Arlington residents gather in Gail Harrison’s living room to hear Zack Wittkamp, a Democratic candidate in the 94th House District race. Photo by Eden Brown.
Del. Rip Sullivan (D-48) stood in Gail Harrison’s living room in Arlington on Thursday night and took in the scene: 25 Virginia residents, mostly Arlingtonians, had gathered to raise money for Zack Wittkamp, a businessman from Newport News who thinks he can beat David Yancey (R-94) this fall.
Sullivan told the group he was excited by the recent primaries, the voter turnout, and the unity the Democrats were showing, particularly against the backdrop of the close Republican gubernatorial primary between Corey Stewart and Ed Gillespie. He told the group there was also a newly announced Libertarian candidate for governor. But what excited him most was the numbers of small “pop up” fundraisers and political meetings he was seeing, and interest in state politics and local issues, really for the first time in his career as a delegate.
Much of the political activity has been sponsored by organizations like WofAVA, “We of Action Virginia,” which has a program to “adopt a district” to help win races in swing districts. Blue Virginia is another of the organizations, which, along with Sister District, hopes to see the Virginia House of Delegates get to a majority of 51 Democrat-held seats — or more — this fall.
“Prior to the primaries or caucuses, we had 78 new Democratic candidates (not including our 34 incumbents or candidates challenging incumbents): among whom there were 42 women, 19 people of color, six LGBT, and 15 millennials.” he said. “That is a first.” He provided a scene setter for what the chessboard looks like after the primaries last week: “We are running Democrats in 89 of the 100 seats (this includes 34 incumbents), and challenging 55 of the 66 Republican-held seats. Our new candidates (non-incumbents) include 28 woman, 11 people of color, five LGBT, and 11 millennials. Those numbers will change slightly when we know what happens in House District 2, where we have a recount,” he said.
Sullivan said he was not surprised to see Northern Virginians reaching out to support a race in Newport News. He was delighted Virginia General Assembly politics was getting attention. “Northern Virginia residents should care about races outside of their own districts because the road to 51 leads through western Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Richmond, Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Blacksburg, and other more rural parts of the state. We need folks to help out all around the state to help us get to 51,” said Sullivan.
Wittkamp noted that he is not a “millennial,” since he just turned 40, as he took the floor from Sullivan. He told the group he and his wife had weighed running for office before November 2016, but it wasn’t until the day Donald Trump was elected that he realized he had to run sooner than he had planned. When Barack Obama closed his presidency with the appeal to every American to remain hopeful and involved, and said if they didn’t like the way government operated, they should run for office, Wittkamp said he thought the president was talking to him. He looked at his wife Allie, and she nodded, and off they went to start running for the House of Delegates seat.
Wittkamp said he was further motivated by the failure of the incumbent in Newport News, David Yancey (R-94), to come up with any new ideas to solve some of the big issues for the district. Wittkamp said he was particularly distressed when Yancey essentially turned his back on Planned Parenthood, abstaining from a vote that would cease funding for Planned Parenthood, apparently, Wittkamp said, so that he could say he had not voted against funding.
Wittkamp said his priorities for his district are economic improvement, particularly seeking new business opportunities based on innovative technology, giving constituents a better wage earning potential; education, and the environment.
Wittkamp thanked the group for caring about his race in a district that is not their own. While he knows the Democrats must win big all over Virginia to effect change, not everyone is able to look beyond their own backyard. Northern Virginians who help him win in November can expect to see him work hard on issues that have an impact on everyone in the state. Climate change may raise the water levels in the Tidewater area five feet, but the same water will be flooding Alexandria. Medicaid expansion will affect the health of all Virginians, just as lack of Medicaid dollars means all Virginians have to pay more to support those who won’t get federal dollars, either through city programs or non-governmental organizations. Relying on antiquated job infrastructure like coal mining does a disservice to all Virginians because of the need to break out of the cycle of dead-end exploitation of finite natural resources, not perpetuate it, he said. Wittkamp told the crowd he is not a politician by profession so he is learning as he goes, but he is listening, taking notes, and making appeals to finance his campaign, which doesn’t have the advantage of big GOP funds like Yancey’s campaign. He has already reached out to the African-American community in Newport News, which comprises about 23 percent of the population, and told the group he feels very much at home in that community and believes he can represent all communities in his district effectively. His donors are like the men and women sitting in Gail Harrison’s home: retirees, contractors, teachers, small business owners, and parents like him. Wittkamp will spend the summer listening to the residents of his area and calling for support.
For more information see www.VoteWittkamp.com