Hey there, 

Welcome to week two of Virginia Capital, Dogwood’s new economic policy newsletter where workers come first. 

Thanks to everyone who helped make our launch week a success. Keep letting us know about what we’re getting right, what we’re getting wrong, and anything you think should be on our radar. 

And if you’re new here, please check out last week’s editions here and here. 

Today, I talk to a pro-worker House of Delegates candidate, discuss Virginia’s paltry minimum wage, and bemoan the stale nostalgia of Adam Sandler’s latest movie. 

Rodney Nickens Jr.

Just because President Donald Trump won Virginia’s House District 90 doesn’t mean a Democrat can’t win there. 

So goes the logic of Rodney Nickens Jr., the progressive Democrat challenging a Republican incumbent to represent the Chesapeake district. 

While some view House District 90 as safely Republican (the Republican incumbent, Del. Jay Leftwich, won by more than 26 percentage points in 2023), Nickens believes it has more Democratic support than recent election results suggest. He is running a populist, unapologetically pro-worker campaign to try and turn out voters – and maybe sway some Republicans. 

As part of his pitch to voters, Nickens, whose father was a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, is touting his support for unions and for repealing Virginia’s “right-to-work” law. He also backs raising the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour and is open to going higher. 

Nickens says unions have been critical in expanding workers’ rights and holding corporations accountable. He said lawmakers should be strengthening the labor movement and encouraging workers to organize for a fairer economy. 

“I believe that all workers deserve dignity, that work is dignified, and that workers should be respected and not exploited,” Nickens said. “We know that historically, ‘right-to-work’ laws were used to break up unions and to discourage workers from unionizing.”

Nickens said Virginia has a legal regime that is disproportionately set up to favor big corporations that spend lots of money on politics. He wants to see less corporate influence on politics and more space for the voices of everyday people. 

“We must have a politics that is about workers and not about profits,” Nickens said. “More importantly, we must shed a light on the role of dark money and these corporate interests that are working overtime to steal our democracy from us.”

• WHSV3’s Ryan Hartnett has the story on a recent demonstration for workers’ rights and a living wage in Fishersville in Augusta County.                                           

• Maggie Roth of Northern Virginia Magazine reports that Washington, D.C.-area real estate agents think federal workforce layoffs have caused home prices to fall. 

                                           

• Mariah Jallad at 8News has the story of Pocahontas State Park lifeguards speaking out about heat-related emergencies they experienced on the job.

Kenny Eliason/Unsplash

On Monday, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) announced that beginning January 1, the state minimum wage will increase based on last year’s inflation to $12.77 per hour, up 2.9% from the current state minimum wage of $12.41. 

In announcing this meager increase that’s required by law, the head of DOLI said that, “The new minimum wage will ensure the Commonwealth remains the leading destination for businesses and job seekers alike.”

Give me a break. 

Workers have been fighting for a $15 minimum wage in Virginia for over a decade now. Democrats have consistently backed that policy, and Republicans have consistently blocked it. But the fight for $15 has been going on for so long that it’s no longer considered enough to live on. 

According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for an adult in Virginia with no kids is now $25.65. It also breaks down living wages for different localities. MIT puts a living wage for Wise County at $18.23. 

I know MIT’s statewide living wage will seem too high to some. But 1) could you live on 12.77 an hour? Even if you don’t have kids, or live in a rural area, that feels impossible in today’s economy, 2) MIT seems like a credible source worth taking seriously, and 3) for too long, we’ve accepted that workers earn less than they deserve.  

Here’s to paying workers a fair wage that’s based on the actual costs of living rather than a pittance that keeps hard-working people in poverty.

Allan Nygren/Unsplash

For so many of my generation, Adam Sandler is like a funny uncle who helped raise us. His latest effort, Happy Gilmore 2 on Netflix, suggests Uncle Adam has lost his way. 

The sequel to the classic Happy Gilmore is nothing more than an exercise in stale nostalgia dressed up to feel contemporary with pointless celebrity cameos. It’s just the kind of thing Shooter McGavin would eat for breakfast. 

To be sure, Sandler has had his share of duds over the course of his long career. Any actor with a run as long as his could be forgiven for that. But the original Happy Gilmore is an undisputed classic. It’s early Sandler, arguably at his best. If he is revisiting this essential material, then surely he must have something good in store? Reader, he does not. 

One of the most glaring problems of Happy Gilmore 2 is just how many clips from the original are worked into the sequel. Obviously, if we wanted to watch Happy Gilmore…we could just watch Happy Gilmore. Happy Gilmore 2 is just Sandler playing the hits for a different era. It’s a fanciful and disposable invitation to re-watch the original. 

The movie ends with the old guard, of which an aging Gilmore is now a member, triumphing over a crass new golf league attempting to make golf cool for modern times. Similarly, this new Happy Gilmore 2 cannot deliver the goods the way the original could. 

Correction: The movie Eddington is set in New Mexico. I said the movie was based in Arizona in a previous newsletter. I regret the error. 

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