Amanda Chase holds fundraiser with senator who opposed making spousal rape a crime

State Sen. Amanda Chase (R-Midlothian) is no stranger to controversy and may find herself having to address another one after she held a fundraiser last night with retiring state Sen. Dick Black (R-Leesburg), who once argued against criminalizing spousal rape.

Black made his position on spousal rape clear while serving in the House of Delegates in 2002, saying: “How on earth you could validly get a conviction of a husband-wife rape when they’re living together, sleeping in the same bed, she’s in a nightie, and so forth, there’s no injury, there’s no separation or anything.”

Black has also found himself embroiled in other controversies over the years. In 2003, Black sent tiny plastic fetuses to lawmakers just before they were set to vote on one of his bills relating to reproductive rights.

He has also compared same-sex marriage to incest and polygamy, reportedly telling the Prince William Times in 2014 that polygamy “…at least it functions biologically.” He added: “I think you can make a stronger argument for [polygamy], and certainly there have already been initiatives for there to say that polygamist marriages should be authorized also.”

More recently, Black made waves for expressing support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a dictator who has been accused of war crimes and whose administration has murdered thousands of its own citizens since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. Black met with Assad in 2016 and again in 2018, according to the Washington Post.

The fundraiser, which was first brought to The Dogwood’s attention by American Bridge, a left-wing Super PAC, took place on August 22 in Chester, and featured Black as a special guest.

The event was also featured on Chase’s website and featured tickets ranging from $100 for individuals to $5,000 for “diamond sponsors.”

The fundraiser comes as part of Chase’s re-election bid against Democrat Amanda Pohl, an educator and social worker who lives in Chesterfield. Chase’s district leans Republican, but has shifted to the left in recent years and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va) won the district by just over 700 votes in 2018.