For Democrats trying to retake Virginia legislature, fiery primaries are first hurdle
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Virginia Democrats are aiming to take back control of the state's divided legislature later this year. The last time they were in control, they rewrote state laws on everything from abortion to the environment. Their success, though, came to a halt when Republican Glenn Youngkin became governor, and the GOP reclaimed Virginia's House. But before challenging Republicans, Democrats will have to sort out their own differences in tomorrow's primaries. Here's Ben Paviour of member station VPM.
BEN PAVIOUR, BYLINE: There's trays of pupusas and coolers of beer on offer at a cul-de-sac party thrown for Delegate Sally Hudson near downtown Charlottesville. Her stage is a lawn beneath towering oak trees, and her introduction comes from 7-year-old Violet Moore.
VIOLET MOORE: We are so grateful to Sally Hudson for coming here today to deepen our understanding of our government.
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PAVIOUR: Hudson is a 35-year-old UVA economics professor who has represented the area in Virginia's House since 2020. Now she's making a bid for a new, bright-blue state Senate seat against state Senator Creigh Deeds, who has been in the statehouse almost as long as Hudson has been alive.
SALLY HUDSON: This is currently the hottest race in Virginia. This is the highest-turnout primary on the state Senate map right now.
PAVIOUR: Hudson was elected during Donald Trump's presidency, which fueled big wins for Democrats. The newcomers were more religiously and racially diverse. Women now outnumber men in the caucus.
HUDSON: We've got a much more diverse set of perspectives around the policymaking table. I think it's time for us to start doing to the Senate what we've done to the House. And we're seeing that in the candidates who are stepping up to run for the Senate this year.
PAVIOUR: One reason - Virginia's new legislative maps. The independent experts drew new boundaries from scratch, stripping incumbents of their old districts. More than two dozen lawmakers retired. Others are facing off in primaries. The churn is important for Hudson supporters like Tanishka Cruz.
TANISHKA CRUZ: I think there should be term limits and for folks to be cycling in and out of these positions because times change. People change. Needs change.
PAVIOUR: Deeds, Hudson's challenger, is a self-described country boy. He's a familiar face at a community center in Esmont, half an hour south of Charlottesville, where he's talking to a rare breed - rural Democrats.
CREIGH DEEDS: We've got to figure out how to get people reengaged with the Democratic Party.
PAVIOUR: One of those rural Democrats is Wren Olivier, who has been talking up Deeds to voters. She sometimes gets asked why she isn't supporting Hudson.
WREN OLIVIER: Aren't you voting for her just because she's a woman, and you're a woman? Well, no. I have to look at the total picture.
PAVIOUR: Dedes was first sworn in as a lawmaker in 1992. His seniority comes with tangible perks, key committee assignments that decide what bills get heard and where money should be spent.
DEEDS: With me, you get somebody - a known quantity that's been doing the work for a long time, doing it at a high level.
PAVIOUR: The two lawmakers have been on the same side of most major votes. Their colleague, Delegate Ken Plum, says that kind of cohesion on issues like abortion or elections is a far cry from the Virginia Dixiecrats who ran the party when he entered the House in the late '70s. He says they were...
KEN PLUM: Ultra-conservative, right wing, racist.
PAVIOUR: Plum is retiring this year and has mixed feelings about the primaries. He says some of this year's races are about personal ambitions. At the same time, he says the party needs to keep adding fresh voices.
PLUM: I think that's probably healthy for the party and for the state in the long haul.
PAVIOUR: Democrats won't have much time to catch their breath after the primaries. Governor Glenn Youngkin has shattered fundraising records in a push to win the legislature and put a new red stamp on the state. For NPR News, I'm Ben Paviour in Richmond.
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