We have been blessed this year with many opportunities and experiences in our neighborhood in being part of an amazing movement.  From the cold February primaries, to the star studded events.  Mt. Vernon Democrats have experienced great pride and joy in the process of being engaged citizens by supporting and electing leaders which represent us.

  Please take a moment and share your campaign / election stories.

 

Gunston Precinct - 616 - As told by:  Dolores Moseke Our day started about 5:a.m. loading our tent, table, kerosene heater and signs into the pickup. The night before all the food, candy, and drinks had been put into the car. The drive is only about a mile so it didn't take great effort to get there and begin setting up the tent. By 5:45 the parking lot was filling up so I removed all of the cones placed there the night before. The school had alerted the teachers that the kiss and ride part of the parking lot would be needed for the voters. It was a cold dark morning and the early voters only sought the warmth of the school. There was no chit-chat. As the sun tried to make itself known, the gray sky shut it down and we huddled closer to the kerosene heater. The stream of voters kept coming and the election judge commented to Al that she thought Gunston was a Republican precinct but all anyone asked for was Democratic tickets. At the end of the day nothing had ...continue reading

Wow! Wow! Wow!   What an absolutely great 1 st Mardi Gras Party.   The venue, the supporters, the elected representatives, the candidates, and last but not least the FOOD was spectacular.    Final numbers are not in but we had over 200 attendees.   Thank you to all of our elected officials and candidates that attended this evening’s event: VA Senators Toddy Puller, George Barker, Creigh Deeds (candidate for Governor), and Patsy Ticer.   Delegates Kris Amundson, Mark Sickles and Brian Moran (candidate for Governor).   Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chair, Gerry Connelly and Fairfax School Board chair, Dan Storck.   The current (and we hear more to come) 11 th Congressional Candidates, Lori Alexander, Leslie Byrne and Doug Denneny.   A special treat was Congressmen Jim Moran’s visit.     Who knew he could have a second career path as an auctioneer?   I ...continue reading

Hello Mount Vernon District Democratic Committee (MVDDC) members and members of our community.   I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself and discuss a couple of events that are happening in the next few weeks.   On Thursday night, after having a grand thank you and farewell to Scott Surovell as he moves up to his new position, Chair of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, I was elected as the new Chair of the Mount Vernon District Democratic Committee.   Many of you know Scott, and know he has been a positive driving force in our community with outreach and development over the past four years.   His leadership will be missed, but I feel we have a great opportunity to continue on the path that has been laid.   While, my resume in democratic politics is not as long and distinguished as some of our dedicated members, I have the passion and drive to catch up.   In March of 2004, my family relocated to ...continue reading

Former MVDDC Chair Scott Surovell recently appeared on The Inside Scoop with George Burke .  Here is the show.  See if you can guess who the mystery caller is..... The show ranged from a discussion about the tremendous amount of energy currently existing in the Democratic Party to future plans for FCDC.  We discussed Fairfax County's improving Democratic performance.  We also discussed fundraising, candidate targets and long-range FCDC changes.  Scott had never been on TV before so he wasn't sure how to sit, where to look, or what to do with his hands.  Make sure you critique his performance in the comments so he can look like TV pro next time he's on the small screen. ...continue reading

Well, if you didn't hear, on Tuesday, January, 9, 2008, I was elected Chairman of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee along with the Blue Team - a group of 10 top-notch Democratic activists from all around Fairfax County.  My friend and opponent, Steve Bunn , the immediate past Chair of the Lee District Democratic Committee ran a very creative and aggressive campaign.  The election was mentioned on several blogs including the following: Raising Kaine: Congratulations Scott Surovell Raising Kaine: Video of FCDC Election Anonymous is a Woman: Congratulations to Scott Surovell FCDC Chair Bryan J. Scrafford, FCDC Decides Chair Tonight, UPDATED Byrne for Congress: Something Remarkable Happened Tom Joad's Place: Congratulations Scott Surovell Fairwell Frank: Fairfax & Prince William Democratic Committees Choose New Leadership You may wonder why you did not receive any emails from me before the election.  Well, only filed members could vote ...continue reading

The Mt. Vernon District Democratic Committee had a successful reorganization meeting on Thursday, December 6, 2007.    We heard from 11th Congressional District Candidate Leslie Byrne who congratulated the Mt. Vernon District Democratic Committee on the strength and depth of its grassroots activism over the last 2 election cycles and laid out her platform for reclaiming the 11th Congressional District.  Her website is www.lesliebyrne.org .    We also heard from Senator-Elect George Barker .  Barker thanked the MVDDC for all of its hard work in his election and pointed out that our hard work enabled him to focus his efforts in other parts of the 39th which needed boosting.  He looks forward to working with Sen. Ticer , Sen. Puller and the rest of the Northern Virginia Delegation and changing public policy in Richmond.    71 Members Elected, 5 Pending   The following people are will ...continue reading

Earlier this year, several of us had explored the possibility of a write-in campaign against Delegate Albo , but we decided against it for various reasons.  On the Wednesday before the election, an article came out in the Springfield Connection and the Laurel Hill Connection .  In it, Delegate Albo said the following: "I just sent a letter to my constituents about the abuser fee program, and 98% of the people who responded said they wouldn't mind the program if out-of-state drivers were included...." He is also not surprised to be running unopposed.  "I thought the Democrats would try to put someone against me because it's a good year for them to run, but when push came to shove, I think they realized they couldn't do it two years ago," he said. "Passing the largest transportation bill in Virginia history probably didn't hurt either."  Ready to Run, Springfield Connection (Nov. 1, 2007 ). We were in disbelief at Delegate Albo's ...continue reading

This year brought us new accomplishments as a committee as we published an 8-page newspaper, raised substantial donations, hand-delivered publications to every door in Mt. Vernon, and focused every inch of our volunteer organization on six precincts to help take back a Senate seat and the Virginia Senate.   None of this was possible without the help of a cadre of outstanding volunteers who sacrifice time with their families and free time for themselves to make our world a better place in the name of the Democratic Party.  This post is an effort to sum up the volunteer efforts for 2007.  In doing so, I am sure I am going to leave someone out.  If so, please send me an email at chair@mvdemocrats.com so I can edit this post as necessary.  First, the Executive Committee of the Mt. Vernon Committee is where it all starts.  Please make sure you thank our Executive Committee for all they did this year: MVDDC Executive Committee ...continue reading

Mt. Vernon's precincts in the O'Brien-Barker race helped to power the Barker results across the finish line.  These results ( and the MVDDC's results in Grosvenor Precinct this year ) also help to show how voter contact by real people can make a real difference in low turnout elections. Here is a chart comparing the 39th's 2003 performance in the Galligan - O'Brien race with 2007 performance in the Barker - O'Brien race. Galligan-Barker Percentage of Vote Change Precinct Galligan Barker Difference Lorton 47.2% 72.7% +25.5% Newington 47.6% 56.83% +9.23% Alban 44.1% 55.59% +11.49% Hunt 39.7% 48.92% +9.22% Saratoga 41.6% 54.00% +12.4% Laurel Hill N/A 53.46% N/A Lorton + Laurel Hill 47.2% ...continue reading

Del. David Englin faced his first challenge this year from a well-funded challenger - real estate attorney Mark Allen .  In April, Mark Allen came to the Alexandria Democratic Committee meeting and indicated that he was considering a primary, but instead opted to file as a Republican.  Englin carried every one of his Mt. Vernon Precincts. Englin Mt. Vernon Results Precinct Englin Allen Belleview 67.8% 32.11% Kirkside 71.99% 28.00% Marlan 53.60% 46.39% Grosvenor 71.67% 28.32% The West Potomac Young Democrats The real story in the Englin race in Mt. Vernon was the West Potomac Young Democrats Club.  A few weeks before the election, the West Potomac H.S. YD's Co-Presidents, Taylor Dankmyer and Emily Kuhbach approached the MVDDC and the Englin Campaign about taking a strong role in this year's elections.  The MVDDC worked with the Englin ...continue reading

MVDDC Vice-Chair for Precinct Operations, Chris Ambrose , was featured in today's Washington Post with his letter to the editor regarding Republican Fairfax County Board Chair Candidate, Gary Baise .  He was writing in response to an article that appeared about Baise that focused on $300,000 of agricultural subsidies he had received for a large farm he owns in his native Illinois.  Click here to read the Washington Post article .  If you want to see the specific amounts of money Baise collected on an annual basis, click here. Here's the text of Chris' letter which you can also read if you click here : A Candidate's Subsidies Tuesday, October 9, 2007; Page A16 It was disturbing to read that Gary H. Baise , a Republican candidate for Board of Supervisors chairman in Fairfax County , is willing to accept public assistance from the government even though, as he acknowledged, he does not need it ["Candidate in ...continue reading

How should a political party focus it's GOTV efforts?  Its an age old question and is a frequently source of debate in political party circles.  Do you invest your very limited resources in canvassing, telephones, direct mail, or internet?  Well a new study gives us some answers. First, consider this.  The Mt. Vernon Magisterial District is a unique place and a place in a rapid state of change.  As the Washington Post recently pointed out this Monday , the Ft. Hunt area, which makes up a huge chunk of the Mt. Vernon electorate, has an extremely high percentage of the elderly in its electorate - because it's such a great place to live, no one wants to leave!  BUT, Mt. Vernon also has some of the largest tracts of new communities and a younger electorate in its southern precincts.  Click here for the Washington Post age dispersal demographic. And guess what?  The elderly vote like crazy and the young people don't.  Here are ...continue reading

What a great event!  Some quality gospel music from Faithwalk, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, speeches by all of Mt. Vernon's elected Democrats and candidates, lots of Democratic friends, and an ex-Governor on a bike!?! Well, now wasn't that a surprise?  This year's ICS was a terrific success and and what could beat that surprise visit from Mark Warner and his announcement that this time next week, he was "going to be a candidate for public office!"   Little did we know the former Governor would be bicycling down the Mt. Vernon Trail only to see our signs and stop by to give a speech.  What a terrific surprise.  We hope to have the video up shortly and photos in the photo gallery in short order! We also heard from all of Mt. Vernon's elected officials and candidates who thanked Mt. Vernon's Democratic volunteers for all of their hard work in the past and hard work to come.  Beyond that, the Mt. Vernon District ...continue reading

Will "Abuser Fees" really work? "Abuser Fees" were theoretically adopted to mitigate the costs of congestion caused by bad driving/accidents/etc (not the costs of prosecution).  “Improved deterrence” was a theoretical benefit, but it is apparent to everyone that notwithstanding all of the tough talk, the main object of Albo & O'Brien was to create an additional source of revenue for the Transportation Trust Fund.  Gov. Warner’s 2003 VTRANS study found that Virginia has $108 BILLION in unfunded transportation capital needs over the next 20 years.  “Abuser Fees” are now projected to raise $65 million per year net of “expenses” (although Speaker Howell and others are talking about scoping it back).  $65 million per year over 20 years represents $1.3 billion or about 1.2% of Virginia's projected need over the next 20 years.  It is also equal to about $0.015 (1.5 cents) per gallon in terms of gas tax revenue.    ...continue reading