the demands that people need make of the party going forward. And hopefully, by doing so, we can lessen our chances of having a “too close to call” situation between a racist, fear-mongering conservative and a milquetoast democratic candidate.

It is also important to acknowledge the fact that Northam isn’t a progressive. I don’t understand how anyone would consider someone who voted for George W. Bush twice, refuses to take a hard stance against the building of pipelines, and is willing to change his position on something as vital as immigration policy to be a progressive, let alone allow him to get away with branding himself as such.

Photo by David Streever

Admittedly, there are policies that Northam believes which separates him from Gillespie, such as his open support of reproductive rights and the LGBTQ community.

However, this gets at a key frustration I have with the Democratic Party: When I’m voting for a Democrat, I am often voting for my survival. In every election I have participated in, I’ve had to choose a politician who didn’t have any ideas on how to improve the lives of those struggling under capitalism, yet I supported them because they weren’t interested in taking my rights away. In Northam’s case, I voted for him due to the fact that he supports reproductive rights, and because I wanted one of my best friends to continue to safely transition as a trans woman.

Voting out of fear for the safety of a loved one is a terrible reason to want to vote for any politician. It’s cold, callous, and it proves that our “lesser of two evils” two-party system is broken. However, this fear plays right into the Democrats’ hands. The Democratic Party runs on fear. For the past couple of years, their platform has been the fact that they’re not as bad as the Republican Party. But by giving marginalized people no choice, and offering voters nothing but the security of their basic rights, Democrats are leaving us worse off. For example, single-payer health care is becoming an increasingly popular idea among progressives in the United States. However, establishment Democrats don’t want to embrace this fact, opting to die on the hill of the flawed Affordable Care Act instead. If Democrats want to look like they’re serving the interests of the people, they would consider an issue such as single payer, or at the very least, craft another healthcare solution that would serve more of its constituents.

Even if we buy into the fact that we must vote for Democrats simply because they will protect certain rights, there’s no way of knowing whether they’ll stay true to their word. After all, if Northam is willing to change his position on sanctuary cities, using the lives of undocumented immigrants as a bargaining chip, what else is he open to changing his mind about? More to the point, what other issues does Northam think he can compromise with Republicans on? Are we ever going to see an anti-transgender “compromise” in Virginia, similar to the one we saw in North Carolina?

As a young voter, the only time I felt like I was actually voting for someone I believed in was when I voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary. With the Democratic Party undermining Sanders’ popularity and his more progressive policies ever since the primary, and with reports of corruption occurring within the party itself, it’s clear that the Democratic Party does not care about my opinions as a leftist person of color.

This is why we need to step up and make our voices heard. This is why pro-sanctuary city protesters interrupting Northam’s acceptance speech last night is not only important, but absolutely necessary. If we don’t push Democrats to care about progressive issues — which are issues that impact a majority of people in the United States — they won’t care about them. It is our job to challenge these politicians, to make it clear that they work for us, and not the other way around. In these tumultuous times, we cannot get caught resting on our laurels. There’s a lot more work that needs to be done, and the only way we’re going to make progress is by getting active, both inside the electoral system, and in progressive organizations outside out of it.

I’m glad Ralph Northam won the election. Now, it’s time to keep him in check.

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