Democrats
Related: About this forumThe 2021 VA election results prove that VA is a purple state.
2021- Republicans narrowly won the Governors, Lt Governors, and Attorney Generals Election. Republicans gained 6 seats in the VA state house. 51R 49D.
2022- Democratic US Representative Spanberger is the only VA US Representative that could lose. Luria-D, Scott-D, McEachin-D, Beyer-D, Wexton-D, and Connelly-D will win re-election in 2022.
2023- Democrats need to retain control of the VA state senate.
2024- US Senator Tim Kaine-D wins re-election by a low double digit margin. If Kaine-D decides not to seek re-election, Democratic nominee will be Northam-D, McEachin-D,Wexton-D, Luria-D or Spanberger-D.
2025- Democrats need to win the Governors, Lt Governors and Attorney Generals Election and regain control of the VA state house. McEachin-D,Wexton-D, Luria-D, or Spanberger-D are likely to be the Democratic nominee for Governor, Lt Governor, and Attorney General.
2026- US Senator Mark Warner-D wins re-election against Glenn Youngkin-R by a high single digit margin. If Warner-D decides not seek re-election, Democratic nominee will be McEachin-D, Wexton-D, Luria-D, or Spanberger.
VA Democrats need US Representatives McEachin-D, Wexton-D, Luria-D or Spanberger-D to run for statewide office in VA.
MFM008
(20,000 posts)ill tell people I was born in Illinois or somewhere other than Virginia.
LenaBaby61
(6,991 posts)The GQP swept everything. They're just like us here in California, only more racist there.
Poor Va. Going back to the stone age, and most uneducated white women voted for the GQP'er. Yikes. I guess they chose CRT over a roof over their heads, food and a steady job, because the GQP guy will surely send jobs overseas.
Ex-Carlyle Boss Racked Up Bad Bets Before Move to Politics.
By Glenn Youngkins account, Virginia and its economy are in the ditch. So much so that he gave up his dream job atop Carlyle Group Inc. to get the state back on track.
The Republican nominee for governor is now ubiquitous on TV and the internet, driving home the opening pitch of his candidacy: Ive spent the last 30 years building business and creating jobs, leading a team of nearly 2,000 people who trusted me to get things done.
Yet people close to the private-equity firm have been chafing over the picture Youngkin paints of his investing acumen and the circumstances of his departure. In his final decade there, he shepherded several bets and strategies that chalked up losses, and some of them are still being unwound.
After Carlyles founders gave him a shot at co-running the firm in 2018, he flamed out. In an industry where leadership teams work together for decades, his co-CEO quickly established dominance, diminishing Youngkins clout.
Youngkin, 54, exited Carlyle in September and quickly became a name in conservative politics, railing against abortion and critical race theory, and vowing to stand up for the Second Amendment and election security. His take on Virginias economy is dire, faulting Democrats for raising taxes and overzealously restricting commerce to fight Covid-19.
You know Tucker, this is why I quit my job last summer, Youngkin told Fox News host Tucker Carlson in May. I actually could not recognize my home state of Virginia.
But at Carlyle the circumstances of his exit arent really a secret: He retired after a power struggle that left him in charge of more modest businesses. Current and former employees, asking not to be identified discussing internal business, describe a checkered record at odds with his campaigns portrayal.
Read more: Carlyle co-CEOs abrupt exit caps a long, awkward power struggle
In the past decade, Youngkin was responsible for troubled forays into hedge funds and energy investments, they said. He also oversaw a push into infrastructure projects that dogged him, as a $2.2 billion fund for clients struggled to make deals.
Former colleagues have been bracing for his run to not only spotlight Carlyles past controversies -- akin to what Mitt Romneys presidential run did to Bain Capital -- but for it to also dredge up missteps by Youngkin and managers he oversaw.
A company spokeswoman declined to comment for this story.
Early last week, Bloomberg sent a list of dealings described in this article to Youngkins campaign, which offered a broad response.
No investment Glenn Youngkin ever led as the key Carlyle principal ever lost money, and many of them are among Carlyles best investments, said Devin OMalley, a campaign spokesman.
In the race to be Virginias next governor, there is only one candidate that worked his way up to the top of a company and helped grow it into a hugely successful enterprise that turned good businesses into great businesses, helped create tens of thousands of jobs and funded the retirement pension of police officers, firefighters and teachers, and that candidate is Glenn Youngkin, OMalley said.
That pitch helped Youngkin rise to the top of Virginias Republican primary this year. Heading toward Novembers election, polls show hes in a competitive race with his opponent, former Governor Terry McAuliffe.
Democrats have sought to use Youngkins tenure at Carlyle against him, assailing businesses practices such as its willingness to invest in China, to make the case that his campaign rhetoric doesnt reflect his past. He has tried to minimize the scale of those dealings. Recently, McAuliffe focused on tying Youngkin to former President Donald Trump, who lost the state by 10 points in 2020.
Trump endorsed Youngkin last month in a news release: Glenn has been an incredible success and will truly make Virginia great again.
Carlyle Stake
By one measure, Youngkins success is hard to argue. His net worth stands at more than $500 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which analyzed his earnings after Carlyles 2012 initial public offering. A filing shows he owns 1.9% of the companys stock. The stake accounts for the bulk of his estimated wealth.
Youngkin couldnt have timed his arrival at Carlyle better: The former college basketball player and Harvard Business School alumnus was still in his 20s when he joined in the mid-1990s as the firm was getting traction. That enabled him to share in the collective gains of Carlyles private-equity funds over three decades. Its possible he amassed significantly more wealth outside of public view in the 17 years before the IPO.
The firms founders -- Daniel DAniello, David Rubenstein and Bill Conway -- created something of an oddity in the Wall Street-centric world of private equity: A Washington-based firm with connections across the political spectrum. Executives have long set aside partisanship in the mutual pursuit of profit. In interviews, colleagues who agreed and disagreed with Youngkins conservative views shared similar assessments of his tenure.
He wasnt seen as a natural dealmaker, but he had the capacity to absorb an immense amount of information and speak about it coherently. People close to Youngkin say he was process-oriented, having studied engineering. So as he climbed the management ranks, much of his attention was on day-to-day operations.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-04/ex-carlyle-boss-racked-up-bad-bets-before-switching-to-politics
Oh well
Best_man23
(5,124 posts)1 - Messaging - From the start, the Republicant messaging in Virginia was non-stop CRT and "the government is going to tell you what your kids are going to learn", and "the Democrats are going to defund the police". This racist air raid siren messaging resulted in most of the Democratic messaging being drowned out and what was seen was more about countering the R's racist messaging and not enough about communicating what the party will accomplish over the next 4 years. This messaging gap was identified by Abigail Spanberger after last year's Congressional losses, and this issue needs to be addressed here and elsewhere not only by state Democratic Parties, but the National Democratic Party.
Since the CRT message worked in Virginia, look for the National Republicant Party to continue to weaponize this "issue" across the country in next year's midterms.
2. Turnout - We as Democrats need to continue to push GOTV. Looking at the return numbers, those efforts did not end up in the result we wanted. Just looking at the numbers, there were more voters participating than in 2017, but if you compare them to how they voted in last year's general election. Trumpkin trailed tRump's numbers by less than 300K. McAuliff's numbers trailed Biden's numbers by almost 600K. I know I'm preaching to the choir here as most, if not all active DU members vote in every election, even in states where the Republicants have been dominant for decades like Florida and Texas. What needs to happen is the Democratic party needs to figure out how to energize what I refer to as the "4-year Democrats" who only go to the polls for the Presidential races.