Yesterday, US Rep. James Walkinshaw of Virginia’s 11th congressional district joined the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) of Virginia in Vienna to rally in support of Democrats’ redistricting referendum.
The goal of the event was to tie the redistricting fight to the real policies that impact the lives of working people, which isn’t so easy for a wonky topic like congressional district lines.
Leaders with SEIU Virginia said congressional maps tilted in favor of Republicans have real consequences for workers’ rights at a time when they are already under attack.
To wit, the Trump administration fired hundreds of thousands of federal workers, is fighting against their collective bargaining rights, and has stymied the work of the National Labor Relations Board.
“We know that workers are under attack every single day,” said LaNoral Thomas, the president of SEIU Virginia 512. “And one thing SEIU is really good at? Un-rigging rules that were built to hold us back.”
SEIU Virginia told me it plans to give $500,000 to the “Yes” campaign to “ensure that working people in Virginia have the information they need to vote.”
US Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia’s 3rd congressional district in Hampton Roads also rallied this week in support of redistricting alongside union shipbuilders in Newport News.
“Some of the shipbuilders told us they have already voted YES and others plan to vote this Saturday,” Scott posted on X yesterday. “There are now less than two weeks left to make your voice heard and level the playing field.”
Compare these good faith efforts to make the case for redistricting by its supporters with the bad faith efforts of the “No” campaign’s ads “using images of Klansmen in white hoods,” to cite perhaps the most egregious example.
Yesterday’s rally is part of the push to get Virginians to vote early as more than 30 new voting locations open up on Saturday.
