4 African-American Dems thrown out in 2021 ‘red wave’
I have often said the Democrats are much more strategic and calculating than us. Being largely secular and void of religion and ethics in their lives, their leaders want to win elections in the worst way rather than the best way. And, once in office, after lying about raising taxes and expanding government during the campaign, they borrow, tax and spend to con voters with “free stuff.”
One of the more Machiavellian things the Democrats did in Virginia was the legal effort, led by former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, to rewrite the 2011 General Assembly districts on grounds they disadvantaged minority voters and politicians. And then, outside billionaires like George Soros, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg pumped millions into 2019 House and Senate races to enable Democrats to win the General Assembly for the first time in more than 20 years, which they did.
This Times-Dispatch article, whining about the 2021 losses by black legislators, is ironic.
The 2 woke reporters write:
“The four Black lawmakers were among the seven Democratic incumbents beaten by Republican challengers, as Virginia’s voters flipped control of the House of Delegates to the GOP.
“Members of the Legislative Black Caucus said the losses of Dels. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg; Alex Askew, D-Virginia Beach; Josh Cole, D-Fredericksburg; and Roslyn Tyler, D-Sussex, will create a void of institutional knowledge, and could result in an overall loss of membership of one to two members, depending on the outcome of two pending recounts in Hampton Roads, even as Virginia’s Black population is growing. The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus has 23 members in 2021.”
Gosh, doesn’t this make you want to shed tears?
What “institutional knowledge” can three of them, only elected in 2019, possibly have in Richmond? Dang, what about lamenting the loss of great GOP legislators in the 2017-19 cycles like Randy Minchew, Jim Lemunyon, Tag Greason and Chris Stolle? Oh, that’s right – they’re white male Republicans! Forgot.
However, the T-D notes four new “black voices” were elected, three Democrat, and one Republican, A.C. Cordoza in Hampton-Newport News, whose race is undergoing a recount. Askew’s loss to Karen Greenalgh –who purchased and read my book on running for office, and whom I advised early on in her quest for the 85th seat– also is in recount.
But the T-D’s “Lamentations” about these great legislative leaders leaving office failed to research the history.
For the 2010-11 redistricting, then House Delegate Chris Jones went to the Black Caucus and told them that they would get whatever they wanted in the way of redistricting maps. The Black Caucus wanted to protect Black Democratic incumbents and the HOD Republicans gave them 100% of what they wanted.
This article in the Bull Elephant documents that
Then in 2017, the HOD Democrats hire Democrat lawyer Mark Elias to challenge those minority-majority as being unconstitutional “black-packing.” The HOD Black Caucus then had a quick case of amnesia, forgot that it approved of those 2011 Black Caucus member districts, and joined in with the Mark Elias lawsuit.
So, Mark Elias and Eric Holder win before the Supreme Court in 2019, and. about six House districts are redrawn
The Dems win, and Attorney General Mark Herring, and Delegates Eileen Filler-Corn, and Lamont Bagby get all self-righteous and claim a huge win against the “Illegal Republican gerrymander.” Of course, the woke media are gushing with joy!
But then along comes Glenn Youngkin and a failure of Democrats to turn out the black vote and anti-Trump vote in the 2021 campaign. And what happens?
Four black incumbents lose their seats under the new court-ordered HOD districts thereby giving control to the HOD Republicans. In the case of Askew’s District 85, there was a 2.74% shift due to the 2019 court-ordered redistricting and the national Democrats pumped over $3.4 million over two election cycles to elect him and keep him in office. He still lives in his parents’ Virginia Beach home and reportedly has no other living than being a Delegate ($17,640 a year salary).
In addition, Aird lost her seat to a white female Republican who runs a truck stop in Dinwiddie County, although the district contains the city of Petersburg, which votes heavily for Democrats.
The other irony is that the more than $15 million pumped into the Virginia races in 2019 by the DNC, DPV, outside Democrat billionaires, PACs and unions were designed to enable Democrats to gerrymander the General Assembly and U.S. House seats to their favor. Well, the bipartisan redistricting amendment passed the Democrat-controlled House and Senate and was, overwhelmingly approved by Virginia voters on the ballot in 2020 despite the ever-important Democrat sample ballot urging “no” votes, thereby taking redistricting out of their hands completely.
In 2021, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, at least $22 million was raised and spent on behalf of Democrat House candidates by similar billionaires, PACs, unions and party organizations.
Democrats were overzealous in my view. Kind of reminds me of an original Star Trek episode, where Mr. Spock states philosophically: “After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true …”
