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by Catherine Read

Julie Jakopic – An Interview with the Chair of Virginia’s List

(Aug 30, 2017) Catherine Read interviews Julie Jakopic, Chair of Virginia’s List, a political action committee (PAC) whose mission is to support progressive pro-choice women candidates running for office in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The organization was originally formed in 2015 as Women Leaders of Virginia. During that election cycle, women candidates running for the House of Delegates received financial support for their general election campaigns in the very first year of the organization’s fundraising efforts.

In early 2017, the organization rebranded as Virginia’s List. They followed the branding model of other very successful organizations such as EMILY’s List, Annie’s List of Texas and Lillian’s List of North Carolina. They also committed to helping women fund primary races when they are running against one or more men in their own party. This is very much the core mission of EMILY’s List which is actually an acronym for Early Money Is Like Yeast (EMILY). The women who serve on the Virginia’s List Board (which includes host Catherine Read) are from various parts of Virginia and many have been candidates themselves. One of the founders of Virginia’s List, Amy Laufer of Charlottesville, is currently a Charlottesville City School Board Member and also a candidate for Charlottesville City Council.

Amy Laufer Julie JakopicIn 2015, Julie Jakopic was a candidate in a five candidate Democratic primary for the 45th District House seat. Running in a field that included herself and four men, she came in third with 23.3 percent of the vote. Understanding that women were being defeated at the primary stage, Virginia’s List doubled down on funding the primary campaigns of many of the Democratic women running for office in 2017. There is an unprecedented 43 Democratic women running for a seat in the 100 person Virginia House of Delegates. Many were in primary contests and some of those races included more than one woman running for the nomination.

There is a process Virginia’s List has created for vetting candidates for endorsement and funding that includes a Candidate Questionnaire (CQ) and a number of other factors including their fundraising, doors knocked and the voting history of the districts in which they are running.  The public has access to some of this candidate information through the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP.org) which posts information about money raised and voting history of the district.

Virginia’s List works collaboratively with a number of other organizations including Emerge Virginia, which recruits and trains progressive women candidates interested in running for office. Each of these organizations is a crucial part of fielding successful women candidates. Virginia has a low percentage of women in our legislature, less than 20%, and we’ve never had a woman Governor, Lt. Governor or U.S. Senator. Only one woman has ever served in a statewide office, Mary Sue Terry, who was Attorney General for two terms from 1985 to 1993 and who co-founded one of the earliest women’s political candidate organizations in Virginia, The Farm Team.

Virginia's List FundraiserWomen bring a different lived experience and perspective to many of the issues being addressed through public policy making – paid leave, child care regulation, campus sexual assault, violence against women, disability benefits, payday lending, public assistance for children and families, medicaid expansion, education policy – and much more. Men continue to predominate in every branch of government in the Commonwealth of Virginia and Virginia’s List is committed to putting more women into elected office who are representative of the people who actually live in our communities.

Find more information at www.VirginiasList.com or on Facebook and @VAListWomen on Twitter.

Filed Under: Blogging, Political, TV Shows, Virginia, Women, Your Need to Know Tagged With: democrats, Emerge Virginia, Emily's List, House of Delegates, Julie Jakopic, Pro-Choice, Progressive Women, The Farm Team, Virginia Politics, Virginia's List, VPAP, Women Candidates

by Catherine Read

Emerge Virginia – Training Democratic Women Candidates – Inside Scoop

(Aug 21 2017) Catherine Read talks with Emerge Virginia Board Members the Hon. Kate Hanley and Atima Omara about this affiliate of Emerge America. Emerge Virginia is a program designed to recruit and train Democratic women who are interested in running for office – local offices as well as statewide and federal offices. They do not endorse candidates or fund their campaigns, but they work in cooperation with Virginia’s List which does both.

In 2017, Emerge Virginia has 24 alumnae running for office – in both the House of Delegates and in local offices like Charlottesville City Council (Amy Laufer) and Fairfax County School Board (Karen Keys-Gamarra.) In total, there are 43 Democratic women running for the Virginia House of Delegates, a record number of women candidates. This effort in recruiting and training women is in response to the dismal level of representation of women in Virginia’s General Assembly – where they make up only 17% of the legislators. Virginia has never had a woman in the office of Governor, Lt. Governor or U.S. Senator. Only ONE WOMAN has ever been elected to statewide office – Mary Sue Terry was Attorney General from 1986 to 1993. She is the only woman to ever run for Governor and she lost to George Allen.

Emerge VirginiaThe Honorable Kate Hanley, Chair of the Emerge Virginia Board, started out on the Fairfax County School Board, was elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from the Providence District in 1986, and represented that district until being elected Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1995, where she served until 2003. Governor Tim Kaine appointed her as Secretary of the Commonwealth in 2006 where she served until 2010. She has been instrumental in launching and building Emerge Virginia to serve women running at every level – including the election of Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid in 2013, the first woman to serve in that position in the Fairfax County’s 275 year history.

Atima OmaraAtima Omara distinguished herself early in her political career by running and winning a national campaign to be the President of the Young Democrats of America in 2013– the first Virginian to hold that office and the first African-American woman to hold that office in it’s 81 year history. That same year, she made Jet Magazine’s 40 under 40 and Ebony Magazine’s Power 100. A native of Richmond with a BA from the University of Virginia and a  Masters Degree in Public Administration from George Mason University, she is on the Board of Directors of Emerge Virginia as well as Virginia’s List. She is a regular speaker/panelist at NetRoots Nation each year, and a sought after political media commentator at major news outlets across the country.

Mary Ann Hovis Ralph NorthamEmerge Virginia has a powerhouse Executive Director, Julie Copeland, and distinguished Board of Directors that includes women from every part of Virginia. They include First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe, Delegate Kathleen Murphy, Maggi Luca, Doris Crouse-Mays, Cianti Stewart-Reid, Gaylene Kanoyton, Sandra Brandt, Alexsis Rodgers and the late Mary Ann Hovis.  Every Board Member has brought their unique talents and expertise to the task of increasing the number of elected Democratic women in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mary Ann Hovis was instrumental in helping to launch the DPVA’s Pat Jenning’s Project, and regularly opened her home to both Democratic women candidates and nearly every other Democratic candidate running in Virginia. Mary Ann was the daughter of Congressman Pat Jennings of Marion, VA. She was a graduate of Radford College and a long term member of the Radford University Board of Visitors where she served two terms as Rector. In 2000 she received the University’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Her commitment to electing more Democrats in Virginia is legendary.

There is much work to be done in supporting women running for public office in Virginia at every level. Emerge Virginia is focused on finding women in this Commonwealth with the passion for public office at every level of elected office. If you want to be a part of this movement, find out how you can help at www.EmergeVA.org

Filed Under: Inside Scoop, Political, TV Shows, Virginia, Women Tagged With: Amy Laufer, Atima Omara, Catherine Read, democrats, Dorothy McAuliffe, Elect Women, Emerge America, Emerge Virginia, Karen Keys-Gamarra, Kate Hanley, Mary Ann Hovis, Radford University, Ralph Northam, Virginia Democrats, Virginia's List, Women Candidates

by Catherine Read

The Future of Women in Virginia Politics – Inside Scoop

Virginia has a weak track record in electing women to office. Women make up less than 18% of the legislature, there are no women elected to statewide office (only one has ever been elected – Mary Sue Terry in 1989 as Attorney General), and there is only one woman Representative out of 11 Congressional Districts in 2016.

The first guest is Kate Hanley, former Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, former Secretary of the Commonwealth, and a principal instructor for Emerge Virginia – a candidate training program for Democratic women.

Amy Laufer is the Chair of the Charlottesville School Board and the founder of the Women Leaders of Virginia PAC that supports Democratic women running for state office with early money and fundraising support.

Delegate Jennifer Boysko was elected to office in the 86th House District in November 2015. She previously ran against the long term incumbent in 2013 narrowly losing by 32 votes. This year she ran in an open seat. She was not endorsed by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce or The Washington Post, but prevailed with nearly 60% of the votes cast.

Filed Under: Blogging, Inside Scoop, Political, TV Shows, Virginia, Women Tagged With: Amy Laufer, elections, Emerge Virginia, Jennifer Boysko, Kate Hanley, Virginia, women, women in politics, Women Leaders of Virginia

Catherine S. Read
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