By Kyle McCauley a current law student at George Mason University
The Democrats have picked their nominee for the 10th District race, and Nancy Pelosi has made it a top priority to win this seat so she can become Speaker again.
Democratic nominee Jennifer Wexton has the standard Democrat positions – she’s made clear she wants to repeal the historic tax cuts that are boosting our growing economy, and she has supported every tax increase put forward in Virginia over the past few years.
The Virginia Chamber of Commerce ranks Wexton in the bottom half of state senators who are friendly to business and entrepreneurship. She even opposes Virginia’s right to work laws.
On the primary election night, Rep. Gerry Connolly announced that Jennifer Wexton would represent “the resistance” in Congress. Indeed, Jennifer Wexton has demonstrated she wants to be a voice of resistance and petty partisanship, not getting results for the 10th District.
One notable example: In 2016, she joined a small group of far-left state legislators who signed a letter opposing the renaming the George Mason School of Law after a longtime Virginia resident of the 10th District and distinguished jurist – the late U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
Wexton would have preferred George Mason lose $30 million in donations for the law school and scholarships, which have helped numerous law students, like myself, avoid crushing student loan debt.
Sadly, Wexton put her extreme and petty partisanship over common sense.
How out of touch was Wexton’s partisanship?
The Law School faculty voted unanimously, with one abstention, to support the name change. University president Ángel Cabrera said the historic gift of a $30 million donation and renaming would “continue our goal to make Mason one of the preeminent law schools in the country.”
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said renaming George Mason’s Law School in favor of her esteemed colleague and friend, Justice Scalia, was “a tribute altogether fitting” noting how Justice Scalia’s opinions “challenged her thinking.”
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan attended the dedication ceremony of the renamed Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and celebrated Justice Scalia as a “remarkable judge and teacher” who will be remembered as one of the greatest justices in history. Speaking at a dedication ceremony marking the name change, Kagan praised Justice Scalia for transforming legal culture and challenging law students “to think harder than they’ve ever thought before.”
Even The Washington Post’s editorial board noted, “The $30 million is the largest financial contribution to the law school in its history, and the good that money could do in the way of new scholarships and strengthened programs should not be sniffed at, especially at a time of shrinking public support.”
Unlike Justices Ginsberg and Kagan, who embraced a diversity of views in legal thinking, Jennifer Wexton fears it, and offered “resistance” and would even forgo scholarships for many Virginia students to silence diverse views.
The broad consensus across the political spectrum rejected her partisan thinking – and the law school and its students, like myself, are better for it.
Kyle McCauley, is a current law student at George Mason University
