Luria (left) and Mallard

Update! This article was written during the Democratic Primary in 2018. Luria ended up winning that primary and I am supporting her in the general election as a clear improvement over Scott Taylor. She was not my preferred candidate, but she is the best choice on the ballot.

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How do you sell the electorate on a Democrat who’s twice voted for the Republican Congressman she’s now looking to unseat? That’s the scenario being played out in Virginia’s Second Congressional District in a race between Elaine Luria and Karen Mallard. The district includes Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, parts of Norfolk and the Eastern Shore.

Elaine Luria’s votes for Scott Taylor are more than just concerning from a party loyalty standpoint, they also cripple her electability. Voters will be repelled, fairly or not, by the appearance of inconsistency on Luria’s part, and Taylor is already using her voting history to deflect criticism. Karen Mallard, in contrast is a schoolteacher and longtime union leader who can point to a lifetime in the Democratic Party working tirelessly on behalf of progressive causes.

As early as January 9th, Republican activist groups began a campaign of robocalls to Democratic and swing voters in the 2nd Congressional District to inform them of Luria’s support for Taylor. Luria soon admitted that she had voted for Taylor not just in the Republican primary, but in the 2016 general election as well. Her explanation for why she supported a Congressman who has now voted with Trump over 98% of the time? She claims that “I thought that he was, you know, really painted himself as a reasonable, moderate person”, but Taylor’s extreme right-wing voting record in the House of Delegates simply does not bare that out.

A “reasonable, moderate person” who had authored the 2015 book “Trust Betrayed: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the Selling Out of America’s National Security”, in which he detailed his opposition to nearly every element of Obama’s foreign policy, including the Iran Deal. The incendiary title was paired with a cover photo of a burning American flag.

Something a reasonable and moderate person would write

Let’s look at the information that was publicly available to Luria at the time she voted for Taylor in June and November 2016. This information comes from Vote Smart, On the Issues (which describes Taylor as a “Hard-Core Conservative”), and various legislative scorecards. Looking through his stances, I do not see how Taylor could be considered a moderate by any stretch of the imagination:

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Taylor had a 0% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice VA for four years in a row. His campaign website in 2016 noted that “Scott Taylor is pro-life.” He supported bills to defund Planned Parenthood and prevent funding for low-income women to receive abortions.

He got 100% rankings in 2014 and 2015 from the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a group which, according to its own website, “prides itself on being more radical than the National Rifle Association (NRA)”.

He supports “Right-To-Work” laws, and received failing grades from the Virginia AFL-CIO in 2014, 2015, and 2016. This includes 0% scores for his committee votes in each of those years.

He was given failing grades from the Virginia Education Association in 2015 and 2016 and supported requiring school boards to redirect funds from public schools to charter schools.

Taylor received a 100% rating from the Family Foundation of Virginia, an anti-LGBT group. In March of 2016, before either of Luria’s votes for him, Taylor supported a bill that would have allowed those with religious objections to refuse to conduct or solemnize same sex marriages. He voted against expanding non-discrimination measures to protect LGBT people from housing or employment discrimination. He voted to force Mark Herring to defend Virginia’s Constitutional ban on same sex marriage.

Virginia Conservative Union gave him Awards for “Conservative Excellence” and “Conservative Achievement”. Highlights include Taylor’s support for restrictive Voter ID laws, opposition to subsidies for green energy, and being one of only 40 Republicans to vote in favor of sending Virginia to a national Constitutional Convention in support of a balanced budget amendment.

He ran on eliminating Obamacare and repeatedly voted against Medicaid expansion in Virginia.

He received failing grades from the Sierra Club and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.

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Here is how events have played out so far regarding Luria’s votes for Taylor and how Republicans have taken advantage of the situation:

Jan. 9 — State Conservative Reform Action PAC points out that Luria voted in the 2016 Republican Primary, begins running ads and making robo-calls on the subject.

Jan. 10 — The conservative Republican Standard, based out of Richmond, picks up the story, calling into question Luria’s commitment to the Democratic Party.

Jan. 18 — People’s House Project questions Luria’s commitment to the Democratic Party, noting that she had skipped the first Democratic candidate debate.

Feb. 21 — The Richmond-Times Dispatch blares the headline, “Democrat vying to challenge GOP Rep. Scott Taylor voted for him twice.” Scott Taylor’s spokesman explains that Taylor is “the same guy he was in 2016 and has done everything he said he would do”.

March 13 — Luria does her best to explain her votes for Taylor at the “Let The Voters Decide Forum” sponsored by the Hampton Democratic Committee. Here is her attempt:

“In that primary…I went to the polls as I do to vote and my options on that date — I felt that Scott Taylor was the more moderate person and should he end up on the ballot in the general election, I thought that, you know, he was the better choice… I moved on to the general election and during that election, only one candidate — not the Democrat — had a public message. There was absolutely no information available from the Democratic side, from the candidate which was running in 2016. Scott Taylor was a fellow veteran and so I thought to myself, ‘You know, I’m a veteran. I understand that veterans’ ideas are to get the mission done. And I also had met Scott Taylor personally, I had spoken to him. I thought that he was, you know, really painted himself as a reasonable, moderate person… I thought, given the choices on the ballot in 2016, that he was the better choice to represent the 2nd District”.

I believe it is entirely inaccurate to blame Shaun Brown, the first African-American woman ever nominated by a major party for Congress in Virginia, for “not having a public message”. Recent revelations about Brown aside, she certainly had a public message, as did the Democratic Party in the district.

Progressive activist Josh Stanfield pointed out on his group “Activate Virginia”’s Facebook page, “Scott Taylor was a member of the House of Delegates and had a partisan voting record in that body. When he ran for Congress in 2016, anyone interested in his politics or voting behavior would’ve been just a few clicks away from discovering his opposition to pretty much every Democratic priority.”

At best, Luria did not research Taylor at all, which raises questions about her judgement. At worst, she was aware of at least some of Taylor’s beliefs, and was willing to overlook them. Luria said that when she met with him she realized “Of course, I didn’t agree with all of his positions”, which seems to indicate at least some awareness of his extreme beliefs before she decided to vote for him anyway.

She certainly had time to do research between the primary where she voted for him and the general election where she voted for him. It defies belief that anyone could think that someone running on a ticket with Trump —while publicly congratulating him — could be a “Moderate Republican”, regardless of how one might define that term in this day and age.

2nd CD Republican Ticket in 2016

I want to be clear that I do believe Luria would be an improvement over Taylor, and I will support her if she wins the primary. However, I fear that the appearance of inconsistency will drive swing voters away from her. She could be a good candidate in the future, but let’s see a history of consistent support for Democrats before we nominate somebody for an office as high as Congress. Karen Mallard, for so many reasons, is a much better choice, especially given her long history of consistent Democratic activism, including volunteer work and canvassing for numerous Democrats in recent years. Mallard’s leadership in her union is further testament to her devotion to Progressive causes.

Primary Season is exactly the time to have these discussions and decide how Democrats want to represent ourselves to Virginians.