It's Gotta Be Creigh

by: AdamSharp

Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 12:17:20 PM EDT

In Mt. Jackson.

If any of you know where Mt. Jackson is, it's because you're a VA Tech or JMU student who briefly looked up as you were zipping down Interstate 81 at exit 273 and noticed there's a Sheetz. It's a highly conservative, thoroughly Republican area in Shenandoah County.

And a contender for the Democratic nomination for governor was there, smiling and talking and winning over curious Republicans.

That's why Creigh has got to be our nominee.

Virginia Democratic Legislators and Candidates on Twitter

by: AdamSharp

Fri Feb 20, 2009 at 12:33:11 PM EST

Vivian Paige asked an interesting question yesterday: "Is it me or does it seem like there are more R legislators on Twitter than D?" (You can follow Vivian's "tweets" here: @vpaige.)

I decided to look through the folks I follow on Twitter (I'm @adamsharp) to see how many Virginia Democratic legislators and 2009 candidates are on Twitter. Below is my unscientific and probably incomplete list; please let me know of more folks in the comments.

(Note: Twitter is not a panacea - it is not a silver bullet. Candidates who are on Twitter still need to have a plan for how to use it well and must follow through with that plan.

If you want to debate how useful Twitter really is, or which candidates are using Twitter better than others, do that in the comments. If you'd like to talk about how to better utilize Twitter on your campaign, Sharp Political Consulting may be able to help. E-mail me.)

 These Virginia Democrats are Twittering:

Top House of Delegates ActBlue Candidates

by: AdamSharp

Mon Jan 26, 2009 at 10:54:57 AM EST

Update from Adam: Incumbents are italicized. Because the General Assembly is in session, members are not raising money for their campaigns. ActBlue has disabled contributions to sitting delegates and senators until after the General Assembly adjourns for the year.

I will try to keep track of all the House of Delegates candidates on ActBlue and who is "in the lead" each week in terms of fundraising. The candidate's name links to their ActBlue "hub" page, and the number in parentheses is the candidate's district.

As of January 25:

Democratic House Caucus Chair Race - Running Tally

by: AdamSharp

Fri Dec 12, 2008 at 04:23:02 PM EST

Update: Well, our intelligence was very wrong. Mistakes were made. What we thought were known knowns turned out to be unknown unknowns.

Congratulations Delegate Ken Plum, the new Democratic Caucus Chair!

Update: No one is running against Delegate Amundson. Congratulations to the next House Democratic Caucus Chair! 

We're going to keep a running tally of which Democratic delegates support which candidates for Chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

My best guess is the two main candidates will be Delegate Kristen "Kris" Amundson (44th district) and Delegate Lionell Spruill (77th district). If there are others, leave their names in the comments.

We're going to run this similar to how Talking Points Memo readers track down which senators have placed holds on nominations. If you are represented by a Democrat in the House of Delegates, please call their district office or e-mail them and ask who they support for Caucus Chair. Then leave their answer in the comments. I will update the diary as results come in.

(If you're not lucky enough to be represented by a Democratic delegate, call those you know or just e-mail them all.)

The position of Caucus Chair is going to be crucial for Democratic chances to win the House of Delegates this year (we need to get to 51 seats, 6 more to go). Let's make sure the Caucus Chair is the best we have. Follow the race after the jump.

The Question Moran, Deeds and McAuliffe Must Answer

by: AdamSharp

Thu Dec 04, 2008 at 09:45:48 PM EST

2009 will not be 2008. I hope that remains the most insightful statement on this blog for no more than a day. 

But Democrats must remember that none of the three white guys running for the gubernatorial nomination will make history if they win. No overcoming racism or breaking glass ceilings for these boys.

Because none of the three, therefore, have a moral argument for their candidacy, we can move on to a more fundamental, pragmatic question: can they win?

Lost in the shuffle of Obama winning Virginia is a realization of how he won Virginia, and how Democrats can win the Executive Mansion for a rare third straight time. The key to winning a statewide election in Virginia is winning a majority of the Commonwealth's 11 congressional districts.

The question, then, for Messrs. Deeds, Moran and McAuliffe is this: Can you realistically win 6 districts?