Dear Voters of the 11th District of Virginia

There is someone among us who has stepped up to the plate, put himself out there, and is willing to represent our interests in the House of Representatives. He is a husband, a father, a counselor and a former US Navy helicopter pilot. He is a 20 year FBI veteran that has served our country honorably, and is asking us to put our faith in him, as he put his faith in us, to elect him the next Congressman of the 11^th district of Virginia. 

That man is Mike Van Meter. 

Mike has a history service with a background that is worthy of a chance to represent this district in the House. His passion for America and its founding principles are what guides him, and will be a part of how he operates as our next Congressman. He deserves our support as he goes up against a system that doesn’t represent nor you or I, but serves a few folks who operate clandestinely behind the scenes, never to show who they are, while they bleed this country dry for their own personal benefit. 

Gerry Connolly has been serving those same people since 2009. If you think he’s been making decisions on your behalf for the last 15 years, you are sadly mistaken. Regardless if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, whether you are a federal worker or not, Gerry Connolly’s claims that he’s out there working for you run opposite to his actions for over a decade in Congress. 

When someone from the power structure needs something, Connolly is right there to do their dirty deed, no matter how much it hurts this district. When he had a town hall just a few months ago, a rare event, it was by phone with prescreened calls so that Connolly only has warm and fuzzy questions that only speak to his narrow and destructive agenda. A real man of the people. 

With a media that hasn’t held this man accountable for 15 years, why should he operate any differently? Is this what we want to continue to vote for? We say we care about democracy, but is that what we’re actually voting for with Gerry Connolly?

And just a quick memo to the Republican Party in Virginia and beyond, your token gestures in the 11^th district might as well come with the waving of a white flag. You’ve been waving it since 2008, and you can’t prove that you’ve put it down since. Waiting out Gerry Connolly and expecting his retirement before you lift a finger in this district has proven to be counterproductive at the very least and disastrous and the very most. 

Voters of the 11^th district, don’t wait on support from the GOP to do something. And don’t think for a second that your vote doesn’t count. Gerry Connolly is not inevitable, he only thinks he’s inevitable because we have a media that doesn’t hold him accountable and a GOP that abandoned your district.

You can raise both arms on November 5^th and pop those fingers in the air to a failed media and tell the Republicans we don’t need your help in this district to defeat someone that has dragged us down for 15 years. We have an opportunity to vote in a man with the dignity and honor that is worth to represent us in this very important district. We can take it back in just a few weeks and defeat a system that’s rotten to the core, and tell Mike’s party we made this happen, no thanks to them. 

Thank you,

Mena Yousef