Obama rallies with Spanberger in Norfolk

The campaign for Abigail Spanberger said 7,000 people attended a rally where Democrats criticized Republicans for worsening inequality and eroding America’s democracy.

NORFOLK —Thousands of voters rallied at the Chartway Arena on the campus of Old Dominion University on Saturday for Virginia Democrats who were joined by former President Barack Obama. 

The campaign for Abigail Spanberger estimated that about 7,000 people were on hand as Obama urged Virginians to elect Spanberger the next governor of Virginia on Tuesday. 

Obama, greeted by raucous cheers in a sign of his lasting popularity in a state that backed him twice, described his concerns about the erosion of democratic norms under President Donald Trump, his dismay at Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’ downplaying of federal workforce cuts, and gave a full-throated endorsement for Spanberger’s candidacy. 

“At a time when our politics feels broken, we need desperately leaders like Abigail: public servants who are in it for the right reasons and are focused on the future, and who will always stay connected to the people they were elected to serve,” Obama said with Spanberger seated on stage nearby.

Obama raised concerns about the increasing concentration of wealth in the US,  as well as Trump using the office of the presidency to enrich himself. He also criticized Republican support for giving tax cuts to the wealthy at the expense of America’s social safety net. 

“I worry about the growing concentration of economic power in this country, with just a handful of mega billionaires and companies controlling what we see and what we hear,” Obama said to applause. “I worry about how much that economic power distorts the political process.”

Spanberger, greeted with chants of “Abby! Abby!,” used her remarks to thank supporters for bringing her campaign this far, shared familiar details from her biography, and urged supporters to carry the campaign across the finish line on Election Day. She also emphasized the need to lower Virginia’s cost of living, with a line on housing affordability drawing big cheers. 

“We need a governor who will speak up when careless, chaotic, reckless economic policies out of Washington hurt our economy, raising costs for families, making it harder for small business owners to survive, and crushing Virginia’s farmers,” Spanberger said. “We do not need someone who has been in lockstep with (the Trump) administration every step of the way.”

Spanberger noted the importance of Democrats winning as many Virginia House of Delegates seats as possible. Democrats currently control the House with a 51-48 advantage over Republicans, and they are looking to expand that margin. 

Spanberger called on voters to signal to the rest of the country that America does not support Trump administration policies. 

“Virginia voters can and will send a message, amid the recklessness and the heartlessness coming out of Washington,” Spanberger said. “Virginia can and will flip statewide seats from red to blue.”

Spanberger was preceded on stage by Democrats Jay Jones, whose campaign for attorney general is fighting to overcome the impact of the scandal over his violent texts, and state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, who leads in the polls to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor.

A number of other Virginia Democrats also gave remarks. They were: US Rep. Bobby Scott, who represents the congressional district where the event was held; US Sen. Tim Kaine, who fondly recalled how a then-US Sen. Obama helped him get elected governor; House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott; and state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, who ate up cheers from the crowd as she danced on stage. 

Kaine, noting he’s known Jones since he was a child, said he would be a great attorney general who would fight back against the Trump administration. 

Kaine pointed out how other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit leading to a federal judge’s ruling that the Trump administration must release funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program amid the federal government shutdown. But Virginia’s attorney general, Jason Miyares, who is running against Jones for re-election, declined to join that fight, Kaine said.

“He’s gonna battle for you,” Kaine said of Jones.