VICTORY: Democracy for America celebrates legislature flip, ‘Purple to Blue’ wins in Virginia
Tonight, with the help of 4 critical DFA-endorsed candidate victories, Democrats took control of both chambers of Virginia's General Assembly.
This is a major victory for Virginia progressives and Democracy for America, which, in 2013, made Virginia the flagship state in it’s Purple to Blue project, a multi-year, multi-state, multi-million dollar effort to flip Governors, State Houses, and State Senate Chambers to Democratic control.
Statement from Charles Chamberlain, Chair of Democracy for America, on the flip to Democratic control in Virginia’s General Assembly and the success of DFA’s Purple to Blue program:
“Tonight’s historic flip of Virginia’s House of Delegates and State Senate to Democratic control is not only a huge victory for the people of the Commonwealth, it’s a victory that Democracy for America has been working towards for the last seven years.
“Back in March 2013, a lot of folks thought we were nuts for making an overwhelmingly ‘red’ state like Virginia the flagship of our multi-year, multi-state, multi-million dollar Purple to Blue campaign to flip Governors, State Houses, and State Senate Chambers from Republican to Democrat across the country by the end of 2020.
“But we knew that if we worked with Virginians to invest in diverse progressive leadership, and focus on building the power of the growing New American Majority of Black, brown, and progressive white voters, profound inclusive populist change would win in the Commonwealth.
“We were honored to endorse Ghazala Hashmi (VA-SD-10), Joshua Cole (VA-HD-28), Elizabeth Guzman (VA-HD-31) and Danica Roem (VA-HD-13) ahead of their victories tonight. Each worked their heart out to win their race and, in office, will work tirelessly for the communities they serve, and we look forward to working with them every step of the way.
“Tonight, after years of hard work, Virginians finally have a government that represents their proud progressive values.” -- Charles Chamberlain, Executive Director, Democracy for America
Facts about DFA’s “Purple to Blue” work in Virginia since 2013:
Since DFA’s 2013 Launch of the “Purple to Blue” project in Virginia, DFA has:
- Backed dozens of candidates -- like Del. Jennifer Boysko, Hala Ayala, John Bell -- with people-powered support from DFA members and grassroots donations.
- Made more than 650,000 volunteer calls using our DFA Dialer distributed voter calling tool.
- Worked closely with in-state partners like the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus to train and support candidates and campaign staff.
- Worked closely with endorsed campaigns on everything from designing voter outreach programs for turning out the New American Majority to coaching candidates and staff on campaign mechanics.
In 2019, specifically, DFA endorsed 14 general election candidates across the state up and down the ballot. This included:
- Five Candidates for the House of Delegates -- Joshua Cole (VA-HD-28); Elizabeth Guzman (VA-HD-31); Danica Roem (VA-HD-13); Mavis Taintor (VA-HD-33); Jessica Foster (VA-HD-88)
- Four Candidates for the State Senate -- Ghazala Hashmi (VA-SD-10); Amy Laufer (VA-SD-17); Amanda Pohl (VA-SD-11); Qasim Rashid (VA-SD-28)
- Three candidates for local School Boards -- Karl Frisch (Fairfax County (VA) School Board - Providence District); Joseph George (Prince William County (VA) School Board - Neabsco District); Karen Keys-Gamarra (Fairfax County (VA) School Board);
- Two candidates for other county/local offices -- Josh King (Prince William County (VA) Sheriff); Kenny Boddy (Prince Williams (VA) Board of Supervisors - Occoquan District)