Turning Virginia Blue
“A win in November will mean that the Blue Wave is so much more than a dream,” says Mziyanda Noruka, a Progressive Turnout Project Field Representative in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District (VA-10). “It will mean that Trump’s divisive tactics are being eroded by those who want to see a more equal and fair society.
VA-10 is located in northern Virginia, west of Washington, D.C., and as of 2015, District voters were 63.7% Non-Hispanic White, 12.7% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% Black or African American, and 16.9% Asian, Native American or Other. Some indicators suggest the District has grown even more diverse over the last three years.
“This District sparked my interest because although it is very close to D.C., the folks that live out here have very different needs and priorities,” says Nora Taktajian, a New York native and recent Drexel graduate who, in June, joined the Progressive Turnout Team as a Field Representative in VA-10. 
“I find that many families are concerned about what the future will look like for their children, and they want to make sure they are raising a family in a country that will be supportive of them and their needs,” says Nora. “Many feel compelled to vote Democrat this year because Democrats are more likely to connect, understand, and advocate for them.”
On November 1st, The Washington Post published an article about the race for VA-10, reporting, “Voters… say they want to vote for a Democrat – any Democrat – as a check on Trump.” The District, which went to Hillary Clinton 51% to 41% in the 2016 Presidential election, has been represented by Republican Barbara Comstock since January 2015. Comstock has a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another. Despite her anti-Trump rhetoric, she has voted in favor of his position 97.8% percent of the time.
Challenging Comstock is Democratic State Senator Jennifer Wexton, a former Loudon County prosecutor with a history of children’s advocacy work. Wexton supports LGBTQ+ rights and women’s rights, and she is a champion for veterans.
Among the issues of greatest importance to the Wexton campaign are making healthcare available to all Americans and expanding access to mental health treatment. In this same vein, Wexton acknowledges that addiction is a disease and believes Congress has a responsibility to intervene in the heroin and opioid epidemic by “[securing] funding for substance abuse prevention and treatment.”
In June, The Cook Political Report updated its rating of the race for VA-10 from Toss-Up to Lean Democratic.
The Senate race is no contest at all. Democratic incumbent Senator Tim Kaine should sleep easy these next few nights knowing that a victory is in sight, if not yet in-hand.
Kaine’s Republican opponent, Corey Stewart, has spent much of the election cycle digging his own grave. Stewart is a divisive wannabe-Trump of the white nationalist variety, and true to form, he has been loud and proud in his promises to defeat Kaine. But surprise! It’s all bluster. The Cook Political Report puts the Senate race in the Solid Democratic column.
Over the last several months, Mziyanda and Nora have spoken with thousands of voters in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, and they are both confident that their candidates, Jennifer Wexton for Congress and Tim Kaine for Senate, will be victorious on election day.
Whatever the outcome, Mziyanda says, “the Blue Wave cannot and will not stop in November.”
