VCC Magazine Winter 2018

V I R G I N I A

Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E

Dawn Adams

Hala Ayala

Emily Brewer

Jennifer Carroll Foy

Lee Carter

Kelly Convirs-Fowler

Karrie Delaney

Wendy Gooditis

Elizabeth Guzman

Chris Hurst

Schuyler VanValkenburg

Jay Jones

Cheryl Turpin

John McGuire

Kathy Tran

Bob Thomas

Danica Roem

Debra Rodman

David Reid

INSIDE • Delegate Watts –page 4 • Making History –page 5 • Delegate Ware –page 6 • Good Elections –page 7

Winter 2018

Research shows MILLIONS of vacation days go UNUSED every year. It also says taking vacation makes you BETTER at your job. SUPPORT the Commonwealth by taking an extra FRIDAY and spending your travel dollars IN VIRGINIA .

Stay HERE and REMIND yourself why

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C O N T E N T S VIRGINIA CAPITOL CONNECTIONS QUARTERLY MAGAZINE

Winter 2018

page 6

4 Delegate Watts

5 Making History is The Virginia Way

watts

ware

page 4

Floor Speeches

6 Delegate Ware

7 Good Government Requires Good Elections

8 People Vote, Acres Don’t

10 Governor’s Cabinet

11 Moneyball: A Winning and Frugal Campaign

12 2017 Money Race to Control the House

13 Education’s Secret Weapon

Farnsworth

hanna

14 Building Schools and Businesses

Elections page 8

15 Blueprint Virginia

16 The Photography of Wanda Judd

18 The Virginia Tobacco Commission

Education page 13

20 Thomas Jefferson’s Institute’s Economic Conference

21 Veterans and Defense Affairs

22 Reporting on the GA in the Digital Age

parker

23 College Journalists Cover the Capitol

25 America, If We Can Keep It

27 Testimonies in Committees

Military page 21

On The Web www.vccqm.org

28 Scenes from the 2018 Session

29 In Memoriam: Bill Crump, Jr.

30 Association and Business Directory

hopkins

Volume 24 Number 1 • Student Editor –Shelby Lee Ethington • Assistant Editor –Kristen Bailey-Hardy • Publisher –David Bailey • Art Director –John Sours • School Distribution – Kristen Bailey-Hardy • Advertising – Ads@CapitolSquare.com • Printer –Wordsprint • Virginia Capitol Connections Quarterly Magazine (ISSN 1076-4577) is published by: Virginia Capitol Connections • 1108 East Main Street • Suite 1200 • Richmond, Virginia 23219 • (804) 643-5554 • Copyright 2017, Virginia Capitol Connections, Inc. All rights reserved. The views expressed in the articles of Virginia Capitol Connections Quarterly Magazine , a non-partisan publication, are not necessarily those of the editors or publisher.

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Speech on the Floor of the Virginia House of Delegates Delegate Vivian Watts (D-Annandale) • 11 January 2018

The 2018 class of 12 women, added to the 16 of us who welcome them, includes attorneys, administrators, healthcare professionals, educators, social workers, small business women, realtors, former local elected officials, consultants, congressional staff, journalists, and in a class by herself a cyber security specialist. This range of professional experience is the real world of women. When I came in, I was the first woman to have kids in school … high school! The class of 2018 multi-tasks like you wouldn’t believe. I stand in awe as their nurturing hearts seem to focus their capable minds for a full package of doing what needs to be done. These women are living proof: Traditional roles are part of the package… they are not the whole package. I repeat, this is today’s real world for women. Their competence and life experience will enrich our full consideration of public policy… just as those who came before opened their colleagues’ awareness...and opened doors! (Like the door to the lounge on the House floor where legislative relations are shaped but which was once firmly closed to women.) Of course, I could go on, like not realizing I should have asked permission to wear pants, or missing votes because the ladies room was way down the hall at the rotunda. The importance of any of such quaint history is that the House got through it. As of yesterday, I became the longest serving woman in the House going beyond Delegate McDiarmid’s 26 years. So, having lived it, I’m here to tell you a little bit of change here and there to embrace diversity has served the body well. What is even more important, Virginia has been better served…and will be better served. On behalf of all the women who’ve come before, welcome to the women of 2018. Here’s to the future. This floor speech and other's can be viewed at www.virginiageneralassembly.gov through the session archives. Delegate VivianWatts was first elected to the Virginia House in 1981 and remained in the House until she left to serve as the state’s Secretary of Transportation and Public Safety in 1986. She was again elected to the House in 1996 and continues to represent the 39th district, which includes part of Fairfax County.

Yesterday was an historic day in the almost 400-year history of the Virginia House. 28 women took the oath of office. We’ve never had more than 19 women at any one time —  followed by falling back to just having 13 or 14. The Virginia Senate broke through the 20% ceiling more than a decade ago. Well, it may have taken the House longer, but yesterday we didn’t just crack the ceiling, we shattered it! A little history: In 1924, the first two women were elected to the House. By 1933,

a total of 6 had served. But that marked the end of women in the House for the next two decades. The next woman didn’t take her seat until 1954. She was joined four years later by two more women and another in 1960, for a total of four. I want to give these four women (3 Democrats and 1 Republican) special recognition because they are truly women of courage. No women at all for 20 years and then these four isolated human beings took their seats. They were not only isolated as women…but they came to this body with the conviction that massive resistance must end…they stood against a power structure that would close public schools rather than open them to blacks. One of these women was my mentor, Dorothy McDiarmid, who ultimately rose to be Chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee as well as the first woman to serve on Rules. She wanted me to run and a key part of her approach was getting me down here as her aide so I would have a real view of how I would balance family with the world of the General Assembly. This exposure included the curmudgeon role her husband played in supporting her, a role my husband fully embraced as we worked our way through how both he and I could thrive within the changing roles for women. When I took my seat in 1982, there had been only 21 women who’d ever sat in this Chamber. The great thing though was that the women’s rights movement had spurred a record election of 4 women that year. Now there were a total of 8 women in the House and they’d run out of traditional women’s committees to put us on. I’m sure it was with Dorothy’s help that I got my first choice: It was not a “women’s” committee but the Finance Committee to carry on the tax research I’d done to get school funding which had led to a job with the Fairfax Chamber to expand the business tax base. Traditional roles for women had begun to crack… ever so slightly. And, I would be less than honest, if I didn’t note that most of us felt the pressure to be twice as good to keep any opportunity open. In the words of the time, Fred Astaire got the starring role while Ginger Rogers did it in high heels and backwards! The next big crack came with a 1983 court ruling that forced new House districts to be drawn under the Federal Voting Rights Act. Professor Yvonne Miller was the first black woman seated in the House followed the next Session by Delegates Christian and Cunningham. The traditional look of the House had begun to change. Today, the leadership of all women of color is now not just a given in the communities of their heritage, it is a flourishing—particularly tough—fiber in the fabric of this body. I say that because while I only carry the label “woman,” the challenges of that label give me some appreciation for what makes the core of any woman particularly tough when she also carries the label of a stereotyped minority. To be a survivor, they’ve had to reach deep to know who they truly are no matter what anyone says. These women are strong, but they’re also often acutely aware of the plight of others. Good qualities in a public servant.

V

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Making History is The Virginia Way… Continue that tradition by ratifying the ERA!

By Sarah Alderson

There is a banner on Broad Street displayed on a fence surrounding the construction area that will eventually become the newly preserved AND redesigned General Assembly Building. It declares the site to be “History in the Making,” referring to what will be an integral addition to Capitol Square. There is also a billboard high above I-64 and I-95 featuring the image of a young girl standing proudly in front of the text, “We the People....” It entreats returning legislators

11 men with women. Women now hold a record 28 of 100 seats in that chamber, up from 17 last year. In fact, they hold a record number of 38 out of 140 seats in the General Assembly as a whole. Among this distinguished new group of members are the first Latinas, the first Asian-American women, and the first lesbian to be elected to the chamber, as well as the first openly transgender woman elected to any state legislature in the United States. Republicans also seated their youngest-ever woman.” There was a groundbreaking in December on the first phase of the Virginia Women’s Monument that will grace Capitol Square. Then Governor Terry McAuliffe said that the monument, representing four centuries of women’s contributions to our great Commonwealth, will be the first of its kind on the grounds of any state capitol in the United States. Now new Governor Ralph Northam has appointed eight women to his 15-member Cabinet, which his office emphasizes is the first time in history that a Virginia governor’s inner circle will have a female majority. Delegate Vivian Watts, the longest-serving woman in the House, delivered a floor speech commemorating the history of women in Virginia Government on the second day of this session. When mentioning the recent election, Watts smiled. “We didn’t crack the ceiling. We shattered it.” She also noted that the legislature’s culture has changed tremendously since she was one of four women elected to the House in 1982, which was a new record at that time. The same day as Watts’ speech ten-year-old Eastan Weber, the Virginia girl featured on the Richmond billboard, was allowed on the House floor to give newly-elected Speaker Kirk Cox a bouquet of flowers. Afterwards, she and other advocates were introduced from the House floor by Delegate Kaye Kory, a sponsor of one of the ERA- related bills. With the unprecedentedgrowthofwomen inVirginia’s government, both proponents and bipartisan sponsors of these bills are hopeful that this is the year that the state will ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Right now, 69 out of 140 sitting legislators have either signed on to this year’s bills and/or were patrons in a prior year. See Making History , continued on page 6

and all Virginians, “Let’s make history!” referring to the movement for the Commonwealth to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. And there are many other versions of the phrase “history-making” that have been dominating the headlines when referring to the most recent election in Virginia, as well as the current legislative session. Of course, as the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World, the Virginia General Assembly is no stranger to influencing history. But it is uniquely positioned to once again play an important role in amending the nation’s frame of government. At the end of the 2016 session, I wrote an article for the Spring issue of this magazine with the title, “Women of Virginia Make History–Again,” referring to the Centennial Rally for Equal Rights in February of that year, a reenactment of an event that occurred in February 1915 when suffragists took to the Capitol steps asking for women to receive the right to vote. The rally in 2016 was organized not only to commemorate the original purpose of acquiring voting rights, but also to call upon the General Assembly to help secure all rights for women. Resolutions to this effect have been written in both the Senate of Virginia and the House of Delegates over the years. Ratification measures have passed with bipartisan support in the Senate five times since 2010, but they have never been debated on the House floor. Each time, the resolutions have ended up being killed in a House committee. As it turned out, the two years following the Centennial Rally became banner years for women in politics. In 2016, the first female candidate was nominated for president by a major U.S. political party and won the popular vote. Then in 2017, the Women’s March on January 21st became the largest single-day protest in American history. Record numbers of women have gotten involved both locally and regionally. Many have run and are running for offices across the country and Time Magazine’s 2017 “Person of theYear” cover featured a group of women’s rights activists. Here inVirginia, history was also made last year when November’s Democratic sweep flipped 15 seats in the House of Delegates, replacing

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Speech on the Floor of the Virginia House of Delegates Delegate Lee Ware (R-Powhatan) • 12 January 2018

Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, We gather here today amid a great change in the constitution of this body. Nearly a quarter of the men and women who sat here on my side of the aisle just one year ago are gone—swept away at the polls by the sovereign voice of the people in their ballots on November 7. Such change has become a constant in our lives in a now-continental society given to turbo-capitalism and the continual revolution of science. Still, some realities are impervious

“soft despotism” every bit—and more—tyrannical than the “hard” dictatorships of armed ideologies. And Christopher Lasch, who in 1979 suggested that the social changes Tocqueville, Burckhardt, and others noticed in the 19th Century led to “an historical period characterized by…[an increasing number of individuals] in a state of marked narcissism with all its pathological symptoms.” The reference is to our period…to us . It will come as no surprise to this audience that I define myself as a Conservative. But what, I constantly ask myself, can the Conservative hope to conserve —to do —when Constant Change is the dynamic engine of society, economy, and polity? My answer is, the Conservative can bear witness to truths that have been tested by time and transmitted by tradition. For example, no matter how high the federal debt becomes, one and one still equals two, and no people can thrive who spend beyond their means. The day may come when voters break entirely with such truths, but still one can bear witness. This approach is what Edmund Burke described as “the cake of custom.” Custom can be broken, or abandoned, but even then, there remains one creed—one fragment of custom, as it were—that is impervious and equal to all change. That custom is charity . Indulge a veteran of two decades in these chambers to invite all of us, amid the “sound and fury” that will invariably occur in coming weeks, to remember that, in the end, Shakespeare found it all to signify only “nothing.” “ Nothing ,” that is, compared to the principles and the experiences that endure. As an example of this, the oldest of all the traditions extolled by the Conservative, I deeply regret that we will not any longer be practicing one of the most ancient of all customs of the House of Delegates. Of course I bow to the decision of our constituted authority, but in doing so I am compelled to bear witness to what I believe is the Conservative’s obligatory response to the “BraveNewWorld” uponwhichwe are entered. And so, to Delegate Ken Plum of the 36th District I say, Sir, no matter how now I must address you in this chamber, and though we will continue to vote differently on a wide array of issues, you will remain for me The Gentleman from Fairfax. The same is true for everyone in every seat in this body, for each of you has been elected to represent the constituents of your district on the terms by which you campaigned for their votes . Congratulations, andWelcome. May we differ, but never demean; may we listen as well as clamor; and may many of us emerge in mid-March—as Aristotle would have us do—in a kind of friendship that transcends solely partisan obligations and opens us to the cooperation required for us to serve together our common weal. Delegate Lee Ware had served in the Virginia House of Delegates since 1998, representing the 65th district west of Richmond, made up of Powhatan County and parts of Chesterfield, Fluvanna and Goochland Counties. There are now only two more states needed to make gender equality a Constitutional right. AndVirginia is the only Commonwealth that has not signed on. Candace Graham, the other founder ofWomen-Matter, emphasizes, “The fact that Nevada ratified it nullifies the argument that Virginia can’t because the deadline expired. It gives us a jumpstart.” Kim Wright, founder of the group LWCC–Liberal Women of Chesterfield County & Beyond, reminds legislators, “It’s about timely issues that their constituents care about. We’re seeing a resurgence of the women’s movement, and the fact that 11 more women just joined the ranks of the House is further proof that Virginians want women to be an active part of our government. Passing the ERA would be V

to the emotions agitated by the media or the ideologies by which our political parties contend for the right to govern. Still our budget must be balanced. Still we have problems to address that defy simple remedy. Still we will have important issues to debate—and to decide. And, still we need to make our way to a discourse and decisions worthy of the complex Commonwealth we assemble today to serve. Two generations ago—in 1955—William F. Buckley Jr. defined a Conservative as “someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop , at a time when no one is inclined to do so.” Probably all 100 of us here today can agree on one thing at least, which is that History did not stop, and much of the social and political order of our parents’ generation has been swept away—largely by technologies and pharmaceuticals that may prove as destructive of human nature as they are alluring to human appetites. How can History be ‘stopped’—or even slowed when science dissolves even whole societies’ let alone the individual’s ability to maintain traditional norms—or our fabled American sense of self- government, and independence of judgment? A litany of thinkers has attempted to answer those questions—among the most notable being Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World ; C.S. Lewis, author of The Abolition of Man ; George Orwell, with whose 1984 or Animal Farm many of us will be familiar. My own litany of prophetic voices about the fragility of ordered liberty and the sundry threats to human dignity begins with Plato, who well warns that democracies invariably tend—and end—in tyranny. The Framers of our Constitution understood this, and so bequeathed us republican— emphatically small r—forms to channel democratic passions. More recently, Jacob Burckhardt forewarned in the 1890s that the challenges of modern cities and economies would tempt the masses to choose “terrible simplifiers” to impose a single, totalitarian remedy to the new problems of “modern life”… Ortega in 1932 warned of “the revolt of the masses” against all forms of superior achievement; Tocqueville a century earlier wondered if we Americans, in our preoccupation with equality, would at last subvert liberty through a “mass conformism” that would instantiate a The modern-day suffragists from that 2016 Centennial Rally have been back on Capitol Square talking to legislators from day one. And they’ve been joined by many more men and women who have become inspired to take up the cause. Eileen Davis, co-founder of the Virginia group Women-Matter, points out, “The ERAwas part of the dialogue—part of what got record numbers of women elected this past year. And they are committed to getting it passed.” This renewed energy was originally boosted last year on the 45th anniversary of Congress submitting the Equal Rights Amendment to the states. On March 22, Nevada became the 36th state to ratify the amendment and the first to do so after the expiration of the original deadline. The rest of the countrywaswatching. SoweremanyVirginians. Making History from page 5

See Making History , continued on page 9

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Good Government Requires Good Elections

By Walt Latham In addition, the Commissioner of

Good government requires good elections. Good elections, in turn, require adequate funding, staffing, and attention to the legal environment in which elections operate. The time is now forVirginia policymakers to review these aspects of Virginia’s electoral process. Below are pressing issues that need to be addressed inVirginia: The General Registrar/Electoral Board Work Group recommended—based on the workload and similarity of the yearly work cycle of their offices—that registrars’ pay should be at parity with the state’s treasurers. Virginia has long had a well-run and well-maintained election system, and this is due in no small part to the registrars and their staffs. With the coming wave of retirements, as well as changes in the lengths of time younger generations remain in a particular position, Virginia has to have salaries for registrars that will attract and retain qualified personnel. Virginia’s registrars work year-round to ensure that the voter registration records are accurate and up-to-date. There is constant preparation for the next election, as well as reviewing candidate filings, campaign finance paperwork, attendance at meetings critical to ensuring continued compliance with federal, state, and local laws, supervision of staff, preparation of budgets for local government review, and providing voter education to the public. The continued viability of this system depends upon having trained and qualified people in the position of general registrar. There is no good policy reason that the keepers of the Commonwealth’s money should be paid so much more than the keepers of the Commonwealth’s election system – the cornerstone on which all else is built. 2. The General Assembly should review voter registration and election laws with the goal of making them efficient and up-to-date. Virginia has not had a thorough review of election laws since the early 1990s. Since that time the federal government has passed two substantive laws affecting voting and elections. The General Assembly makes changes every year in Title 24.2. In addition, there are portions of Title 24.2 that do not agree with other portions of Title 24.2. Elections have become increasingly politicized, and conflicts in laws are a recipe for lack of confidence in a secure andwell-administered election system. The Virginia Code Commission needs to review Title 24.2 with a view toward recodification. The RegistrarsAssociation and the Electoral Board Association have been in contact with the hard-working staff and members of the Code Commission, and it has been made clear that they do not have the resources to devote to this deep a review of Title 24.2 until after redistricting in 2021. The General Assembly needs to provide the Code Commission with the resources necessary to review Title 24.2 without delay. 3. The General Assembly should establish the Commissioner of Elections as an appointee of a five-member State Board of Elections, with a super majority required for removal, and ensure adequate funding for the Department of Elections. The State Board of Elections and the Department of Elections are established to help coordinate the work of Virginia’s 133 registrars and electoral boards. When the central agency is inadequately funded, this affects the ability of the agency to provide guidance to the registrars and electoral boards. In turn, this increases the risk of non-uniformity, inefficiency, and illegal or incorrect practices that invite litigation. The State Board of Elections should be a five-member board with staggered terms so that there is a constant bench of experience and knowledge about how elections work. Currently, the entire board of three members does not have staggered terms (unlike the local electoral boards, which are staggered), and there is a lack of experience when a new board comes on. 1. The General Assembly should equalize pay between general registrars and treasurers.

99 When reviewing the resources available to elections professionals, and when reviewing changes to laws and policies applicable to elections, See Good Government , continued on page 9 Elections should not be a gubernatorial appointee who serves at the pleasure of the Governor. Instead, the Commissioner should be an elections professional whose job is protected from competing political winds. This can be achieved by having the five- member State Board of Elections appoint the Commissioner and have the power to remove the Commissioner, for cause. 4. The General Assembly should study bills to ensure that they are implemented in a cost-effective way that benefits Virginia’s voters. Va. Code 30-19.03 provides, in pertinent part, as follows: Whenever any legislative bill requiring a net additional expenditure by any county, city, or town, or whenever any legislative bill requiring a net reduction of revenues by any county, city, or town, is filed during any session of the General Assembly, the Commission on Local Government shall investigate and prepare an estimate setting forth, to the extent practicable, the additional expenditures or reduction of revenues, if any, to be required of the affected localities in event of enactment of such legislation Every year the General Assembly considers legislation affecting elections or voter registration that will cost localities additional funds, and these bills are not sent to the Commission on Local Government for review. Early voting bills are good examples of the types of bills that it would be prudent for the General Assembly to refer to the Commission on Local Government for analysis because it will increase Virginia localities’ election expenditures. For example, in North Carolina’s 2016 presidential election, over 60% of the total votes cast for president were in-person early votes. In a typical locality in Virginia this would be far above what registrars’ offices are able to accommodate in their current facilities. Accordingly, additional staff and office space, including satellite offices, would be needed in order to ensure that voting is equitable and accessible to all voters and that voting machines and ballots are secure. In addition, theGeneralAssembly can take advantage of innovations in other states to investigate ways to improve the voting experience for Virginia’s voters. Again, early voting is an example of a proposal that Virginia could research before implementing: it is the law inmany states, including every state around Virginia, and the Commonwealth could benefit from a review of the laws and policies pertaining to early voting. Even if it is not the will of the General Assembly to implement early voting yet, it would be prudent to study what other states’ experiences have been in implementing early voting. 5. The General Assembly should direct a review of pay and classification standards for staff in registrars’ offices, as well as a review of minimum office space and office equipment standards. At present there are no pay or classification standards for assistant registrars. For the same reason that the Commonwealth has pay and classification standards for staff in constitutional offices, and because registrars need to be able to uniformly obtain and retain qualified and skilled staff, Virginia needs to have pay and classification standards for assistant registrars. In addition, the Commonwealth needs to devote resources to study the space and equipment requirements for registrars’ offices to ensure access to the public, that election equipment and records are able to be adequately and securely stored, and that there is enough space for the number of staff necessary to perform registration and election tasks during peak periods of activity.

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People Vote, Acres Don’t: Virginia’s 2017 Election in Perspective

By Stephen J. Farnsworth and Stephen Hanna

Virginia’s political culture is changing so fast that the nearly everyone is struggling to keep up. The 15-seat gain by Democrats in the House of Delegates—one of the largest single-election increases in decades—surprised experienced politicians and political observers from across the state. In addition, Virginians elected Ralph Northam governor with a 9-percentage point margin, a large increase from Terry McAuliffe’s 2.5-point victory margin four years earlier. The three Democratic statewide victories in 2017 extended the streak of defeats for Republicans, who last won a statewide election in 2009. At the center of this political realignment stands the changing population of Virginia. A cartogram, which adjusts the size of cities and counties to take account of the numbers of votes cast in the 2017 gubernatorial election, demonstrates this change visually. The geographic contortions in a cartogram offer sharp contrasts from the traditional acre-based maps, where large rural areas appear to dominate the much more populous, but smaller in size, cities and suburban counties where more voters reside. This cartogram, which reshapesVirginia into a pair of scissors with the large population loops of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, does not show which candidate won which jurisdiction. Rather it offers an image of electoral trends by comparing Northam’s margin of support to that of Tim Kaine, the victorious Democratic candidate for governor in 2005 (Kaine won a subsequent election to the U.S. Senate in 2012).

The light blue areas show where Democratic support increased between 2005 and 2017, with the areas where it is increasing a lot colored darker blue. The light red areas show where Republican support is increasing, with the dark red areas illustrating where it has increased a lot. What were once the state’s largest reliably conservative jurisdictions, including Chesterfield County outside Richmond and Virginia Beach in Hampton Roads, are trending Democratic. The large Democratic majorities that already existed a dozen years ago in northern Virginia, Richmond and Newport News have been getting even more Democratic. In Virginia’s off-year state elections,

Farnsworth

Democrats normally struggle to build enthusiasm among younger and minority voters, who are less likely to vote in state contests than they were in the presidential election a year earlier. In 2017, Democrats actually won the governor’s office by a larger margin than the Democratic presidential ticket won the state a year earlier. Northam’s roughly 9-point margin hanna

Cartogram of Gubernatorial Election Voting Trends: 2005 - 2017

Support for Democratic Candidates Percentage Point Change in

Loudoun

Arlington

Fairfax

increase of 0.1 to 5 increase of 5.1 to 10

decline of 0.1 to 5 decline of 5.1 to 10

Manassas Park

increase greater than 10

decline greater than 10

Counties and independent cities are scaled by the number of votes cast in 2017. For example, Fairfax County (375,630 votes) is three times the size of Loudoun County(117,290 votes).

Richmond

Buchanan

Chester eld

Virginia Beach

Tazewell

Source: Electoral data are from the Virginia State Board of Elections website (www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Election_Information/Election_Results/Index.html). Map by Stephen P. Hanna, UMW Geography Department.

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policymakers should carefully weigh (1) access by voters to the process, (2) efficiency in the administration and operation of the process, and (3) upholding the integrity of the process. All of these are important to ensuring that Virginia elections meet the expectations of Virginia voters and that the voters maintain confidence in their elections. We are interested in working closely with policymakers as we approach the 2018 Session. Please do not hesitate to contact your local electoral board members or voter registrar. Walt Latham, General Registrar at York County, President of the Voter Registrars Association of Virginia. last November was notably larger than that of Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine ticket, which won the Old Dominion by roughly 5 points in 2016. Republicans are gaining in some places, but the strongest Republican areas are in the sparsely populated counties of Virginia’s southwestern corner, an economically struggling region that attracts few new residents. Democrats may be an endangered species in Russell County in Southwest Virginia, for example, where Northam received 22 percent of the vote. But places like Russell doesn’t amount to much in statewide vote totals: the county gave Republican Ed Gillespie a roughly 3,600 vote advantage. In contrast, Fairfax County gave Northam a margin of 137,000 more votes. The greatest declines in support for Democratic candidates were Buchanan and Tazewell counties, where the party’s vote share dropped by 29 and 25 points respectively during the 12-year period, a time when unionized coal jobs in the region were in steep decline. The greatest increase in support for Democratic candidates occurred in Manassas Park, a rapidly diversifying corner of NorthernVirginia, which marked a 17-point gain for Northam when compared to Kaine’s 2005 election. Virginia is not a one-party dominant jurisdiction. When parties are tired of losing, they change strategies. For Republicans, then, the elections of 2017 offered a painful lesson: to win, future GOP statewide candidates must respond to a state that is growing increasingly suburban, more ethnically diverse, and less rural with each election cycle. An economically focused message is far more likely to win such voters than a more divisive campaign that focuses on abortion, Confederate statues, and Latino gangs. This June, Republicans will select the party’s nominee to challenge Kaine in his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Will the party respond to the changing political culture of Virginia? This is the key electoral question for Virginia politics in 2018. Stephen J. Farnsworth is professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington, where he directs the Center for Leadership and Media Studies. Stephen Hanna is professor of geography at UMW. evidence that our representatives listen.” It all comes back to Virginia’s long-time role in making American history and the opportunities that are being presented now. Newly sworn-in Governor Ralph Northam talked about Virginia moving forward in his Inaugural speech. In fact, one of the closing lines was, “This country is once again looking to Virginia to lead the way.” The whole country is watching us. In fact, the whole world is watching. The now famous Richmond billboard also reads, “Not One More GenERAtion.” What about not one more year? What if this is the year that Virginia leads the way by ratifying the ERA? “What if” indeed. Only time…and this session…will tell. Sarah Alderson is an award-winning freelance writer who also works in the General Assembly broadcast control rooms during sessions and the Capitol Studio throughout the year. She can be reached at aldersonproductions@gmail.com . Making History from page 6 V Good Government from page 7 V

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Clark Mercer Chief of Staff

Suzette Denslow Deputy Chief of Staff

Keyanna Conner Secretary of Administration

Bettina Ring Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry

Governor R alph N ortham’s

Rita Davis Counsel to the Governor

Esther Lee Secretary of Commerce and Trade

Megan Healy Chief Workforce Development Advisor

Kelly Thomasson Secretary of the Commonwealth

Cabinet

Carlos Hopkins Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs

Atif Qarni Secretary of Education

Shannon Valentine Secretary of Transportation

Brian Moran Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security

Matt Strickler Secretary of Natural Resources

Daniel Carey M.D. Secretary of Health and Human Resources

Aubrey L. Layne, Jr. Secretary of Finance

Moneyball: AWinning and Frugal Campaign

By Shelby Lee Ethington

The general assumption regarding campaign finances is that the more money a candidate spends the more votes they will receive. However, the historic election of Delegate Dawn Adams in House district 68 defies these norms. Spending only $151,727, nearly $345,000 less than her incumbent opponent, Delegate Adam’s campaign translates to roughly $7.68 per vote. In a very close race, Delegate Adams received 50.37% of the votes. In addition, 1,896 more people in the

so prevalent that a quick google search on why money matters in campaigns garners article after article proclaiming the power of the dollar. These articles claim there is no way to escape the relationship between a campaign’s finances and its success. Yet, Delegate Adams did. In the movie Moneyball , the general manager of the Oakland A’s must work to make a winning baseball team on a tight budget. The team must learn to outsmart the competition. Their approach is analytical, and evidence based. It’s purely speculative to consider the reasons why the Delegate from the 68th district came out on top without outspending her opponent, but it is certain that whatever it was struck a chord with those she represents and that they have entrusted her to work towards a brighter future for them. Whether it be her ideology as a “sensible liberal,” which she called herself in a questionnaire from Blue Virginia or the hope she brings for a better tomorrow, she outsmarted the competition at a fraction of the price. In the 68th district’s House of Delegates Race it was not money that elected Dr. Adams, but her voters. Shelby Lee Ethington is a junior at Randolph-Macon College. She is a double-major in English and Communications Studies and the student editor for this edition of the magazine.

voting precinct voted for the House of Delegates’ seat than voted for the Gubernatorial. While Delegate Adams spent under $8 a vote, now Governor Northam’s Campaign came in at $25.55 per vote received, including those outside of district 68. Delegate Adams had the highest voter turnout of all Democrats running against Republican incumbents and spent the least amount of money among those who won. However, she also had the narrowest win margin. The link between money and campaigns makes sense: money pays for ads, which people watch or read, and this encourages them to vote creating more support at the polls. This connection is

Virginia House of Delegates 2017 General Election Cost of Election – Top 10 Republican Spenders and Voter Turnout Seats Challenged by Democrats – held by Republicans

25,000

$1,400,000

Amount Spent by Candidates Winning the Election

$1,200,000

20,000

$1,000,000

15,000

$800,000

$600,000

10,000

$400,000

5,000

$200,000

Voter Turnout for General Election 2017

0

$0

House District 066

House District 040

House District 068

House District 058

House District 001

House District 081

House District 025

House District 008

House District 054

House District 099

Honing in on the Republican turnout for House Districts where Democrats challenged and lost, except for District 68 included for analysis , this chart shows the voter turnout on both sides as well as the amount spent on the election on both sides. One might think the higher the amount spent on an election, the higher voter turnout; however, this chart does not show any correlation between amount spent and voter turnout.

Key:

Republican Turnout –District with Republican

District 68–Won by Democrat Dr. Dawn M. Adams (is also Hillary 17 District)

Democrat Turnout –District with Republican Incumbent

Amount Spent on Election (Republican Candidate) Amount Spent on Election (Democrat Candidate)

Democrat Turnout –Hillary 17 District

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Chart provided by Maureen Hains with data gathered from vpap.org

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The 2017 Money Race to Control the House of Delegates

By Michael E. Belefski Republican Holcomb who spent $448,500 or $39.15 per vote. Total expenditures were $1,051,127 in this Tidewater area. HD 50 –Democrat Carter spent $278,619 or $24.51 per vote to Republican Miller who spent $743,973 or $78.16 per vote in this NOVA region. Total spending was $1,022,592. HD 73 –Democrat Rodman spent $364,952 or $24.83 per vote to Republican O’Bannon who spent $643,585 or $46.62 per vote in this Richmond area. Expenditures were $1,008,537. Michael E. Belefski is a politics reporter for VCC and President of CPC CORPORATION, a Business, Law and Political Communications and Public Relations Firm. He can be contacted at mike.belefski@ capitolsquare.com or cpccorp@verizon.net . For a detailed financial spreadsheet on all 100 House District contests, please e-mail the author.

General Election House of Delegate candidates spent $41,855,473 with the Republican candidates outspending the Democrats by $1,328,063. The seventy- two Republicans spent $21, 591,768 over eighty-eight Democrats who spent $20,263,705. Sixteen Independents spent $107,691. Democrats garnered 1,304,271 votes to the Republicans 1,076,090 votes and Independents had 39,307 votes according to the Virginia State Board of Elections and VPAP as of November 31, 2017.

Democrats won eighteen of the top twenty-two races that spent the most money. In this category, the only Republicans who won re-election were Hugo (40th), Cox (66th) and Yancey (94th) with Jones (76th) unopposed. Incumbent Republican Delegates who were defeated were Yost (12th), LeMunyon (67th), Lingamfelter (31st), Greason (32nd), Marshall, R. (13th), Villanueva (21st), Anderson (51st), Holcomb (85th), Miller (50th), O’Bannon (73rd), Loupassi (68th) and Minchew (10th). Let’s take a look at the House Districts that total expenditures exceeded over $1,000,000. HD 12 –The most expensive House contest by a longshot was in SWVA with $2,396,753 spent with $210.05 per vote. Republican Yost spent $1,170,237 or $ 111.89 per vote. Democrat Hurst spent $1,226,516 or $98.16 per vote. HD 67 –In this NOVA area, both candidates spent a total of $1,880,940. Democrat Delaney spent $986,591 or $57.91 per vote over Republican LeMunyon who spent $894,349 or $72.32 per vote. HD 93 –Both candidates spent $1,831,766 with Democrat Mullin spending $944,485 or $62.20 per vote and defeated Republican Cordasco who spent $837,281 or $78.80 per vote in this open-seat Tidewater region. HD 31 –Total expenditures in this NOVA area was $1,738,111 with Democrat Guzman spending $1,066,895 or $68.98 per vote and Republican Lingamfelter who spent $671,216 or $53.02 per vote. HD 40 –Republican Delegate Hugo survived a close recount and spent $1,014,381 or $67.13 per vote. Democrat Tanner spent $695,400 or $46.34 per vote in this NOVA area. Total expenditures were $1,709,781. HD 87 –Democrat Delegate Bell spent $956,245 or $52.44 per vote over defeated Republican Kolla who spent $725,307 or $64.55 per vote in this NOVA region. Total expenditures totaled $1,681,552. HD 32 –Democrat Reid spent $807,308 or $45.18 per vote and Republican Greason who spent $802,010 or $63.38 per vote in this NOVA area. Total expenditures amounted to $1,609,318. HD 13 –Democrat Roem spent $952,828 or $78.89 per vote and Republican Marshall who spent $420,176 or $40.72 per vote in this NOVA area. $1,373,004 was spent by both candidates. HD 21 –Democrat Convirs-Fowler spent $545,577 or $43.50 per vote and RepublicanVillanueva who spent $743,256 or $65.72 per vote in this Tidewater area. Total spending amounted to $1,288,833. HD66 –Republican Delegate Cox won re-election in this Richmond region spending $1,167, 869 or $62.88 per vote although he transferred a lot of his funds to other Republican candidates for their re-election efforts. Democrat Sponsler spent $30,843 or $2.89 per vote. HD 51 –Democrat Ayala spent $732,076 or $48.02 per vote and Republican Anderson who spent $438,426 or $32.53 per vote in this NOVA area. $1,170,502 was spent by both candidates. HD 94 –In this Tidewater area, Republican Delegate Yancey survived a one-vote margin recount and spent $572,612 or $49.32 per vote. Ironically, he had $127,600 cash on hand. Democrat Simonds spent $567,317 or $48.87 per vote. She had an ending balance of $8,415. Libertarian Bartley spent $675.00 or $.56 per vote. $1,140,313 was spent by the three candidates. HD72 –In this Richmond area open-seat, DemocratVanValkenburg spent $536,259 or $32.19 per vote to defeat Republican Whitlock who spent $525,657 or $35.35 per vote. Total expenditures were $1,061,916. HD 85 –Democrat Turpin spent $602,627 or $50.88 per vote over

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Anniversary 25 th The SorenSen InSTITuTe for PolITIcal leaderShIP at the University of Virginia invites you to attend the celebration of its

as it welcomes the new administration at its Spring Gala

Save the Date!

Thursday, April 19, 2018 The Greater Richmond Convention Center Black Tie Optional

Get the latest at Sorenseninstitute.org/gala Reserve your sponsorship now! contact colleen Smith at 434-982-4910 or colleen.smith@virginia.edu www.sorenseninstitute.org

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Education’s Secret Weapon in Virginia By Liz Parker Throughout every school division in the Commonwealth,thereisasmallgroupofhighly skilled and trained professionals that remain largely under the radar. Their track record is lengthy, and includes accomplishments such as lowering disciplinary incidents, increasing

essential, as 1 out of 5 children ages 13-18 have or will have a serious mental health illness and half of all chronic mental health illness begins by age 14 (although the onset of major mental illness may occur as early as 7 to 11 years old). Similarly, 1 out of every 4 children attending school has been exposed to a traumatic event that can affect learning and/or behavior. Student’s unmet mental health needs pose barriers to development, learning, and can even compromise school safety. More to the point, children with mental health challenges may miss as many as 18-22 days and their rates of suspension and expulsion are three times higher than their peers. Interestingly, schools are often the first place where mental health crises and needs of students are first recognized and initially addressed and, of school-aged children who receive any behavioral or mental health services, 70-80% of them receive them at school. Because of school counselors’ training and position, they are uniquely qualified to provide mental health and behavioral prevention, early identification and intervention, as well as crisis and referral services to students and their families. It’s simple, really. Increasing student access to school counselors increases positive student outcome results. It also provides a favorable, long-term fiscal impact for states. In Colorado, reducing school counselor-to-student ratios yielded a highly lucrative return on the state’s investment, saving$20 for every$1 invested in school counselors, totaling $319,842,750. With all of this in mind, it makes sense for Virginia to prioritize student access to school counselors. In contrast, the Commonwealth’s current school counselor-to-student ratios far exceeds 1:250, which is the ratio recommended by the American School Counselor Association and backed by a body of research. Fortunately, this session brings new opportunities for legislators to increase student access to school counselors by showing their support on a budget amendment requested in the Senate and House for 1:250 school counselor-to-student ratios for At-Risk schools. Additionally, this session launches a call to action for Senators and Delegates to consider the impact school counselors have on their district and the state and consider championing the expansion all students’ access to school counselors as future legislative agendas take shape. For a full list of article references, please visit http://www.vsca.org/ . Liz Parker, President-Elect, Virginia School Counselor Association, Coordinator of School Counseling Programs for Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Services at Old Dominion University. V

academic achievement, improving graduation and attendance rates, narrowing achievement gaps, improving pass rates of students from underserved populations, and increasing college enrollment. With the endurance, determination and commitment rivaling that of a Navy Seal, these experts target interventions to improve the academic achievement, social/emotional growth, and career development of every student. While many refer to them as education’s secret weapon, their official title is “school counselor.” You may remember them as “guidance counselors,” but I would caution against referring to them as such. The profession has evolved dramatically over the past decade; today’s school counselors have a minimum of a master’s degree in counseling and are clinically trained to provide education, prevention, early identification, and intervention services through comprehensive, developmental counseling programs. Furthermore, today’s school counselors are driven by data, and the evidence of effective practice is overwhelming. Studies in 10 states found that school counseling programs have led to increased student proficiency in math and reading on state standardized tests, improved pass rates of students from underserved populations on high stakes tests, as well as increased attendance and on-time graduation rates. Smaller school counselor-to-student ratios have accounted for increases in Career and Technical Education (CTE) proficiency and program completion, and school counseling programs have been proven to decrease suspension and discipline rates and enhance school climate. Additionally, school counselors are essential in driving college aspirations and college readiness and counseling programs are actually framed around the mindsets, behaviors, and workplace readiness skills that students need to be successful in school and life. School counselors are also fundamental in helping students and families understand multiple post-secondary pathways such as 2- and 4-year degrees, apprenticeships, military opportunities, and technical and trade programs. Not only are school counselors educated and trained in career development and theory, they understand career opportunity, labor market trends, global economics, and the relationship of academic performance to the world of work. The impact of school counselors on student post-secondary pursuits is well documented, and the number of school counselor and student contacts are significant predictors of college application rates. In fact, one additional high school counselor is predicted to induce a 10-percentage point increase in 4-year college enrollment and lower school counselor-to-student ratios predicted higher enrollment of first generation students into college. Interestingly, career interventions that do not use school counselors have been found

to be significantly less effective than groups, workshops, and classes run by school counselors. Just as important, school counselors are uniquely trained and educated to provide social/ emotional learning, mental health support, and crisis response in the school setting. Today, preventative school-based mental health and behavioral services are

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