On Thursday Governor Northam endorsed state senator Jennifer Wexton for the Democrat nomination for Congress in the 10th district. From the Washington Post,
“I saw her tenacity on the Senate floor where we fought together to expand Medicaid and stood up to the gun lobby,” Northam said in a statement. “From the Virginia Senate to my campaign for Governor, Jennifer Wexton has always had my back and I know she will fight even harder for Northern Virginia families.”
(That’s not what I’ve heard about her performance in the Senate. From what I’ve been told Wexton is not really engaged and prefers to surf the net rather than participate in committee meetings.)
Wexton’s strongest opponent is Alison Friedman, a single mother and an anti-human trafficking activist who is well connected with California celebrities and philanthropists. They have contributed over a $1 million to her campaign. This is Friedman’s first foray into Virginia politics having moved into the district to run for the 10th district seat in Congress. From the Washington Post,
Her most well-known donors include actress Jennifer Garner; singer Barbra Streisand; Alexander Soros, son of the liberal billionaire donor George Soros; and Peter Getty, grandson of the oil tycoon. Other notable donors to Friedman include Donna Brazile, former head of the Democratic National Committee; singer Graham Nash; singer Bonnie Raitt; and Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation.
Friedman, who moved from Washington to McLean in April to run for the seat, worked for People for the American Way and a California congresswoman before a six-year stint in the State Department’s anti-trafficking office, which ended in 2015.
Other Democrats running for the 10th district seat are Army veteran Dan Helmer, former federal prosecutor Paul Pelletier and communications strategist Lindsey Davis Stover.
