Category: 9th District

November 2018 Calendar and Notes

November 6th is past, and many thanks to all who participated, made phone calls, installed signs for the campaign and picked them up after the election, read and shared events and comments on social media, planned and attended events and debates, voted, and helped with all of the tasks that go into a campaign. Thanks most of all to our candidates, Tim Kaine and Anthony Flaccavento, and to Anne and Laurel.

 

Congratulations to Senator Tim Kaine on his win, and we are happy to see him return for another term to join Democratic Senator Mark Warner representing Virginia in the Senate.

 

Anthony Flaccavento lost after waging an incredible campaign, holding his promised 100 Town Hall events, keeping the campaign positive, winning all of the debates, and making real suggestions to address the needs and hopes of people in the Ninth Congressional District. Keep talking about the issues with your neighbors, and remember that there is another election in two years!

 

We are grateful to Anthony for his work in this campaign, and each of us should commit to keeping the ideas and momentum going. In the Ninth we are fighting the most intractable of foes, including poverty and its related lack of access to health care, information, education, jobs, vacation and leisure time, time for civic involvement — in short, all of the things that make up full participation in democracy and the American dream. Information technology, loss of jobs in critical areas including coal, and low wages continue to present complex problems for workers and families. The ideas that Anthony proposed to address these problems won him the hearts of thoughtful and involved people, and we need to continue to focus on them. I hope that each of you who voted for Anthony will take a moment to send an e-mail or a message of gratitude on social media and let him know how much we appreciate him and value his work for us here in the Ninth.

 

I am sure that Anthony is enjoying his neglected farm and working hard on that, but we welcome him any time to visit with us at any of our events and will send a note to this list if we know that he is planning to stop by.

 

Here is our BVDC Regular Calendar for November 2018:
    • Committee Meeting NOTE CHANGE OF SCHEDULE  Thursday, November 15th: Our regular Committee Meeting at 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., at the Bristol Virginia Courthouse, 497 Cumberland St., in Bristol, VA. The change of date is due to the Courthouse being closed on Monday 12th for Veterans Day.

 

    • Breakfast Saturday, November 17: Breakfast with Democrats, at 9:00 a.m. at the Golden Corral, Exit 7 in Bristol, Virginia. Guests welcome. Attendees pay separately for breakfast. Invite your friends to come out and join us at breakfast!

 

    • State Line Social Monday, November 19: TN-VA Democratic Social at around 5:00 p.m. at the State Line Bar and Grille, 644 E. State St., Bristol, TN, 37620. Informal meeting of Democrats, Progressives, Liberals, and our political friends and cousins from both Bristols and the surrounding area.  Attendees order and pay for food and/or drinks individually.

 

Hope to see you in November! 

BVDC Calendar for July

Congratulations to Neal Osborne, who was sworn in on Monday July 2nd as Bristol Virginia City Council Member! We are proud of Neal and of his successful campaign, and want to thank all of the folks who came out to vote for him.  Check out the photo on the Bristol Virginia website!
 
The June Primary: We are happy to have Anthony Flaccavento as our candidate for Congress in November. That election is November 6th, so mark your calendar now. We need representation for the 9th District in Congress, and we need to elect Democrats. Anthony is traveling around the district, and holding town halls and meet-and-greet opportunities for you. He has provided an excellent calendar of events, so find an event near you. Anthony needs your financial support, your participation, and your vote to defeat a well-funded incumbent in November. Bristol VA and local folks on this newsletter, please attend Anthony’s Town Hall, Abingdon event on Monday, July 16th, 2018, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Dogwood Room at the Community Center of Abingdon. We look forward to a Bristol event to be scheduled soon. Some of you already have yard signs out in Bristol — let us know if you need one!
 
Regular Calendar for July  2018:
  • Monday, July 9: Committee Meeting at 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., at the Bristol Virginia Courthouse, 497 Cumberland St., in Bristol, VA. All Democrats registered to vote in Bristol Virginia are welcome, and you are invited to attend even if you are not a member of the committee.  (Note: this meeting is regularly scheduled on the second Monday of the month, so you can set a recurring calendar reminder!)
  • Monday, July 16: Anthony’s Town Hall,  6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Dogwood Room at the Community Center of Abingdon. Please attend if you possibly can.
  • Monday, July 16: TN-VA Democratic Social at around 5:00 p.m. at the State Line Bar and Grille, 644 E. State St., Bristol, TN, 37620. This is an informal meeting of Democrats, Progressives, Liberals, and our political friends and cousins from both Bristols and the surrounding area.  Attendees order and pay for food and/or drinks individually. Virginia voters, our Tennessee folk can hold the fort at the State Line, as we hope you will be in Abingdon for Anthony’s Town Hall! 
  • Saturday, July 21: Breakfast with Democrats, at 9:00 a.m. at the Golden Corral, Exit 7 in Bristol, Virginia. Guests welcome. Attendees pay separately for breakfast. Invite your friends to come out and join us at breakfast! (Note: this meeting is regularly scheduled on the third Saturday of the month.)
Hope to see you in July! The photo below a screen shot from the calendar on Flaccavento for Congress and has information about the Abingdon Town Hall on July 16th.

Ninth District Congressional Primary Candidates Certified

I was happy to be one of several Democrats from around the Ninth District who met at the Highlands Democratic Resource Center in Abingdon to count petition signatures for Anthony Flaccavento and Justin Santopietro, who will be on the ballot in the June 12th Democratic Primary in the Ninth District, which includes Bristol Virginia, and most of Southwest Virginia. This is the first Democratic Congressional Primary in the Ninth District in my long memory!

The news release on the Ninth District website says, and I can personally verify, that both candidates have been reaching out to voters across the district for months, and that it is apparent that people are recognizing the genuine care they have for folks in the district and the serious issues we face.

Democrats across the Ninth are energized and excited about these candidates! I hope that you can come out and meet them and get to know them if you have not already. Check out our April calendar newsletter that will be posted tomorrow for opportunities to meet the candidates. If you want to be included in notifications on the calendar, meetings and candidate visits, send e-mail to BVDCCalendar@gmail.com

 

VA Ninth CD Candidate Forums – save the dates!

Times and locations have yet to be announced, but there will be four candidate forums with the candidates for nomination for Virginia’s Ninth District seat in Congress. Save these dates so you can attend one or two of the forums:

  • January 27 (Pennington Gap, Justin Soto moderator),
  • February 24 (Clifton Forge, Sen. Creigh Deeds moderator),
  • March 24 (Martinsville, Carmen Forman moderator),
  • April 21 (Wytheville, David Bailey moderator).

Calendar for January 2018

Hello, Everyone!

Again, thank you to all who attended the reorganizational caucus! We have our membership and officers for the 2018-2019 term, as listed in an earlier post. Our committee remains small, and new membership interest is still welcome.

Many thanks to Anthony Flaccavento for coming to be with us at our last regular committee meeting. We had a good turnout and a lively discussion, and there is energy behind his campaign for U.S. House of Representatives, Virginia 9th District. Make a donation or volunteer here.

Congratulations to our new Virginia team, Ralph Northam, Justin Fairfax, and Mark Herring. They know that we expect great things! In addition, we elected many Democrats to the legislature this past November, which is hopeful news for Medicaid expansion in Virginia!. In May 2018 we will have an opportunity to elect local officials who will work on issues important to Bristol residents, and in November 2018 we will re-elect Tim Kaine to the U.S. Senate, and elect a Democrat to represent the Ninth District in the U.S. House of representatives.

Here are our events for January 2018:

  • Saturday January 6: Thank you to VA 9th CD Chair Deb Baum for this information. “We’re celebrating our 2017 election victories just before the events in Richmond on the 13th. Proceeds to support the election (and re-election) of Democrats in Virginia’s Fightin’ 9th CD.”
    • dress: blue jeans & ball gowns (casual to dressy)
    • Saturday, January 6, 2018 7-10 pm
    • Virginia Ballroom – The Community Center of Abingdon (300 Senior Dr NE, Abingdon, VA 24210; map, click here)
    • tickets $25/person, click here, other contribution levels appreciated (ticket includes admittance, appetizers & light fare)
    • cash bar (wine & beer)
    • flyer, click here
    • Facebook, click here
  • Monday, January 8: Committee Meeting at 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., at the Bristol Virginia Courthouse, 497 Cumberland St., in Bristol, VA.
  • Saturday, January 13: Ralph Northam Inaugural Ball in Richmond, VA. Before they sell out, click here to buy your tickets to Governor-elect Northam’s Inaugural Ball on Saturday, January 13, at 8 p.m. in Richmond! They’re going fast, so hurry! 
  • Monday, January 15: TN-VA Democratic Social at around 5:00 p.m. at the State Line Bar and Grille, 644 E. State St., Bristol, TN, 37620. This is an informal meeting of Democrats, Progressives, Liberals, and our political friends and cousins. Attendees order and pay for food and drinks individually, but the conversation is free.
  • Saturday, January 20: Breakfast with Democrats, at 9:00 a.m. at the Golden Corral, Exit 7 in Bristol, Virginia. Good food, great conversation, no agenda, guests welcome. Attendees pay separately for breakfast.

Thank you for your responses to the Calendar e-mail! Hope to see you at one of our events in January!

Caucus Tomorrow

The deadline for candidate filings having passed, we have 4 candidates for the two delegate positions, and will have the Caucus tomorrow.

Please read the Call to Caucus carefully so that your registration and filing are accurate and on time.

Please read the Call to Caucus carefully so that your registration and filing are accurate and on time. Here are the registration and pre-filing highlights, but read the Call at 2017BVDCCall_Delegates_to9th for complete information!

  • Both forms may be downloaded, but must bear an original signature to be valid.
  • The Participant form, 2017participant_9th can be filled out at the Caucus. If you want to complete it and e-mail it early, I will print it and have it at the Registration table for you to sign. It is not valid without an original signature!
  • The Candidate form, 2017candidate_9th has a deadline at 4:00 on the day before the Caucus, and must be received according to the instructions in the Call, 2017BVDCCall_Delegates_to9th. You have to complete and pre-file this form to have your name on the ballot as a candidate for Delegate to the Ninth District Convention.

Call to Caucus

Democrats registered to vote in Bristol, VA, are invited to caucus at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27th, 2017, at the Bristol Virginia Courthouse, 497 Cumberland St., Bristol, VA. At the Caucus, we will elect two (2) delegates to the 2017 Reorganization Convention of the Ninth Congressional District Democratic Committee, currently scheduled for May 20th, 2017.

Registration begins at 6:30 p.m. Doors will close at 7:00 p.m., and persons in line to register at 7:00 p.m. will be admitted for registration. The Caucus will begin when registrations are completed.

Only those present and registered at the caucus will be permitted to vote in the selection of delegates.

If you want to be a delegate, you must pre-file a candidate application. Delegates will be chosen by secret ballot from those who have pre-filed an Application for Election as Delegate to 2017 Reorganization Convention of the Ninth Congressional District Democratic Committee. This application form can be viewed/saved as a .pdf file under the Call to Caucus tab on the menu above. Completed Applications must be returned with all information and original signature according to the instructions in the Call to Caucus, with a submission deadline of 4:00 p.m. April 26th, the day before the Caucus.

This Caucus will be cancelled if the number of pre-filed candidates is equal to two (2) at the submission deadline, and the two candidates will be declared Delegates.

Thank you!

Thank you to many visitors who stopped by the 2016 campaign headquarters to chat and pick up information and campaign materials. Also a special thank you to those who helped us keep the headquarters open by contributing and working! Sadly our candidates lost nationally, but we did get enough votes for Hillary here in the Ninth District to make sure that she had the Virginia delegates!

Now is the time to get acquainted with local Democrats and prepare for the mid-term elections in 2018, and we also have state and local elections coming up. So check out our calendar, like and follow our Facebook page, and sign up to receive our e-mail newsletter a couple of times a month. Your vote counts!

I know that this is a discouraging time for Democrats, but if we can change the composition of the national legislature and keep our state representatives in Richmond, we can continue to press for quality affordable health care, jobs and benefits for workers, economic justice, civil rights, and the freedoms we cherish.

Join the conversation and be a part of the changes you want to see happen!

D. Clay Pugh withdraws from Ninth District race

D. Clay Pugh has suspended his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the Virginia Ninth Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives as of Thursday, March 31st. We are disappointed that he has endorsed Morgan Griffith, whom he previously opposed as ineffective and not a good representative for the District.

Bill Bunch and Derek Kitts are the candidates that will be voted on at the Ninth District Convention on May 21, 2016, in Wytheville. Both of them were present and spoke at the regular meeting of the Ninth District Committee in Radford on April 2nd, and each has made more than one visit to Bristol!

If you have not met them, you can find them on line at the links below. Check their calendars to see where they will be, and get to know the candidates! Also encourage them with a contribution, as both of them are expending resources in order to be out and about in the District to speak with voters.