VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Republicans currently control the House of Delegates 51-49, and the State Senate 21-19, but that could all change in Tuesday’s elections.
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) knows how important the elections are, so he called into WAVY’s morning show to remind Democrats to vote.
“We saw in 2017 and 2018, even though Donald Trump wasn’t on the ballot, people’s feelings had a significant effect and I think you will have issues like the ERA, it could be ratified, do we want to increase the minimum wage? Should we finally do something about gun safety?” Kaine said.
And Vice President Mike Pence told a crowd of more than 400 Republicans at Kempsville Middle School on Saturday to get out the vote.
“You got to decide right now that you are going to re-elect these great Republicans to the General Assembly. If you believe in less taxes, less regulations, more energy independence, and more jobs, then vote Republican,” he said to loud cheers and applause.
Kaine thinks the May 31 mass shooting in Virginia Beach will be on voters’ minds, and how Republicans who control the General Assembly adjourned before acting on any meaningful gun legislation that was proposed by Governor Ralph Northam.
They pushed it off until later this month after the elections. “He called the whole General Assembly back, and he put a package of proposals on the table, and it wasn’t like the Republican majority was obligated to just do what he said, but if they didn’t like his ideas they could have come up with their own ideas,” Kaine said. “Instead they came back and they adjourned after doing nothing.”
At his rally, Pence said, “If you believe in freedom and the rule of law and right to keep arms and right to life, then vote Republican,” which got more applause from the crowd … jobs are back, confidence is back, in a word America is back, but we are just getting started Virginia. That’s what we need. The people of Virginia need to turn out this Tuesday and re-elect Republicans to majorities in the House and Senate, you got to do it.”
On Wavy News 10 Today Senator Kaine said, “we saw a lot of energy before this traditional low voter turnout. There are no statewide races, but what we are seeing is a lot of energy. There was some polling done in many of these races in mid-September and polling in the last 10 days that would suggest President Trump’s popularity is going down. Exactly how that will affect these local races is unknown, but there will be a lot of people around the country looking at the results to make that determination.
On Saturday in an exclusive one-on-one interview, WAVY’s Andy Fox asked Pence: if Democrats take over the General Assembly, will it be because of a dislike for President Trump?
“We think the people of Virginia have a great opportunity to re-elect majorities in the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates,” Pence replied.
The Vice President would not answer if it will be a referendum, but told supporters the elections will send a message.
“You can be the difference between a Republican majority in your General Assembly, and to be a strong advocate for the same things Donald Trump, and I have been fighting for, strong security, strong support for law enforcement, less taxes, less regulation,” he said at the Saturday rally.
