The Reality Behind Hogan's Sudden Righteousness

In March 2018, a shooting at Great Mills High School in Maryland left many people in shock, and frustrated after yet another shooting that could have been prevented. 

State Senator (D) Rich Madaleno had, since he first took office in 2002 in the Maryland legislature, consistently proposed gun violence prevention legislation, especially on school grounds. Then-Governor Larry Hogan never acted or expressed any support for such legislation, and thus many opportunities were lost over the years. 

After the 2018 Maryland school shooting though, the Governor introduced his own bill very late in the legislative session, making it hard to review - especially since it comprised many other unrelated features, and asked for a constitutional change, which did not need to happen. He then blamed the Democratic representatives for being partisan and not wanting to legislate on gun control.

This video was thus made in response to the Governor's own attack videos misrepresenting the votes of Democrats in the State Senate, taking advantage of the emotional post-tragedy period and trying to frame them as "anti-school safety."

This video was made as the Press Secretary/Digital Manager for the gubernatorial campaign of Rich Madaleno in Maryland.

Related: Read the sum-up - also written as Press Secretary - of the Twitter #MDGunChat the Madaleno Team organized with citizens of Maryland to discuss gun violence prevention in the state.

Rep. Tom Garrett's Challengers in the 5th District

Democratic candidates (clockwise from top left): Andrew Sneathern, Leslie Cockburn, Roger Dean Huffstetler and Ben Cullop are running to be the Democratic nominee for Virginia's 5th congressional district election. / Pictures: courtesy of all four Democratic campaigns

You might have seen the hashtags #GarrettMustGo or #OneTermTom: that means competition is in the air. This year, four Democratic candidates are running to challenge Tom Garrett for the fifth congressional district of Virginia in November.  The Democrats met last Saturday at Buford Middle School for a debate.  WMRA's Marguerite Gallorini put together these profiles.

Listen

Listening...

3:55

The fifth congressional district of Virginia covers more area than any of the 11 districts of the state, stretching from the North Carolina border almost up to Maryland. It is even larger than the State of New Jersey. And it comprises a diverse constituency that includes farmers in Southside, horse country up north, and Charlottesville in the middle. It’s a seat mostly held by Republicans in recent years.  This year, four Democratic candidates are trying their luck at taking Republican Tom Garrett's seat in Congress.  One of them is former Marine Roger Dean Huffstetler, who has worked as a senior adviser for the Tom Tom Founders Festival:

ROGER DEAN HUFFSTETLER: Tom Garrett's part of something in D.C. called the "House Freedom Caucus." The House Freedom Caucus is a cancer on our country right now: these are 25 people in D.C. who do not believe in our common American values of progress and compromise, and I'm going to make sure he's a one-term congressman, because I don't believe in those kind of values. And I honestly don't think most of the people here in Central Virginia and Southside believe in those values either.

Evicting Tom Garrett is the rallying call. Candidate Ben Cullop is an investment associate born and raised in Virginia who is part of several advisory boards in Charlottesville; he paints this picture:

BEN CULLOP: The three biggest issues in this campaign are health care, jobs, and education. On all three, I feel like I can do a better job than Tom Garrett. For example on health care: last year in 2017, Tom Garrett voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act without replacing it, which would have ripped health care away from 23 million people. He also voted for this disastrous tax bill at the end of the year in 2017, that Trump tax bill: that tax bill was a feast for corporations and left crumbs for the middle class.

We made multiple requests to Garrett’s office for an interview with WMRA, but we were unable to set up a conversation.

The Democratic candidates are also all in favor of gun control, and especially limiting heavy weaponry. Here's Leslie Cockburn, a former investigative journalist for NBC, CBS and PBS Frontline, who grew up in a family of hunters. She has covered six wars, including the U.S.-directed Contra War against Nicaragua.

LESLIE COCKBURN: So my view is: we totally support hunters, hunting culture; hunters tend to be very concerned about gun safety, all those issues. And they agree with all the rest of us about getting rid of background check loopholes. There’s a bill right now in the House, which is an assault weapons ban, and I support that, and I support banning bump stocks, large capacity magazines. I really don't think we need those here. Having spent so much time in war zones, I just don't think we need to see them in Charlottesville.

Given the rural nature of the fifth district, each of Garrett’s Democratic challengers speaks proudly of  their rural roots. Andrew Sneathern is an attorney and former D.C. prosecutor now living in Charlottesville:

ANDREW SNEATHERN: I grew up on a farm that's been in my family for five generations: my mother still owns that farm, and still farms every day, and I know exactly what many of the people in particularly the rural parts of this district have suffered through over the last couple of generations, and I know what's been lost. I think that going there and speaking with folks about our progressive values in those communities is the best way to win back this district for the Democratic party.

This year, Democrats will caucus in April to select 250 delegates to attend the party’s district convention in Farmville on May 5th. Caucus dates and times are set by local Democratic Committees - more information on Democratsva5.org.

On the Republican side, Tom Garrett is seeking re-election and is the only candidate to have filed for the U.S. House of Representatives. Garrett is an Army veteran, a lawyer and previously served in the Virginia Senate and as a prosecutor in Louisa County.  The primary election will take place on June 12, 2018.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

Liberation and Freedom Day

On Saturday, March 3, 'Liberation and Freedom Day,' organized by the University of Virginia and the City of Charlottesville, marks 153 years since Union troops liberated the area. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini has this preview.

Listen

Listening...

1:16

The day will start at 9 a.m. with speeches and prayer at UVa’s Rotunda Dome room, followed by a procession marching through the city. The celebration will continue at the African American Heritage Center at 11 a.m. with a panel discussion featuring faculty from UVa and the Nau Center for Civil War History. William Kurtz, the Managing Director and Digital Historian at the Nau Center, will talk about their new research project.

WILLIAM KURTZ: It's a pretty brand new project that we began a couple of years ago, just before - believe it or not - the current debate over the Confederate statues broke out. What happened before the Civil War was that many African-Americans were forced out of the state because they were free and they were no longer wanted here; or they were forced through the slave trade to move to other states. So all of these men and their families had been uprooted from Albemarle and sent all over the South, and all over the North. And when the time came that they could actually enlist and do something to end slavery, they stepped up, and served in either the Union army or navy.

At the recent conference on slavery at UVa, many descendants from the families enslaved at Monticello and elsewhere in Central Virginia had attended.

KURTZ: We've invited some of the families of the people that I'll be talking about to come, so we hope they're able to make it.

This story appeared on WMRA News.