Representing Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax

On Monday, after careful consideration, I announced:

I'm running for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.

As Delegate, I've been honored and privileged to serve the people of Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax. I want to continue to serve you in a capacity that gives greater voice to the values you and I share.
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I know you're tired of it. I'm tired of it, too. Everyone is. But here's the cold, hard truth: COVID-19 is surging at an alarming rate. As of this morning, the virus has killed 4,508 Virginians. Cases are soaring. And it's a problem throughout the Commonwealth. And according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, our nation's leading infectious disease expert, we haven't even started to see the Thanksgiving surge. See this article from December 4: Brace for post-Thanksgiving COVID-19 surge in 2-3 weeks, Dr. Fauci warns

We're all tired of this. But we have to keep hunkering down. The virus is far more dangerous now than it was when we began to hunker down in March. Only leave the house when absolutely necessary.
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Needless to say, there's a lot going on in Virginia and in this newsletter! The January-February 2021 Session is around the corner. Like the Special Session, it will be virtual, the first virtual regular session in Virginia history. In odd-numbered years, we only work 6 1/2 weeks (46 days), and Republicans this year want to limit us to only 30 days. The short session will severely limit our traditional output.
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Tomorrow (Tuesday, November 3) is Election Day, a day many of us have waited four long years to arrive. The polls will be open from 6 am to 7 pm. If you're in line before 7 pm, you can still vote.

I know most of you have voted already. But not all of you. If you -- or anyone you know -- has not yet cast a ballot, you and they must vote tomorrow.

If you have an absentee ballot, do not put it in the mail. It's too late. Just go to your polling place with it. You can cast it there or, if you've made a mistake, you can give it to them to discard and vote a new ballot there.
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And on November 3, a week from Tuesday -- a mere 10 days from now -- the United States will undergo its most important election in our lifetimes. You can find out where to vote in the City of Alexandria and how to vote early by clicking here or by reading to the bottom of this newsletter (where I also have information on Arlington and Fairfax).
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Make a plan to vote! Put it on your calendar NOW. I voted earlier this week in-person at Alexandria's early voting location, 132 N. Royal Street, right across the street from City Hall.  After voting for Biden, Warner, and Beyer - and voting NO on Amendment 1 to protect Virginia from enshrining gerrymandering into our Constitution - I spent some time with No on 1 Alexandria volunteer extraordinaire Alex Sprague talking with voters before they headed into the polls. 
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No doubt Amendment 1 is convoluted and complicated. It was designed to be. When those who want to gerrymander Virginia are deceptively couching such an effort as "reform", things get pretty complicated. If Republicans use Amendment 1 to re-gerrymander Virginia back in their favor in 2021, Democrats will not have power to amend it again. Republicans could then lock themselves into permanent gerrymandered power the way they have in Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, etc.  But they would have an advantage in Virginia. Because, unlike those other states, the Virginia Legislature appoints the Virginia Supreme Court -- and because Amendment excludes the Governor from having any role -- this would be a permanent revolving door of court appoints legislature appoints court appoints legislature. And voters could never stop it, unless we got a massive supermajority (60%? 65%?) to defeat the statewide partisan political gerrymander.
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