Guy touched upon this yesterday, but it appears that Virginia Democrats have omitted Justin Fairfax, the black Lt. Governor candidate, from their campaign flyer. It’s quite conspicuous, though the Northam campaign said that they did this to accommodate a request by a labor union that did not endorse Fairfax. He reportedly failed to submit a questionnaire, with the union adding that he did not support them on the issues. When asked by MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson today about the flyer, Northam refused to condemn it (via NTK Network):
“Well, we have a great ticket in Justin Fairfax, Mark Herring, and myself, and we’re running a coordinated campaign,” Northam responded.
Jackson interjected, “then why wasn’t Justin Fairfax on that flyer?”
“That was an endorsement from one of the unions, and that’s between the union and him,” Northam told Jackson. “I would just say we’re unified. We’re focused on November the 7th. We’re excited about Barack Obama coming tonight, and we’re going to win, the three of us, on November the 7th.”
We’re three weeks away from Election Day I this race and by most accounts this is all tied up. We’re deadlocked, so the question, as with any race, centers on turnout. If it’s anything close to what we saw during the primaries, the GOP is sunk. Yet, if it’s deadlocked and low voter turnout is recorded in voter-rich, Democratic Northern Virginia, the margins could be made in the rural regions, which is GOP heavy. Northam seems to know this, as we saw with his uncomfortable reaction to questions about coal power and the recently rescinded Obama-era Clean Power Plan. Out here, Hillary Clinton’s horrible remarks about coal workers and putting them out of work have not gone away and coal is a local news item that’s featured daily out there. We’ll have to see, but in a race where black voter turnout will be key in Northern Virginia and the Richmond area—this is a rather unseemly move. As we approach the finish line here in Virginia, the heavyweights are pouring into the state. Joe Biden, George W. Bush, and now Barack Obama have all planned to make stops in the state.
Is this true @fairfaxforlg? @vademocrats seem to have dropped you from their lit with 3 wks to go. Paid for and authorized by @RalphNortham pic.twitter.com/AlaDcHmHQS
— John Whitbeck (@JohnWhitbeck) October 17, 2017