Michael Pope

Well, welcome to Transition Virginia, the podcast that examines the ongoing transition of power in Virginia. I'm Michael Pope.

Thomas Bowman

And I'm Thomas Bowman. Today on the podcast, the Democratic Primary for Lieutenant Governor. So there are like 800 candidates in this race. Okay, just eight, but it feels like a lot.

Michael Pope

Who are these people? What would they do if elected? And what are the differences between them? We're gonna break it all down for you today.

Thomas Bowman

And we've got the perfect guest to help us walk through the list of candidates and understand more about them. Returning to the podcast, we're joined by the former Executive Director of the House Democratic Caucus, and a fan favorite here at Transition Virginia, friend of the podcast, Trevor Southerland.

Trevor Southerland

Great to be back guys, it took you way too long. Even your other guests were saying that I should be back on like, I would be a little offended but at least I don't have to put up Ramadan this time.

Thomas Bowman

I was wondering if your ears were burning after our last episode, where you got a mention in the first five minutes,

Michael Pope

Shout out, right off the top of the episode.

Trevor Southerland

Simon was texting me while he was recording the episode like, you know, "I can't believe you're not on here. I am, man. They want me, not you."

Michael Pope

Alright, so we're going to talk about all 800 people running for Lieutenant Governor in the Democratic Primary. So that's- actually it's eight. But I mean, it is a huge group of people here. Let's set the stage by talking about like, what the heck is the Lieutenant Governor? It's a kind of a low-profile gig. And why would people even want this job?

Trevor Southerland

Well, a lot of people I think, see it as a springboard to the Governorship. I mean, you know, when you're talking to the average person, they assume Lieutenant Governor, sort of similar to Vice President, you know, it must be the springboard to the Governorship and we have so few statewide offices here in Virginia that, you know, if you're not an attorney, that is sort of the place that you go, if you want to try to get a campaign for Governor together. In Georgia, for example, they have something like 10 or 12 statewide offices that you can run for. So you can be at a statewide office and launch your campaign from there but there are very few statewide offices here in the Commonwealth.

Michael Pope

And the way things are currently organized, the Lieutenant Governor in Virginia is probably a little more powerful now than under normal circumstances because the Senate is so closely tied. And you've got, you know, Joe Morrissey, who knows how he's going to come down on a lot of issues. So the Lieutenant Governor might actually end up breaking all kinds of ties, right? So, in the current environment, the job is actually probably even more influential than it would be under normal circumstances. So let's get into these candidates here. I want to start with Delegate Sam Rasoul. He represents Roanoke. He was first elected in 2013 to fill the seat vacated by Democrat Ansley Ware. A campaign finance record show he's raised more money than any other of the candidates in this Democratic Primary, more than $650,000. Now, a large chunk of that money comes from the healthcare sector, physicians, pharmacists, and dentists. And this is how he introduces his biography on the campaign trail. And I made it a point of keeping the preliminary remarks here so you can hear the pivot. Check this out.

Sam Rasoul

Thank you. And we appreciate the Virginia People's Debate for putting this together. Look, we've all had some vulnerable moments over the past several years and a big, vulnerable moment for me, was in December of 2015 when a then-candidate for president said that people who worship like me are not welcome in this country.

Michael Pope

So we've all had some, "vulnerable moments." What do we make of this introduction?

Trevor Southerland

Well, I think Sam is playing to his strengths. And that's what they all should do. And Sam, as a Muslim, has an opportunity to reach out to people and to talk to people in a way that the other candidates can't. As far as a vulnerable moment, you know, everybody's had a rough year with COVID. Everybody's had some things going on. Sam is taking it back to 2015, to once again invoke Trump, and talk about the Muslim Ban, and the things that Trump did. It's a good move for him.

Thomas Bowman

Yeah, I agree with that. It's, it's good to bring up his strengths and the things that make him different, and stand out from the crowd. Now, with Sam Rasoul being a Muslim from Roanoke, that puts him in an interesting position, state-wide. This guy was stumping around the entire state of Virginia Commonwealth, excuse me of Virginia, during the 2019 cycle, raising his own profile and the profile of certain pet progressive issues. Trevor, do you recall what some of those progressive issues were, that he's been stumping on for the last year and a half, not to put you on the spot?

Trevor Southerland

Alright, Sam talks a lot about the repeal of Right to Work. He talks a lot about health care. He talks a lot about ending fossil fuels and ending the pipeline that I know one of them is stopped and the other one is still sort of going. Those are sort of the main issues that I've heard him hit on.

Thomas Bowman

You know, and in the General Assembly itself, he really was the guy who took the football for the Green New Deal, at least in the House of Delegates. And he's got a problem there. Where the Green New Deal is very politically popular with the Electorate. However, it's not popular in the halls of the General Assembly, because it's a framework and not an actual policy plan. And Sam Rasoul was trying to breathe life into that, but ultimately couldn't get it done. Trevor, to your recollection, was that, is that a patron problem or is that a vote-counting problem?

Trevor Southerland

Well, I think it's more a fleshing out the policy problem. I do think there were things in the Green New Deal that people liked, but the way it is sometimes presented, it's more of this idealistic hope. It's not so much, "Here's how we actually get from A to B to C." And that's what legislators want to see. They want to see how do we do this? How do we not bankrupt the Commonwealth to do it? And that's how we ended up with a bill that was a definite, you know, environmental plus, but not the Green New Deal.

Michael Pope

Now on the campaign trail, Delegate Rasoul was asked about his priorities. And this is how he responded to that.

Sam Rasoul

There is nothing more important to be talking about right now than to be putting immense pressure on the federal government, and the United States Senate, to pass a comprehensive bill, that reinstates the Voting Rights Act. Today, that is the single most important thing that we can do.

Michael Pope

Is this the single most important thing to be talking about? What does this say about Rasoul's priorities?

Trevor Southerland

Well, as a Democrat, he's right. This is the single most important thing that we can be talking about because with voting rights, with more people going to the ballot box, we see what happens, and that is that Democrats win. When you obstruct Democrats from going to the ballot box, which is what Republicans in Georgia and some other states are working very hard to do right now, you're going to make things harder. So he's right, from a Democratic perspective, at the federal level. As far as everyday Virginians go, I don't know if they get that message enough. But he's running in an eight wide primary right now. And in that primary, it's a good message to have.

Thomas Bowman

It's also important to point out that Virginia is now the first state in the South to have a state-level Voting Rights Act. Right? So as to whether or not it's the most important thing for the Lieutenant Governor to prioritize, I don't know if that's true. Because we now have it. We have a lot of other things on the agenda that we have to contend with. It's absolutely true, that it's the most important thing on the federal level. But this time, Sam Rasoul is not running for Congress, he's running for Lieutenant Governor.

Michael Pope

Yeah, that's why it kind of struck me that I mean, he's talking about the most important thing and certainly an important issue, but for this race, it just it did strike me as interesting that he chose more of a federal issue to focus on for the Lieutenant Governor's race, but clearly, an issue people are concerned about. So I mean, perhaps it might resonate with voters. So moving on to our next candidate here, Delegate Hala Ayala represents Prince William County. She was first elected in 2017, defeating incumbent Republican Rich Anderson. Campaign finance record shows she's raised about $430,000, including $60,000 from her House of Delegates campaign account, and $25,000 from the environmental group, Clean Virginia. We'll see that's a running theme here, Clean Virginia has actually given to a number of these candidates. Now she's running because she says so many people feel excluded from the process. This is how she introduces herself.

Hala Ayala

For a long time, I did not feel like politicians looked like me or had lived experience like mine. I'm an Afro Latina, Lebanese, Irish woman, which is a lot. But I never thought I'd be here today. My family struggled growing up, and I lost my father to gun violence at an early age. And when I was pregnant with my son, working at a gas station, I had no safety net, no health insurance.

Michael Pope

What do we make of this introduction?

Trevor Southerland

Hala has the unique ability to appeal to a lot of different people. And not just when she was talking about ethnicity there. You know, I went, when I was in college, I worked second shift at a restaurant and third shift at a gas station. I like the idea of elected officials that have done something like that, that have had to put themselves through some difficult times and difficult jobs that people hardly pay attention to. So she is using her ability to talk to a lot of different people at one time in that introduction.

Thomas Bowman

You know, I do want to point out something that when we say that Delegate Ayala has raised over $400,000, really important to point out that half of that, $201,098, is an in-kind contribution. Most of that from Good Vibes Entertainment LLC, in-kind donation for event expenses. So I don't know what kind of event costs 100 grand, but most of that first-quarter report was in-kind contributions. So she's really only raised about a little over $150,000 of actual cash and like you said $60,000 was from her Delegate fund, $25,000 of that was from Clean Virginia. It's important to point out that the top lines can sometimes be a little misleading. That said, Delegate Ayala is the only member of the General Assembly who is literate in cybersecurity, which is a huge issue these days.

Michael Pope

Now, Delegate Ayala does present herself as, "the only candidate," in her words, who can, "build bridges and build on the successes of the new Democratic majorities." And this is how she framed her time in the General Assembly.

Hala Ayala

It's one thing about talking about broadband expansion, I've done it. Broadband and utility across the Commonwealth. It's one thing to talk about expanding healthcare. I've done it. Expanded Medicaid for 400,000 Virginians. It's one thing to talk about raising teacher pay. I've done it with a 5% teacher pay raise in the House. It's one thing to talk about crime reform. I've done it as Chief Deputy Whip. It's one thing to talk about bringing diverse voices to the table. I've done it and will do it again as your next Lieutenant Governor.

Michael Pope

Is this an argument that is going to seize people's attention in this crowded field?

Trevor Southerland

Yeah, I mean, she's talking about what she has done, the result she has gotten, and she's basically saying some people are talking the talk, but she's walked the walk. And when you're talking about such a wide primary, I'm probably gonna say this 18 times, you really got to find something that makes you stand out. And that's what I think most of these candidates are trying to do. And that's what she's trying to do with this argument.

Thomas Bowman

Delegate Ayala is going to be a very compelling candidate for a lot of people. One, we're still in the era of female candidates. She is an extremely diverse Democratic elected official, from a very populous and growing county in Virginia. And she's got just wide appeal to people of all sorts. I mean, name your issue, she's gonna be good on the vote from a Democratic perspective.

Michael Pope

And moving on to our next candidate. Andria McClellan is a member of the Norfolk City Council. She was first elected in May of 2016. Remember when we used to have local elections in May? Campaign finance records show she's raised about $230,000 and her biggest contribution is from a $115,000 contribution from the Norfolk-based PAC Access for Virginia. This is how she frames her biography.

Andria McClellan

I was raised by a single mom who juggled multiple jobs to make ends meet. I worked my way through college with a combination of Pell Grants and work-study programs for four years at the University of Virginia, and after graduating and working and running two small businesses, I returned back to Hampton Roads, where I saw too many families who are struggling as my mom had.

Michael Pope

Single mom, Pell Grants, work studies, struggling family. Trevor, does this speak to that second shift, third shift thing you were talking about a minute ago?

Trevor Southerland

It does. It does. I mean, it speaks to she was once there. I mean, just anybody who has actually qualified for a Pell Grant knows what you have to be at to qualify for a Pell Grant. And so she is letting people know that she was once there, even if she's not now, she has known that place. And that is something that at least some voters, including myself, want to hear from candidates.

Thomas Bowman

You know, it's interesting that this is in her bio, because she also comes from Norfolk Southern money, right? And that's not necessarily something that people associate with single mom, Pell Grants, work-study, struggling family. But Norfolk Southern is also a corporate institution in Virginia. And I found in the debate when she answered whether or not she supported repealing Right to Work, she said she did. And to me, that was the most interesting answer of the bunch. Because the rest of them, it's a gimme answer for. And Andria McClellan was an open question as to whether or not she supported it. And the fact that somebody coming from Norfolk Southern money supports repealing Right to Work, is a huge deal that I don't think people should miss.

Michael Pope

You know, as a member of the Norfolk City Council, she can bring a level of experience that none of these other candidates have with local government. And she's trying to capitalize on this by making her agenda kind of aligned with some of those local government issues that she's got experience with. Here's her talking about a proposal on affordable housing.

Andria McClellan

We need a statewide database of affordable housing, where people can search and find opportunities, or with also information about proximity to schools and healthcare and food, so they're not in a food, desert, etc. But that needs to be searchable and available for all throughout the Commonwealth that doesn't currently exist. And that's one of the things that I would absolutely like to look forward to as Lieutenant Governor to highlight.

Michael Pope

Is her experience with local government an asset?

Trevor Southerland

I think it can be and I mean, again, she's playing to what she has. She's in a field, where half of the field is going to be able to tout the successes of the Democratic majorities in the General Assembly. She's got to talk about what she's done. And that's the local government level. I think it will resonate with some people, especially those that care about this issue, which there is a very passionate group that does.

Thomas Bowman

You know, Michael, it's really important to point out that she is not just a member of the Norfolk City Council, she's an at large member of the Norfolk City Council, which means she represents more constituents than anybody else running for office right now.

Trevor Southerland

And she also, just to throw this out there, is one of the two people who tied for best background during this debate. I have her and Mark Levine tied as winning the best background. The other folks, they all have a little bit of work to do. But her and Mark Levine did a good job there.

Michael Pope

Now, remind me what her background was?

Trevor Southerland

She was, she was sitting in a chair. It was a nice, large chair. She had a lamp behind her. And she had her campaign sign where it was visible. You could see her full name. It was a good placement of the sign. Some other folks had signs but you know, the names were cut off and stuff like that. You got to make it easy for people to know who you are.

Michael Pope

Also, now that you mentioned the chair, I'm thinking there's a subliminal message there, executive. People associate large chairs with executives.

Trevor Southerland

Yeah, exactly. She's, she's had some help from somebody who looks at this stuff, and that's a smart thing to do.

Thomas Bowman

Let's take a break. When we come back, we'll talk about Sean Perryman, Mark Levine, Elizabeth Guzman, Xavier Warren, and Paul Goldman.

Michael Pope

And we're back on Transition Virginia, we're talking about all 800 of these Lieutenant Governor candidates. No just kidding, there are only eight. And so now we're going to talk about Sean Perryman. Now, this is the former head of the NAACP in Fairfax County. Campaign finance documents show he's raised about $200,000, including a $25,000 contribution from Clean Virginia. Here's Perryman framing his biography.

Sean Perryman

We did changes like making the change to Robert E. Lee High School and renaming it John Lewis High School. We did changes in policing in Fairfax County. What we really did, more than anything else, was join together to show up that a progressive agenda can win anywhere in Virginia.

Michael Pope

Changing the name from a Confederate General, policing reform in Fairfax County. What do we make of this biographical sketch?

Trevor Southerland

Well, he's talking to some of the issues that are resonating with Democrat- Democratic voters right now. We've changed the names of several high schools throughout the state. We've changed the names of other schools, I think an elementary school in Richmond, we changed, and he's talking about policing concerns that have been voiced. I don't know if the reference to everywhere in Virginia appeals because most people would think of Fairfax County as a very blue Democratic stronghold. So I don't think it's shocking that this happened in Fairfax County, but I get what he's trying to do.

Thomas Bowman

You know, something else that's interesting about Sean Perryman, he worked at a law firm that got eventually hired by Donald Trump. And rather than take the paycheck, he quit. Right? So if you're questioning whether somebody is or isn't somebody of principle, I think that Sean Perryman's demonstrated it with his own wallet.

Trevor Southerland

Yeah, I think that is a very good bio point. It always seems to be something that would resonate with people.

Michael Pope

On the issues, he talks about, on the campaign trail, he talks about removing school resource officers from schools de-felonizing drugs and allowing incarcerated people to vote, which we talked about on a previous episode of the podcast. Now, although there are several other candidates in this race calling for a ban on corporate money in politics, Perryman had this to say about campaign finance reform.

Sean Perryman

I don't think corporate donations are a problem. I think the problem is contribution limits, whether you're getting your money $100,000 from an LLC, or from Joe Smith down the block, they are still having influence over you. And so we absolutely have to have limits on our contributions. That's both for corporations and for people.

Michael Pope

I thought this is really interesting because it made him stand out. All the other candidates are calling for a ban on corporate contributions. So is this a position that makes him stand out in this crowded field? And is he right about this?

Trevor Southerland

I do think he's right about part of it. But I don't know if it's gonna help him stand out. This is an issue that we talk about so much in Democratic politics, that does not reach a high level of concern with most voters. It's fairly low on their list, but we spend a lot of time talking about it. But he is right. If you are a person who bends to the will of your donors, it doesn't matter if that donor is giving you $100,000 through personal money, a PAC, a corporation if they start an LLC to give you money, whatever it is, if you are a person that is influenced by donations, then there is no difference in how you get the donation. I disagree with the thing, you know, I think that the level of transparency we have is a good thing to have. I think the money will still be there, even with contribution limits. I just think we put the problem somewhere else.

Thomas Bowman

Trevor, could you expand on that real quick? Because, if we're talking about corporate contributions, Sean Perryman mentions that all contributions that are uncapped are the problem. And we just did an episode on campaign contributions. What point would you make about campaign contribution limits?

Trevor Southerland

So campaign contribution limits sound really good. There's something that it's very appealing. I understand why people like the idea. But the thing is right now, and I'm not going to use a real name, because I don't want to get anybody fighting with me. If I represent either Corporation A or Pac B or Wealthy Individual C, and I give $100,000 or $200,000 to Sean Perryman, under Virginia law, everybody is going to see that. They're going to see, "Oh, Trevor has given $200,000 to Sean Perryman." And then if all of a sudden, you know, Sean just starts going out of his way to make sure I get everything I want, then you can make an assumption that Sean is doing something for Trevor. If you limit it, so you have a $10,000 limit, and I give Sean $10,000, I might still go and create a C four, or a C three, or some other type of organization, put my money into that, run ads that help Sean get elected, and make sure that Sean knows, I was the person that helped make that happen. And so you know, it's still there, it's just a little less visible, and it adds a further layer of confusion where people may not be able to clearly see, "Oh, that was Trevor, who was giving Sean that money," because they're gonna have to go through various records and connect the dots and that can be hard to do.

Michael Pope

Our next candidate is Mark Levine. Now, Delegate Mark Levine represents Alexandria. He was first elected in 2015 and he filled the seat vacated by the former Delegate Rob Krupicka. Campaign finance record show, he's raised about $200,000, including $25,000, from Clean Virginia. This is how he introduces himself.

Mark Levine

I began basically, with actions of civil disobedience, and the marriage equality movement, at a time when no gay couples would get married anywhere in the world, I started a statewide gay rights organization, marriage equality organization, and I'm very proud of our efforts in that. I also, many of you know, my work on domestic violence, sexual violence, it came out of a family tragedy, the murder of my sister.

Michael Pope

The origin story is always important in comic books and politics. So Levine's origin story is an LGBT advocate and avenger of his sister's death. What do we make of this biographical sketch?

Trevor Southerland

Yeah, it's a good bio, it gets him out there. It is something that is unique. He has a history of gun violence in his family. What happened to his sister was horrible. He came up through the LGBT movement. He talks about how, you know, he thought he would never be able to run for office when he came out. That bio is something the other people in the race do not have. So it's important for Mark to talk about it because it's gonna identify him to the electorate that is trying to make sense of an eight-wide primary.

Thomas Bowman

You know, Delegate Levine is also a candidate who previously attempted to run for Congress back in 2014, when the eighth district opened up, so he's got some experience with larger campaigns than even a House of Delegates race. And then of course, I would put a big asterisk and say that being the delegate from Alexandria City is going to have a far different campaign character than being the delegate from Rockbridge County. So Levine's got a lot going for him when it comes to knowing how to reach people. And he's also very experienced in media. He, he's got his own program.

Michael Pope

Yeah, his day job is radio talk show host. On the issue of Alexandria delegates, let's not forget that Alexandria Delegate Brian Moran made a statewide play for Governor, wasn't successful at it. But he went on to do some cool things after that campaign. One of the things Levine talks a lot about on the campaign trail is making the Lieutenant Governor's position a full-time job, he wants to tour the Commonwealth and sort of use it as a position to be a kind of public advocate. Now, on the issue of criminal justice reform, he talks about his position this way.

Mark Levine

I support no prison sentence for people that are addicted to drugs, period. Because if you're an addict, you need help. You need health care, you don't need to go to prison. And this idea that white people who use opioids don't go to prison, but Black people who use crack do, makes no sense whatsoever. Addicts need our help, not our prisons.

Michael Pope

No prison sentences for people who are addicted to drugs. What do we make of this policy stand?

Trevor Southerland

Yeah, I mean, I definitely think there needs to be a little fleshing out of that. I think it's a good position. However, to reach out to people, I think everybody understands, you know, if you murder someone, or steal something, or commit some other act, while on drugs, that's a different scenario. But I do think it's something that's going to appeal to a lot of people. There are a lot of communities in our Commonwealth that are experiencing a drug crisis. And we need to talk about how we can get them help and Levine talking about making the LG a full-time job, that's another way to sort of get something in front of people about what the position could be. Because it's not sexy to run on, "I'm going to preside over the Senate and occasionally maybe get to cast the tie-breaking vote." So that's what he's doing. And just to mention, again, Levine, tied for first place with McClellan on the background, he had a good background going, too.

Michael Pope

Please walk us through the background. Well, what did you like about it?

Trevor Southerland

So his background is him sitting at his desk. He's got a lot of books behind him. It's a dark background, but not too dark. It's a good setting. And Mark Levine tends to have a lot of policy to talk about. And he talks fast. He's a guy that you think probably has read a lot of books. And it looks like he has if his bookshelf was any indication.

Michael Pope

He had the bookshelf behind them. And it was kind of dark. You're right. It was dark in the sense that it almost looked like a cigar bar. Right? One thing though, about that bookshelf, my memory is there was one shelf that was kind of messy like there were notebooks on it. And they weren't really vertical. They were kind of at an angle as if they were just sort of tossed in there. So I thought does he does he lose points for the messy bookshelf?

Trevor Southerland

No, you gotta you got to let people know that you're working for them. You can't just have a totally untouched bookshelf, it's an office. He's, he's working hard for the people of the Commonwealth.

Michael Pope

Okay, well.

Thomas Bowman

It's also good to point out that Mark Levine was one of the very first Democratic politicians in Virginia, in recent memory, who embraced the role of being progressive. He ran in 2014, calling himself, "the aggressive progressive." And that's a moniker that had not been embraced by mainstream Democrats at that point in time.

Michael Pope

It also kind of made him the odd man out when Republicans were still in control. I remember covering a committee hearing where he had some sort of bill, and the Republicans were mad about something he had posted about gun control. This was not even a gun control bill that they were considering this particular day. And then they asked him, "Hey, did you really write this about Republicans basically being murderers," or something along those lines, and then they killed his bill. So I mean, like, yes, it's true, he is aggressive, that sometimes might not always work, you know, in the political setting in Richmond. But our next candidate is Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, who represents Prince William and Fauquier. She was first elected in 2017, defeating Republican incumbent Delegate Scott Lingenfelter. A campaign finance record show she's raised about $150,000, including $35,000, from Asked Me and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, plus $25,000 from Clean Virginia. She frames her campaign for office as being a kind of Bernie Sanders candidate. This is her on her biography.

Elizabeth Guzman

I was inspired to run for office by Senator Bernie Sanders in 2016. And I was proud to serve as his National Delegate in 2020. It was the honor of my life, to travel with him across the Commonwealth as his Virginia Co-Chair.

Michael Pope

This is the first thing she says about herself. "I am the Bernie Sanders candidate." Is that a winning formula?

Trevor Southerland

It could be because again, we've got eight people running. Bernie Sanders won a decent portion of the vote here in Virginia, if she can make herself the Bernie Sanders candidate, she's hoping that she can get those votes. I think it's gonna be a little harder than that. Because we do have several people in this race that are progressive, but that's what she's going for. She's going all into it, and you got to give her credit for that. And these Clean Virginia folks really get around, I need to get in touch with them.

Thomas Bowman

Yeah, we’ve got to come and circle back around to that at the end of the show, because they have contributed to multiple candidates in the LG race. I would point out that Bernie Sanders did not do that great in Virginia. So whatever your sympathies of him, toward him are, positive or negative, the reality is that Virginia tends to be an establishment state. And so running to the wings, either the left or the right, isn't usually a winning formula for the general election.

Trevor Southerland

Yep. Agree. It could be something that hurts her in the general. She's just trying to get through the primary first.

Michael Pope

Well, on that issue of things that might hurt her in the general, she is one of the most outspoken supporters of ditching the Right to Work Law. Here is Guzman on that issue.

Elizabeth Guzman

I'm ready to go to the Senate to be the voice to educate the senators on how it's important to repeal the Right the Work, that repealed Right to Work is providing workers a voice at the table, to fight for better equipment, to better their salary, and for training purposes as well.

Michael Pope

I love this language of she's ready to go there and educate those senators.

Thomas Bowman

They need it.

Michael Pope

Is this sort of support from labor something that can put her over the top?

Trevor Southerland

She's hoping it can. She's gotten some good fundraising from labor in a race where you're going to need to try to get your name out there, she's going to need some more help with that. Her fundraising has not been great so far. So she needs to make sure that she does better fundraising to get her name out there. I do think her messaging is not appealing to the Senate Democrats. She came straight out of the gate, sort of going after them when she launched her campaign. And that may not be the best with them. But you know, there's only 21 of those guys, that's only 21 votes.

Thomas Bowman

You know, it's important to point out that she's also a current and former union member from some of the unions that endorsed her, specifically ASFME, so the ASFME endorsement's not all that surprising. And Carpenters, and I believe the local for IBEW also endorsed her early on, and part of the reason for that is that Guzman has an outspoken track record on leading on their issues, especially in an environment, where it was previously dangerous to do that. So it's also important to point out that as in Northern Virginia, a large portion of union members are Hispanic. So we've talked about playing to your strengths as a theme throughout this podcast. This is a strength for Delegate Guzman, who hopes to increase the percentage of the Latino vote in Virginia. Okay, let's take a break. We've still got a few more Lieutenant Governor candidates to get through. When we come back, we're going to discuss Xavier Warren, and Paul Goldman. And we'll give a quick wrap on the debate itself.

Michael Pope

And we're back on Transition Virginia, we're talking about the field of Democrats running for Lieutenant Governor. There's a whole lot of them. We have two more to get through here before the end of our episode. So let's talk about Xavier Warren. Now, this is a lobbyist for nonprofits and an NFL player agent. Campaign finance records show he's raised about $65,000. And this is how he introduces himself.

Xavier Warren

Virginia is in a COVID crisis, a racial crisis, a climate crisis, and economic crisis that has caused hundreds of small businesses to close, 1000s of people lose their jobs. One in three people suffered pay cuts, one in four people who go hungry, women to drop out of the workforce at an 8x time higher rate, and many people to lose their homes due to eviction.

Michael Pope

So this is an interesting way to introduce yourself to voters because you're not talking about the struggling family that you came from or the fact that you had Pell Grants or the fact that you work the second shift, third shift, he's talking about the COVID crisis, the racial crisis, the climate crisis. What do we make of this way to introduce himself to voters?

Trevor Southerland

I'm not sure if this is the best introduction, I understand what he's going for. I agree with a lot of what he had to say. But I'm a fairly in-touch voter. So I know that Democrats are in charge of Virginia. And you know, this makes it seem like everything is going awful. So, you know, you would almost think from hearing this intro that Republicans must be in charge. So I get what he's going for. He's not an elected, he's going to try to use his nonprofit background to appeal to people, but I just don't know, if especially after the year we've had, voters are looking to be told how awful things are.

Thomas Bowman

Trevor, that's a really interesting point. I actually had somewhat of a different thought, in that I'm glad he led with the COVID crisis because it's the most important thing. I'm glad that he's talking about the racial crisis. It is also a very important thing. And of course, the climate crisis and the economic crisis. It's a frequent habit of Democrats running for office, to focus on the three things that are guaranteed to get them elected, transportation, education, and the economy. And when we do that, and focus only on those, it's to the detriment of these other extremely important issues, and we nibble around at a cookie without actually taking the full bite. So I find it refreshing that he leads with that. As to whether or not it's good political strategy as a means of introduction, you know, I'll defer to the man with far more Virginia experience than me, with Trevor here. But, but yeah, it...He's also relatively unknown. What kind of experience in Virginia government does he have, if any, Trevor?

Trevor Southerland

None, none that I know of. His nonprofit experience, you know, had him doing some things in Virginia. But I mean, it's funny that you mentioned that because during the debate, a couple of different times he mentioned, automatic voter registration is something we need to do in Virginia. And I was very caught off guard because that's something we did. It was a Joshua Cole bill from the 2020 Session, that makes it now when you go to the DMV to get your license, or your ID card or anything, you have to check if you don't want to register to vote. Now, he might be talking about taking it a step further, where you know, you have to be registered or something like that. But that's, that's a whole different program. And so I think it was interesting because I think later in the debate, I think after he brought it up the second time, one of the delegates said, you know, we've done that. And so that will be interesting as we keep going through this, when you talk about the solutions, some of them are things that have already happened in the last two years.

Michael Pope

Now on the campaign trail, he also talks about ending the cash bail system and investing in solar farm panels. He frames his campaign as, "a fresh start for Virginia," replacing the old order of tobacco, textiles, and agriculture.

Xavier Warren

I want Virginia to be the leader in technology, healthcare innovation, and also clean energy jobs, and helping families to build generational wealth. We need to close the racial, the racial generational wealth gap. And we've needed to be able to help people get back on their feet. Our revolution is now. It's time that we need new leadership, new ideas, and a fresh start.

Michael Pope

I thought this is pretty clever actually taking our revolution and sort of incorporating it into his message. Is this something that's going to resonate with people?

Trevor Southerland

Well, I don't know if it's gonna resonate with the electorate at large, it is going to resonate with the people he was talking to, using that, "our revolution," terminology. I mean, half the groups that sponsored this forum had, "our revolution," in their name, so that that was an important thing for him to hit on. Also, I am very happy to hear someone talking about generational wealth. That is one of the biggest problems we have in this country. It's a racial thing that hits very hard, but generational wealth is one of our biggest problems, even if you take race out of it, and I'm glad to hear somebody talking about it. It's an important issue.

Michael Pope

Great. Okay. And so our last candidate here is Paul Goldman. Now Mr. Goldman has been around Virginia politics for many years, he worked for Howlin Henry Howell who ran for Governor unsuccessful, several times, in the 60s and 70s. He also worked for former Governor Doug Wilder. Now when Goldman speaks, you'll hear about Henry Howell and Doug Wilder quite a lot, just about every time he speaks. Campaign finance record show he raised about $3,000. And this is how he introduced himself at the Virginia People's Debate.

Paul Goldman

Truth is, I thought about not participating. I've never been more embarrassed by my party. I was Henry Howell's campaign manager, godfather of progressive politics in Virginia. The only white person in Virginia willing to be Doug Wilders campaign manager. They threw a lot of stuff at us. We were adults, we could handle it. The last month, Democrats in the House of Delegates killed a constitutional amendment to take out a racial poison pill in the educational clause in the Virginia Constitution.

Michael Pope

He thought about not participating in the debate because of something Democrats didn't want to do. And Henry Howell something and Doug Wilder...What's happening here?

Trevor Southerland

Yeah, I mean, I'm just really afraid of when somebody comes out with the drinking game, because if Henry Howell was on it, guys, I don't know if I'll make it to the end.

Thomas Bowman

Like every answer talked about Wilder or Henry Howell, because he was an adult in the 1970's, when all of this was going on. And if you're somebody who wants to elect new blood, this man's not it.

Michael Pope

Well, one of the things he wants to focus on is education. And on the campaign trail, he talks about education, every opportunity that he can, including this question, when he was asked about his support of LGBT rights. This is how he responded.

Paul Goldman

One of the reasons I'm fighting so hard for these new schools that I've seen the bathrooms particularly for the women in the sports facilities for women in these run down, obsolete schools is atrocious. They won't even fix them up. And I'm surprised we haven't heard more about education so far. That is the great equalizer.

Michael Pope

Is education an issue that will capture the attention of voters?

Trevor Southerland

Yeah, I think education, as Thomas mentioned, that's one of the big issues. The bathrooms at some of our schools are atrocious. He is correct. I really think that was a very good statement by him. It probably would have been better with a Henry Howell reference, though.

Thomas Bowman

Yeah, look, he's not. Yeah, he's not wrong on the issue at all. And people should listen to him and listen to what he says. At this point, though, I would say that, like, when, when you're somebody who says you debate whether or not you even want to participate, you're not a serious candidate. And it's just that simple.

Trevor Southerland

I just can't believe he hasn't gotten the Clean Virginia money. What's the holdup there?

Michael Pope

Well, you know, actually, we're gonna wrap this episode up. But let's talk about that. So I read off all of the times that Clean Virginia had donated to these campaigns, which was many. What do we make of the fact that Clean Virginia has given $25,000 donations to so many of these candidates?

Trevor Southerland

Well, this is what they've said they would do. They said that because the primary was so large, and because there were so many people that identify with their organization, that they would give an equal amount to each one of them. I'm pretty sure the only reason Sam Rasoul hasn't gotten it, is that he is not taking any PAC money, which Clean Virginia is a PAC. Now, obviously, a supporter of Clean Virginia could write an individual's check to Sam Rasoul, but I don't think they've done that. So I don't know if he'll benefit from that. But yeah, they're spreading the money around to support all the candidates that support their organization.

Thomas Bowman

Yeah, it's a really interesting move from them, because you don't usually see organizations split their money that way. You know, if you were cynical, you might just look at it as an interest group trying to hedge their bets, right, and say, "Well, we've got a lot of friends here. And let's make sure one of them remembers that we were their top contributor early on."

Michael Pope

Trevor, one last question before we wrap this up. So we talked about eight candidates, is there going to be a ninth candidate?

Trevor Southerland

It sounds like there's going to be a ninth candidate getting in the race. It's not someone that I know, it's not an elected official. So I guess we'll see. I guess there's still time. You know, I don't even know when the deadline is for the petitions. But-

Michael Pope

It's the 25th.

Trevor Southerland

I- we got time to get to an even dozen here, Michael. I think we can get there if people just dig down, work hard enough, you too can get on the ballot and possibly be the next Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Thomas Bowman

Yeah, that's a nice place to leave. If you have comments, questions, disagreements, serious objections to what you just heard, or maybe you only want to tell us what you think about the show, write an email, send it to us at TransitionVApodcast@gmail.com so we can read it on the air. Subscribe to Transition Virginia anywhere pods are cast, follow the Transition Team on Twitter @TransitionVA and find us on the web at transitionvirginia.com. Don't forget to like and subscribe so you can enjoy our next episode of Transition Virginia.