It's never an off year from elections in Virginia. This November, Republicans are looking to both defend the majority they won in the House of Delegates, as well as retake the state Senate. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) earlier this month released Secure Your Vote Virginia in partnership with the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV), the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus (VSRC), and the House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC), as a way to further embrace early voting in hopes to expand Republican control of the commonwealth. Early voting in Virginia is nothing new. Yet Democrats are still looking to complain.
Your vote matters and we’re going to need engagement from everyone interested in moving Virginia forward to be successful. We fundamentally believe Secure Your Vote Virginia is how, together, we can win in 2023 and beyond.
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) July 11, 2023
Visit: https://t.co/yq83ly0Z8Y pic.twitter.com/5BiIEQNkRJ
On the day of the launch, a statement was sent out on behalf of Virginia House and Senate Democrats. As expected, there were claims of "blatant hypocrisy," which came from Del. Don Scott, the House Democratic Leader. But more also threw in the "MAGA Republican" label. Del. Cia Price is included for giving a particularly hysterical statement.
"I would be more thrilled if the MAGA Republican Extremists decided to stop proliferating dangerous and wildly false claims about our free and fair elections systems. Their actions have put lives at risk and undermined the confidence in our entire democracy," she ranted. "If they are serious about this initiative, the GOP should apologize for their previous attacks to invalidate voting systems. Until then, this is nothing more than political games from people only focused on using any means available to grab power from people with whom they disagree or devalue."
Scott, who also tweeted against the program, has been particularly outspoken against the governor, even when it comes to personal attacks against Youngkin's faith over executive orders on mask mandates; about Youngkin traveling out-of-state to campaign for other Republican candidates, while going above and beyond to pay the associated costs; and claiming that Youngkin wanted to get rid of the MLK Jr. holiday.
Va GOP have done everything in their power to make voting more difficult. We have not forgotten! Now, they pretend it was their idea! The poor media starving for access goes along. Virginia Republicans file 20 bills limiting absentee voting https://t.co/aCtAu30LOS
— Don Scott (@DonScott757) July 11, 2023
Another unhappy Virginia Democrat is Jessica Anderson, who is running to represent District 71 for the House of Delegates and who includes her pronouns in her bio. She too tweeted against the plan.
To be clear absentee ballots are a great resource that the Democrats advocate for and fought to pass. The problem is a governor and Republican Party using a 3rd party website to collect data, especially when the website requires a SS# and digital signature. https://t.co/462vqUOnDb
— Jessica Anderson For VA HouseofDelegates (@JessAnderson4VA) July 11, 2023
Democrats are very likely running scared. In a statement for Townhall, Dave Rexrode, the chairman of Spirit of Virginia PAC, called out the failures of Virginia Democrats, and not merely when it comes to their reactions to Secure Your Vote Virginia.
"Far left Democrats are grasping and getting desperate. They don’t want Republicans to vote early now? What’s next – protecting fentanyl dealers instead of families and communities, or siding with big tech instead of our kids safety? Actually, they’ve already done that," Rexrode pointed out.
Youngkin won in 2021 in part by prioritizing parental rights including but not merely when it comes to education. Parental rights and children's safety also looks to be an issue for 2024, and Democrats aren't helping themselves. Leaked footage from April showed state Democratic lawmakers caught up in a hot mic moment where they criticized efforts from Youngkin to keep children safe online amounted to "parental crap" and were "stupid."
Such Democrats are likely smart to be scared.
Not only did Youngkin win in 2021, as his campaign embraced the early voting rules that were in place, he became the first Republican governor elected since Bob McDonnell in 2009. Virginians also elected Republicans Winsome Earle-Sears for lieutenant governor and Jason Miyares as attorney general.
Republicans were also able to take back control of the House of Delegates, thanks to Youngkin's coattails. From the start of his 2021 campaign, Youngkin has made election integrity a priority.
NBC 12 revealed on Thursday that Virginia Republicans have so far raised $13 million, while state Democrats have raised $11 million. Youngkin is also cited in the article. "I fully embraced early voting in my campaign in 2021. It was a cornerstone of our efforts. And I just view it as common sense. There’s 45 days to vote, and we should encourage voters to get out and use all 45 days," he said.