DFV-PAC Endorses Roemmelt and Porta

One of the most important goals for Democracy for Virginia PAC in 2005 is supporting socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates who are standing up to oppose previously unopposed right-wing Republican incumbents.

The Republican majority in the House of Delegates is focused on a divisive, socially-regressive agenda that is hurting our Commonwealth.  In the long run, we believe that no Republican should run unopposed.  In 2003, 43 Republicans in the 100-member House of Delegates ran unopposed by Democrats.  This year, there are 41.

Democracy for Virginia PAC is proud to announce that the first two candidates we will be endorsing this year are two courageous Virginians who are standing up to oppose Republican incumbents who went unchallenged in 2003.  They are both running aggressive, ambitious grassroots campaigns in their districts.  We are proud to support Bruce Roemmelt and Earnie Porta for election to the Virginia House of Delegates.

Every dollar contributed to Democracy for Virginia PAC between now and July 31 will go directly to supporting Bruce, Earnie, and the DFV-PAC Endorsement Challenge Fund. Contribute today.

Bruce Roemmelt is a teacher, retired firefighter, and a decorated veteran with decades of public service in Prince William County.  Bruce and his wife Beth live in Haymarket.  Bruce's grassroots campaign combines netroots outreach, ambitious door-to-door voter contact, building home-grown campaign leadership, and developing and training local precinct leaders.  He has successfully outraised his Republican opponent for the last three reporting periods with large numbers of small-dollar donors.

Bruce's focus on education, transportation, and health care is in stark contrast to incumbent Delegate Bob Marshall's obsession with a narrow set of divisive social issues.  Team Roemmelt has already knocked on thousands of doors in the 13th district, and residents consistently cite transportation, public education, and access to health care as their main concerns.  Meanwhile, this year alone, Bob Marshall has patroned or co-patroned more than 15 bills that are focused on restricting access to contraception, restricting access to abortion, and restricting rights of gay and lesbian Virginians.  His extremism makes Marshall ineffective, even with a wide Republican majority in the House.  Of the 37 bills for which he was chief patron in 2005, for instance, only 7 appear to have been enacted, including a bill to provide instructions about dividing pollbooks (voter lists) into sections, a bill to postpone execution of a pregnant inmate on death row until after she gives birth, a bill to mandate reporting of use of student fees in public colleges, a bill regarding student athletes who use steroids, and a bill instructing school boards to develop guidelines for dealing with bullying. 

Earnie Porta is also fighting for more effective representation for his district, the 51st, which includes parts of Prince William County, where incumbent Republican Michele McQuigg also ran unopposed in 2003.  Democrats are building strength in this district, which John Kerry came within 100 votes of winning (out of 28,000 cast) in November.  Earnie Porta's ambitious door-to-door outreach in his campaign this year is critical to continuing to strengthen local Democratic leadership. 

An attorney and financial planner, Earnie Porta is a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.  He and his wife Barbara live in Occoquan.  Earnie's campaign is focusing on the need for transportation solutions, improved public schools, and effective leadership in dealing with issues of growth, sprawl, and environmental protection.  Earnie is a pragmatic progressive, strongly supporting reproductive freedom and opposing efforts to "enshrine discriminatory treatment" based on sexual orientation. 

Like Marshall, incumbent Michele McQuigg fails to represent the needs and priorities of the voters in her district.  Though she is not a cartoonish right-wing "bad guy", introducing numerous socially regressive brochure bills like Marshall does, she goes along with his agenda.  She tries to pass herself off as moderate, but her voting record makes clear that her allegiance is to the right-wing extremists in the House.  For instance, for every vote for which she was present on one of Bob Marshall's bills that came to the floor of the House in 2005, she voted with Bob Marshall.  And although residents in the 51st consistently bring up transportation as one of their top issues, McQuigg introduced only one bill even remotely related to transportation this year - a bill to expand use of photo-red light cameras - which failed to make it to the House floor.

Both Bruce Roemmelt and Earnie Porta have outraised their opponents during the past two reporting periods through their commitment to grassroots campaigning and small-donor outreach.  They are both pragmatic progressives who are committed to empowering more Virginians to become involved in the political process.  Both Earnie and Bruce are investing in strong grassroots campaigns, focused on building local precinct-level leadership and one-on-one outreach to voters. 

All contributions to Democracy for Virginia PAC between now and July 31st will support Bruce Roemmelt, Earnie Porta, and our endorsement challenge fund.  If you share our belief that we should be fighting Republican extremism everywhere in Virginia, please contribute today and show your support for great candidates like Earnie and Bruce!

Authorized by Democracy for Virginia PAC, VA 05-036.  Not authorized by any candidate.

Comments

[Diane]

This is great. I've read about Bruce before but not much more on Earnie Porta.

All the news about this year's election is about Tim Kaine, but as far as reproductive rights are concerned, the House is even more important. We have to chip away at the Republican majority there. I think it's great that you are supporting two strongly pro-choice challengers for these seats. People in those districts deserve a choice - both with their health care and at the ballot box!

[sarah john]

Diane,

While the "coordinated campaign" does seem to consistently only talk about Tim Kaine (!), please don't forget that Leslie Byrne is also running as the Democratic nominee for Lt Gov. She also needs grassroots help: for mailings, voter ID , event support, along with the exceptional Democratic House of Delegate candidates throughout the state! Leslie has a consistent record as a staunch supporter of the right of women to privacy and equality not to mention the right of each of us, male or female, to make our own decisions about our bodies and our families which is really what "choice" is about.

(In spite of what many of our fellow Virginians would have voters believe and seem to believe themselves, most pregnant women are not mentally incompetent moral bankrupts who need male guidance! They don't need politicians and pharmacists to protect them from evil doctors who would hand them "baby pesticides", they don't need patronizing paternalist politicians weighing in on their personal lives much less "correcting" either the decisions they make on their own or the decisions they make with their partners/husbands. They don't need anyone else's religious beliefs foisted on them; they are quite capable of their own relationship to God! And they certainly don't need to be carefully tracked after they miscarry because they are all closet criminals! In my humble experience as a physician, having diagnosed many, many pregnancies, my patients have been women who might/might not choose abortion. They don't consider themselves to be "pro-abortion" or "anti-life" but rather as possibly able/unable to be pregnant or able/unable to be mothers for a particular conception. They are most often married, more often than not using birth control, very often loving Moms. And they are virtually never casual about their decision in either direction with a pregnancy. But I'm only a doc of course, not a right-wing pontificator/candidate! Nor an allegedly moderate nor left wing candidate who feels compelled to chime in and prove "holier than thou" in order to compete!)

Sorry about the above rant! Sometimes it just drives me up a wall! And now with the Supreme Court nominee...

Please remember that there is a true Progressive candidate running--support her campaign as well as supporting your local candidates!

[kathy]

Roemmelt and Porta are excellent candidates--I have been following their campaigns for months. Anyway who has ever complained about the lack of great candidates in this state needs to wake up and support the ones who have started answering the call.
Good job DFV!

[James Young]

You might want to check your facts. The 51st lies entirely within Prince William County.

[Maura in VA]

I should have said "consists of" parts of Prince William County rather than "includes" parts of Prince William County. Not all of Prince William County is in the 51st, but all of the 51st is in Prince William. The facts were correct, but "consists of" would have been a more precise term than "includes" (though "includes" is true as well).

[VA Loan]

it is amazing what real grass roots efforts can do.