Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Owes Eric Stamps An Endorsement Announcement

Eric Stamps-- too progressive for the governor?

Ralph Northam was probably the most conservative, Republican-friendly Democrat in the Virginia state Senate when he served between 2007 and 2013, at which time he was elected lieutenant governor. He admits that before being elected to the Senate he had voted for George W. Bush twice. Almost immediately after he was elected to the Senate, he came within minutes-- literally-- of switching to the GOP and flipping control of the chamber. He stayed in the party after the Democrats assured them they wouldn't try to pass any progressive legislation. He's always managed to be judged the lesser of two evil in all his electoral contests. Great way to select our leaders!

On Friday, Northam, now governor, was down in Danville, where there is a hot legislative race going on between an old boy, right-wing GOP incumbent, Danny Marshall, and Democratic challenger Eric Stamps who is far more progressive than, not only Marshall but also Northam. The governor was down there to make an economic development announcement and he tacitly endorsed the Republican: "I want to recognize two of my friends. I've been in Richmond for almost 10 years and I’ve had some great friends and great relationships. And you have two very fine Delegates and senators. Delegate Danny Marshall, thank you so much for being here this morning. Thank you for your leadership. He’s there for the right reasons. He does great work for Virginia and his constituents. And Frank Ruff, Frank and I go back a number of years in the senate and you don’t find any better."

The woman running for Ruff's seat is an African American sort of middle-of-the-road Democrat, Virginia Smith, and although unhappy with what Northam said, she isn't talking about it publicly. Stamps has been-- bigly. He's the Blue America-endorsed candidate for that seat and I spoke with him over the weekend. He reminded me that Marshall has voted against common sense gun reform, against women’s rights, against the Equal Rights Amendment, against environmental reforms, against maternity leave, against worker’s rights and that he opposes raising the minimum wage and backs taking away healthcare from working families. The 2020 legislative thermometer on the right will allow you to contribute to Eric Stamps' campaign for the election one week from tomorrow. (And no, it isn't too late. Eric needs this money for his get out the vote team and it can make a real difference on election day.)

Anyway, Eric was offended that the Democratic governor of the state come down to his district (HD-14) and played kissy-kissy with his conservative Republican opponent who works against the interests of working families in the area. Eric complained to Northam's office, which claimed the governor was just being friendly and that, of course, he hopes all Democrats win, never even mentioning Eric by name. Northam should immediately endorse Eric Stamps-- by name-- and if he really wanted to be a mensch, he'd do a radio ad for Eric on some of the local stations. It could undo some of the damage he's already done.