Nikki Rattray Baldwin declared victory in the run for the Republican nomination in the June 20, 2023, Primary Election.
Baldwin beat her opponent Maria Martin by two votes. Martin has called for a recount.
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Dr. Sebastian Gorka, a conservative radio and TV host with over 3 million listeners, came to Woodbridge to stump for Mike Van Meter, who was running for State Senate in District 33 against Jennifer Carroll Foy, vying to return to the Virginia Capitol.
Gorka said Van Meter is running in the strongly-leaning Democrat district, which includes portions part of southern Fairfax County, and Woodbridge Prince William County, in hopes to counteract ideological changes ushered in under Democrats, who controlled the House, Senate, and Governor’s office until 2021.
“The real power is in the state house,” said Fairfax County resident Gorka. “It’s the school board; it’s the sheriff. We know America is not just a nation. It’s a republic with towns, counties, and villages.”
Gorka said people nationwide are concerned about crime and the rise in drug deaths. More than 100,000 people died from fentanyl overdoses in 2022. Both button topics will be critical issues in the November 2023 General Election, he said.
Crime has been up in all categories in Virginia in the past year. In Prince William County, 70% since 2019, where the county is on track to exceed the number of homicides (14 so far in 2023).
Van Meter is an addiction counselor who works with recovering addicts. During his campaign event, which attracted about 50 people to the Harbor Grill, he sold screen-printed t-shirts with the message “fentanyl kills.”
“Democrats are not equipped to deal with this problem, and they’re doing nothing about it,” said Van Meter. “Fentanyl is a synthetic drug, and trying to get people off of it is hell.”
Gorka worked in the Trump White House in 2017 and praised his former boss and the state’s current Republican Governor, Glenn Youngkin, who became the first Viriginia’s GOP governor since 2009. Gorka said Youngkin only won his race against former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who served from 2014 to 2018 when McAuliffe said parents shouldn’t have a say in their child’s public school curriculum.
Afterward, Youngkin began campaigning on the phrase “parents matter.” “Glenn Youngkin won in the last minute because he engaged the culture wars,” said Gorka.
Trump came to the Prince William County Fairgrounds in 2015 in his run-up to the White House. The next time he visited the commonwealth was a stop at an airport in Hampton Roads in 2020, to primarily reach the northeastern North Carolina residents via local TV stations. I asked Gorka, who has a direct link to the 45th president if Trump should stop ignoring Virginia and campaign here and whether or not he thinks Youngkin should join him on stage should Trump hold a rally in the commonwealth.
Historically, Youngkin has distanced himself from the former president.
“I’m not to answer a loaded question about Trump ignoring Virginia, but yes, Glenn Youngkin needs to get his act together,” Gorka replied. Trump lost Virginia by six points and 10 points in 2016 and 2020, respectively.
Both Gorka and Van Meter disparaged both political parties. “Rs and Ds beside a candidate’s name are irrelevant. It comes down to do ‘do you love America, or do you hate America,” said Gorka. “Trump won [the presidency] despite the GOP, not thanks to the GOP.”
Van Meter said there had been a lot of fighting among Virginia Republicans in the days leading up to the June 20 Primary Election. Senate District 27 in Stafford and Fredericksburg is an example. Tara Durant, endorsed by Youngkin, defeated political outsider Matt Strickland for the GOP nomination, and Strickland has yet to concede.
“Our time for choosing candidates is over, and our job is to elect Republicans by hook or by crook,” said Virginia National Republican Committeewoman Patti Lyman, who attended Van Meter’s fundraiser.
House District 33 has no incumbent and was created by the Virginia State Supreme Court as part of the state’s 10-year redistricting process. Van Meter is a retired FBI agent who later taught the FBI Academy.
Carroll Foy served a term-and-a-half in the House of Delegates, representing Woodbridge and northern Stafford County. She stepped down to run for governor in 2021.
Carroll Foy has raised $1.5 million for her senate race, compared to Van Meter’s $18,500. The General Election is Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Early voting begins Sept. 23, 2023.
Gorka said Virginia’s 45-day early voting policy lends itself to fraud.
“Virginia has 45 days of voting. It’s insane,” said Gorka. “Do you vote again and again until the communists win?”
Gorka’s daily nationally-syndicated radio show is distributed by the Salem Media Group. He also hosts a weekend TV show, “Reality Check,” on Newsmax.
“The law requires pornography websites to use age verification technology to more stringently determine whether a person is 18 or older to gain access to the site. The legislation passed the General Assembly on a nearly unanimous vote this March. Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, the patron of the bill, told the Mercury this March his legislation aims to address the “epidemic” of childhood exposure to pornography.”
Insidenova.com: "Down just two votes, Maria Martin announced Tuesday she intends to request a recount in the Republican primary for the District 29 State Senate seat, even as opponent Nikki Rattray Baldwin declared victory in the contest."
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Hillary Clinton posted to Twitter today, urging Democrats to organize and flip three seats in the House of Delegates.
The former First Lady reminded her followers that Democrats only need three seats to regain control of Virginia's House of Delegates.
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These days, it's rare to see someone who was elected as a Democrat give their endorsement to someone who is running as a Republican.
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The Center Square: "With his Republican opponent still to be determined, Democratic Sen. Jeremy McPike is a winner in Virginia's District 29, accepting a concession on Sunday from Del. Elizabeth Guzman."
"The Republican race from last Tuesday remains too close to call. In the most recent announced tabulation, only two votes separate candidates Nikki Rattray Baldwin, the leader, and Maria Martin."
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Delegate Elizabeth Guzman conceded in her primary race with Senator Jeremy McPike. A total of 53 votes separated the two Democrats.
Guzman conceded her effort to unseat McPike from the 29th Senate District on Saturday, June 24, 2023, four days past the Tuesday, June 20 Primary Election.
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The Center Square: "Clear winners and losers emerged from Tuesday’s state Senate primaries, except for Virginia Senate District 29, where Democratic and Republican candidates are locked in races too close to call."
"With more than 95% of votes in and only provisional and mail-in ballots left to be tallied, the races of Democrats Sen. Jeremy McPike and challenger Del. Elizabeth Guzman, and Republicans Maria Martin and Nikki Baldwin are headed toward a recount."
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WRC-TV: “Data center expansion in Northern Virginia may have led to a stunning upset in Tuesday’s primary, when a political newcomer defeated the Prince William County Board of Supervisors chair.”
“Democrat Ann Wheeler has been the driving force behind a massive change in the county’s comprehensive plan, opening the door to data center development even in rural areas of the county.”
“Last year, she led a majority on the Board of Supervisors that approved the Prince William Digital Gateway, a plan to rezone more than 2,000 acres of farmland to accept data centers, which house the computer servers and hardware required to support modern internet use. The plan – approved despite vocal opposition from residents concerned that the data centers are noisy, ugly and consume massive amounts of electricity that require the addition of high-voltage transmission lines – prompted one of the region’s biggest land-use disputes in decades.”
