To the Editor:
I was shocked by one of the reasons The Connection gave recently for endorsing Del. Devolites for State Sentate.
Your editorial of last week said "... the Virginia Senate desperately needs intelligent women from Northern Virginia." I find this a strange rationale for supporting Devolites. The 34th District already had an intelligent woman representing Northern Virginia in the Senate — Leslie Byrne. In case your paper has forgotten, the Republican-controlled legislature, with Devolites as the majority whip, redrew the boundaries of the 34th Senate District so that Sen. Byrne no longer lived in the very district she represented so capably and intelligently.
So much for democracy in Northern Virginia.
The truth is this maneuver was designed to further Devolites' political agenda and her career. She is not the incumbent in the 34th Senate District, although she would like us to think so. She has stated she's not considering, at this time, a run for lieutenant governor. Oh no? Then why did she and her party go to all this trouble to stack the odds in her favor to run for the Senate and kick Leslie Byrne out of her seat through redistricting?
The Connection's editorial board needs to reconsider using the argument that endorsing Devolites equates to meeting the need for more women from Northern Virginia in the State Senate. This is especially true when it was Devolites, who is an anti-choice advocate, and her party that put their interests ahead of representative government and forced the incumbent senator, Leslie Byrne, out of her own district.
Airi Roulette
Fairfax