Tag: Jennifer Carroll Foy

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News

In brief: Carter joins race, Dewberry gets sued, and more

Northern Virginia Delegate Lee Carter announced his gubernatorial candidacy on New Year’s Day. PC: Supplied photo

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The 2021 race for the governor’s mansion in Virginia got a little more complicated last week, when northern Virginia Delegate Lee Carter declared his candidacy for the office.

In his campaign announcement, Carter emphasized economic stratification as the driving force of discontent in the commonwealth. “[Virginia] is not divided between red and blue. It’s not divided between big cities and small towns. Virginia is divided between the haves and the have-nots,” he said.

Carter identifies as a democratic socialist and was a Virginia co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ campaign. He made headlines last year when he spearheaded a bill to cap insulin prices at $50 per month. With the 2021 General Assembly session approaching, Carter has already introduced a bill to abolish the death penalty.

Outside the halls of the state capital, the former Marine and electronic repairman has been active on social media. He’s got more than 100,000 followers on Twitter (six times as many as House Majority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn), and just before his 2018 election he made headlines after tweeting out a memorable self-initiated “oppo dump,” sharing that he was “on divorce number 3” and that “just like everyone else under 35, I’m sure explicit images or video of me exists out there somewhere,” though “unlike Anthony Weiner, I never sent them unsolicited.”

Carter joins former governor Terry McAuliffe, current lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax, state senator Jennifer McClellan, and state delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy in a crowded Democratic field.

McAuliffe, a career Democratic Party insider, announced record-breaking fundraising numbers this week—“the Macker” raised $6.1 million as of December 31. The rest of the candidates will share updates as a campaign finance filing deadline approaches in the coming weeks, but The Washington Post reports that McAuliffe’s haul surpasses any previous total from a candidate at this point in the race.

Spending hasn’t always translated to victories for McAuliffe, however. In his first run for governor in 2009, he outspent primary opponent and then-state delegate Creigh Deeds $8.2 million to $3.4 million, but wound up losing to Deeds by more than 20 percent. In 2013, McAuliffe beat Ken Cuccinelli in the general election, outspending him $38 million to $20.9 million.

The Democratic primary will be held on June 8.

PC: Supplied and file photos

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Quote of the week

“He said that in his many years of doing executive searches, he had never seen a level of dysfunction as profound as what he was seeing here.“

—City Councilor Lloyd Snook, in a Facebook post, relaying the comments of the firm retained to find a new city manager

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In brief

State senator killed by COVID

Virginia state senator Ben Chafin passed away last Friday at age 60 after contracting coronavirus. The southwestern Virginia Republican served in the legislature for six years, and was one of four GOP state senators to break rank and vote in favor of Medicaid expansion in 2018. Governor Ralph Northam ordered state flags lowered in Chafin’s honor over the weekend.

You Dew you

The steel and concrete husk of a skyscraper that’s been languishing on the Downtown Mall for more than a decade is now facing further legal trouble, reports The Daily Progress. Last year, the Dewberry Group, which owns the building, changed the building’s name from the Laramore to Dewberry Living—but the Dewberry Living name violated a trademark agreement between the Dewberry Group and a northern Virginia firm called Dewberry Engineers, Inc. Now, Dewberry Engineers is suing the Dewberry Group for copyright infringement. The building itself remains empty.

The Dewberry Living building continues to stir up legal drama. PC: Ashley Twiggs

Eyes on the road

As of January 1, it is illegal for drivers in Virginia to hold a phone while operating a vehicle. If you’re caught gabbing while driving, or skipping that one terrible song, you’ll be subject to a $125 fine for a first offense and a $250 fine for a second offense. Opponents of the law are concerned that it will open the door for more racial profiling by law enforcement, while the law’s backers cite the dangers of distracted driving.

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News

Aiming high: Jennifer Carroll Foy wants to fight for the little guy

Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy is running for governor in 2021. Supplied photo.

Jennifer Carroll Foy announced her 2021 gubernatorial campaign in late May—the first candidate to do so in this cycle. Carroll Foy grew up in Petersburg, attended the Virginia Military Institute, and in 2017 became the first public defender ever elected to the Virginia general assembly. This session, she led the charge for Virginia’s passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, and that’s just the beginning of the long list of legislation she’s proud of—10 minutes after our interview concluded, she called back to add a few more bills to the list of achievements she’d already mentioned. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

C-VILLE: How has your time as a public defender informed your political career?

JCF: I know firsthand the draconian laws we have on the books that have caused us to have an unfair and unequal criminal justice system. As a public defender, I ensured that there was adequate representation for my clients, who are often mentally ill, or suffer from substance abuse, or are children who have been traumatized. 

And I’ve been able to transfer that skill set and that knowledge base into legislation that is going to make our criminal justice system more fair and equitable—like reforming our cash bail system. If you’re safe enough to be released if you pay $50, then you’re safe enough to be released period. We have a justice-for-profit system where if you can’t afford to pay for your freedom you sit in jail for months at a time, but if you’re wealthy you can buy yourself out of jail immediately. 

You would be the first Black woman elected governor in the United States. Why is representation important, especially here in Virginia? 

It’s past time for little girls to be able to look up and see themselves in the people who are making decisions. And one of the reasons that’s it’s so significant to see Kamala Harris named as the vice presidential pick is that for so long, little brown and Black girls haven’t been able to see that—and it’s hard to be what you can’t see. 

Women of color have been the backbone of the Democratic Party for so long. It’s time to not only ask for our vote, but to also support us in leading the commonwealth and the country forward in positions of power.

In Charlottesville, where our congressional district is severely gerrymandered, we’re very concerned with redistricting reform. There’s a redistricting amendment on the ballot this fall. You were one of a handful of Democratic delegates who voted in favor of that bill in 2019 and then switched and voted against it in 2020. Why the change?

I have always stood for a third party non-partisan commission being responsible for drawing our maps…but often times you have to vote on what’s before you. In 2019, when that redistricting amendment came before us, it was the best we could do at that time. But it still isn’t what we need. 

The thing that swayed me was the words of Delegate Jeion Ward, where she stood up and said, “Many people who support this redistricting amendment, they’ll get up and tell you that it’s not good—that it’s good enough, that it’s the best we can do right now.” When you have something like the Virginia constitution—our most sacred document, our foundational document—do you really put substandard amendments in the constitution?

All of those things helped me make the decision that we can do better than what we had. I’m the first one to denounce gerrymandering in all forms and I believe that legislators should have no part in the drawing of our maps. 

How has it felt personally to watch everything that’s been happening in Richmond over the last few weeks?

You see your community angry. You see the communities that you used to walk, up in flames. I try to constantly remind myself that these protests are really people voicing their opinions and their anguish about what’s happening. For so long politicians have tried to placate people with false promises. COVID-19 has exposed what’s always beneath the surface. Too many Virginians can’t earn a decent paycheck, afford their bills, and get ahead. 

I understand the challenges Virginia families face, because I face them also. I am a woman of the people. I am not a career politician. I am not in this to benefit myself. I’m in this because it’s the right time to do the right thing for the right reason. 

What are you doing to take a load off these days?

In this time, you relish the small things. I mean, when you have two 3-year-olds you can’t even go to the bathroom by yourself. I have them, I still have my clients, I’m still representing indigent people, I’m still a delegate preparing for special session, and then I have a full-on gubernatorial campaign that’s running during a global crisis and full recession and racial reckoning…If I can take a bath instead of a shower, that’s a win.

 

Categories
Coronavirus News

In brief: Church amidst coronavirus, feeding the frontlines, and more

A congregant reacts during an Easter Sunday mass at Covenant Church on Sunday, April 12, 2020. Churches have adapted to allow patrons to listen to the services from their car radios and over loud speakers in order to continue congregating. PC: Zack Wajsgras

Creative worship in the age of corona

Pastor Harold Bare was met with an unusual scene when he stood in front of his congregation on Easter Sunday—a barrage of car horns during a Facebook-streamed drive-in service, which welcomed congregants to decorate their vehicles and watch Bare’s sermon from a parking lot. 

Like every other institution in town, religious organizations have had to get creative as the novel coronavirus has radically reshaped our world. On Good Friday, Bare’s Covenant Church convened its choir over Zoom, with singers crooning into laptop microphones in rough, tinny unison.   

“Fear not, God is in control,” read a sticker on the side of one car at Covenant’s Easter service. Additional stickers thanked more earthly leaders, like nurses and doctors.

Other religious groups have had to adjust in similar ways. Zoe Ziff, a UVA student, organized a Zoom Passover Seder for her friends who have been scattered across the world by the university’s closure.

“We spoke over each other and lagged, but it was beautiful to see my friends, hear their voices, and share the story of Passover together,” Ziff says. “It’s a reminder that everywhere in the world, Jewish people are retelling this story—though this year, over a webcam.”

“We’re being as careful as we know how to be,” Bare said at the beginning of his holiday sermon. Religious traditions might stretch back thousands of years, but these days, they’re Zooming along just like the rest of us. 

A congregant’s car is seen decorated during an Easter Sunday mass at Covenant Church on Sunday, April 12, 2020. PC: Zack Wajsgras

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Signing day

The Virginia legislature turned in a historic session earlier this year, and as the deadline approached this week, Governor Northam put his signature on dozens of new bills. The new laws will tighten gun safety regulations, decriminalize marijuana, allow easier access to abortion, make election day a national holiday, repeal voter ID laws, allow racist monuments to be removed, and more. Northam didn’t sign everything, though—he used his power to delay the legislature’s proposed minimum wage increase by one year, citing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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Local COVID-19 case update

53 confirmed cases in Albemarle

34 confirmed cases in Charlottesville

4 deaths

Data as of 4/13/20, courtesy of Thomas Jefferson Health District

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Quote of the Week

“In Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy… in Charlottesville, the home of Thomas Jefferson… We led the charge to change the state. It’s all been worth it.” ­

—Former vice mayor Wes Bellamy, on the new law allowing localities to remove Confederate monuments

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In Brief

Statue status

Governor Ralph Northam has finally made it official: Charlottesville will soon be able to legally take down its Confederate monuments. The bill, which Northam signed on April 11, will go into effect July 1. The end is in sight, but the city will have to wait 60 days and hold one public hearing before the statues can be removed. 

Foy joy?

Last week, state Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Prince William) filed paperwork to run for Virginia governor in 2021. Foy is a 38-year-old former public defender who sponsored the legislation that led to Virginia’s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. If elected, she would become the first black female governor in United States history. Her likely Democratic primary opponents include Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, an accused sex offender, and Attorney General Mark Herring, who has admitted to appearing in blackface.    

(No) walk in the park

To the disappointment of Old Rag enthusiasts, the National Park Service completely shut down Shenandoah National Park April 8, per recommendation from the Virginia Department of Health. All trails—including our stretch of the famed Appalachian Trail—are now closed. Still want to explore the park? Visit its website for photo galleries, videos, webcams, and interactive features, or follow it on social media. 

Win-win

Under the name Frontline Foods Charlottesville, local organizations are working with chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen to deliver food to health care workers, with meals supplied by area restaurants like Pearl Island Catering, Champion Hospitality Group, and Mochiko Cville. In the coming weeks, FFC plans to add more restaurants, which will be reimbursed for 100 percent of the cost of food and labor, and expand to serve other area community members.

Demanding justice

As reports of intimate partner violence increase due to coronavirus lockdowns, UVA Survivors, a student advocacy and support group, has created a petition calling for the “immediate, structural, and transformative change” of the university’s sexual violence prevention and support services. The petition demands UVA fund an external review of the Title IX office; provide survivor-created and informed education on sexual violence and consent; create a stand-alone medical unit for sexual, domestic, and interpersonal violence survivors; and move the Title IX office from O’Neill Hall (located in the middle of UVA’s ‘Frat Row’), among other demands. It has been signed by more than 100 students and student organizations.