Crazy Time in Virginia

David Toscano

Del. David Toscano, D-Charlottesville, is an old-school, moderate liberal Democrat. He consistently earns low ratings from conservative groups (only 7% from the American Conservative Unions) and high ratings from core Democratic constituencies (100% by the Virginia Sierra Club and 100% from the Virginia Education Association.” But, like many old-school Democrats, he’s fairly pro-business. The Virginia Foundation for Research and Economic Education (Virginia FREE) gives him a lifetime rating of 72%, and even the fiercely small-government National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) gives him 50%.

Sally Hudson

And that, it seems, is just too darn conservative for some Charlottesville-area Democrats. Sally Hudson, an assistant professor of public policy, education and economics at the University of Virginia, announced Tuesday that she intends to run against the House Minority Leader in the Democratic Party primary next year, reports the Daily Progress.

Hudson’s campaign said it’s time for the area to send someone with “more progressive values” to Richmond.

“I think Charlottesville is ready for new leadership, and Charlottesville is ready to lead,” Hudson said in a press release. “We’re one of the strongest Democratic districts in Virginia. We should be setting the agenda. We should be setting the bar.”

Bacon’s bottom line: With the mauling of Corey Stewart in his bid for Sen. Tim Kaine’s U.S. Senate seat and what many think is the inevitable transfer of power from Republicans to Democrats, the Republican Party of Virginia is in severe disarray. The GOP doesn’t know if it’s the populist party of Donald Trump or the party of traditional conservative principles. Republican morale is in the basement.

Meanwhile, with electoral and funding strongholds in Northern Virginia and Charlottesville, the Left in Virginia is stronger than it has ever been. And the Tom Periello wing of Virginia’s Democratic Party doesn’t have much more patience with old-school liberals like Toscano (or Ralph Northam) than it does with Republicans. If there’s anything that can reinvigorate Virginia’s GOP, it’s a Leftist purge of old-school Democratic Party politicians such as Toscano, and the elevation of candidates who make Republicans look tame and moderate by comparison.

Stay tuned. The 2019 House and Senate elections will get more interesting than you think.