*By Julie Barrett, Founder, Conservative Ladies of Washington
I think most conservatives woke up yesterday morning with a little extra pep in their step…okay, maybe not “extra”, maybe it’s a touch of pep that we haven’t felt in a long time. Tuesday night when I finally tore myself away from the tv, every outlet besides Fox News was projecting a Youngkin win in Virginia. But it wasn’t just the Governor’s race. Winsome Sears took the Lieutenant Governor’s seat and Jason Miyares wins the Attorney General race and the Virginia House flipped to a Republican majority!
I went to bed hopeful but still felt a twinge of the Dino Rossi 2004 election deep in my gut. And yet I had this hope that just maybe this would be a new day for Virginia and would send a message to Democrats that socialism is not what the American people want.
Across the country and even here in Washington, voters rejected the socialist, racist, leftist, anti-police agenda that the Democrats have been pushing hard. In dark blue Seattle, Republican Ann Davison, has won the race for city attorney against a far-left Antifa-friendly Nicole Thomas-Kennedy. This is a huge victory for law and order in Seattle, where we have had leaders who refuse to prosecute and lock up criminals.
What is most remarkable about Tuesday’s election is the uprising of parents. The Virginia governor’s race was primarily won on the issue of CRT and parent involvement in schools. Turns out, parents don’t like being told that we don’t get to have a say in our children’s education and that we have no business seeing or questioning the curriculum. Parents don’t like their children being taught that simply by the color of their skin they are privileged or oppressed. Parents are not on board with the LGBTQ agenda being pushed on children and teaching children as young as kindergarten about sexuality. The left has moved quickly over the last year and a half to remove parent’s rights in public education and thanks to Covid, parents got a first-hand look and said “NO!” And we didn’t just see this in Virginia’s elections, we saw this in elections all over the country.
Parents of all political affiliations can come together over the issue of parental rights in education and healthcare. Over the last year we have seen parents stand up to our government telling us that we must inject our children, we must put face diapers over our children’s faces and that our children will be indoctrinated with their leftist agenda in government schools. This is a uniting issue for parents. We don’t want our parental rights grabbed by the government and what we have seen this week is parents all over America standing up for their families…and it’s a beautiful thing!
I hope the results of Tuesday’s election have been encouraging to you – they have been to me. As I consider the possibilities as we move forward, I believe it’s critical that we not “rest on our laurels” and become complacent. What we need to do now is double-down on our efforts. We must not let up at school board meetings and speaking up for our kids. It’s important that we continue to engage and educate people who aren’t informed about what’s going on in our government.
We need common sense conservatives who aren’t afraid to confront the issues directly to step up and consider running for office. We have mid-term elections in less than a year and it’s going to be critical to continue to defeat these far-left Democrats who are set on destroying our state and our country. We can learn something from most of the victories we saw last night – the messaging was strong, and it was direct. The Biden Administration makes it easy for us. They’ve made life worse for Americans in so many ways – the border, at the gas pump, the supply chain, Afghanistan, less law and order, more taxes, Covid mandates with masks and injections. If the Republican party can focus on how we can make life better for Americans and stay on message, I think we stand a very good chance.
I know people are tired. I see it, I feel it. The last year and half have been exhausting and it seems like there is no end. It’s okay to rest when we get tired, but we cannot quit! These victories we have seen this week should give us a renewed hope that energizes us to continue the good fight.
