David has always considered the fight against bigotry and for equal rights to be his own fight as well, so he was especially pleased to share his strong progressive voice at this evening’s candidates forum hosted by the Virginia Partisans Gay and Lesbian Democratic Club. David made it clear that he will fight for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Virginians at every opportunity. When the moderator, Joe Crea, formerly of the Washington Blade, asked whether the candidates support marriage equality, David was the only candidate to state his absolute and complete support for the right of gay and lesbian Virginians to marry.

While his opponents either equivocated or expressed support for something short of complete marriage equality, David was strong and clear: “Calling it ‘marriage’ does make a difference.”

David also noted that he is the only candidate who has faced personal risk — not merely political risk — to defend gay and lesbian rights. As a military officer stationed at George Bush’s Pentagon and while deployed to combat zones overseas, David spoke out for gay rights to both peers and far more senior officers.

David was also clear that the only way to see real progress on a range of Democratic issues will be to build a new Democratic majority in Virginia.

“I’m doing that every day through my campaign. This is a grassroots movement, not just a campaign for the House of Delegates,” said David. “My son, Caleb, is in kindergarten, and my ambition is to make sure that when he graduates from high school, he graduates into a Democratic Virginia.”

Thanks to an ever-growing group of committed volunteers, Team Englin enjoyed another successful Volunteer Night yesterday evening while David and Shayna met voters at a precinct party hosted by some of David’s supporters.

Erika and Bruce Falk opened their Alexandria home to families in the George Washington Middle School and Maury precincts, and Tania Blagrove and Eric Graves joined the Falks in hosting the event. David shared his strong progressive

message and his long-term vision for building a Democratic majority in the General Assembly.

“Our campaign is about empowering people and fighting for a progressive future,” said David. “We are committed to doing the hard work necessary to build the Democratic grassroots and — person-by-person, precinct-by-precinct — winning back a Democratic majority in Richmond.”

“It’s wonderful to see so many children here,” said David. “It’s their future we’re fighting for. My son, Caleb, is in Kindergarten. When he graduates from T.C. Williams High School, I want him to graduate into a Democratic Virginia.”

Meanwhile, back at Campaign Central, volunteers from Fairfax, Arlington, and Alexandria spent the evening making phone calls, stuffing envelopes, entering data, and doing the nuts and bolts work necessary to turn that vision into a reality .

Volunteers are the lifeblood of this campaign, so we are privileged to introduce this week’s Volunteer of the Week, Tania Blagrove. Tania is a neighbor and a dynamo – a former pro-choice leader at Virginia NARAL, a Virginia Partisans activist, a community leader in the PTA, a mom to two wonderful girls, and a terrific campaign volunteeer, just to name a few things. Thanks to Tania, Volunteer Nights don’t always feature pizza – Tania brings homemade dinner for Team Englin volunteers! In addition to all of that, Tania co-hosted yesterday evening’s George Washington Middle School Precinct / Maury Precinct party. Thank you so much, Tania, for all that you do!

Even while David was a military officer stationed at the Pentagon, David, Shayna, and Caleb marched in the DC Pride Parade — Caleb’s first parade — to show their support for their GLBT friends and neighbors.

Tomorrow, the Virginia Partisans Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club hosts a candidates forum at the Minnie Howard School in Alexandria. In anticipation of that event, David is proud to release the following responses to the Virginia Partisans Endorsement Questionnaire:

VIRGINIA PARTISANS ENDORSEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

Candidate Name: David Englin

Office Sought: Delegate, 45th District

Previous Elected or Appointed Office:
Founding Board Member, Democratic Service Coalition
Appointed to Alexandria Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
Commissioned Officer, United States Air Force
Appointed to United States Air Force Academy

Are you openly gay or lesbian? No.

If elected, would you sign a pledge to not discriminate in hiring, in this office, on the basis of sexual orientation? Absolutely — in this office, or in any other office or position. In fact, I will make that pledge right now. I’m proud to say that my campaign team already includes a number of openly gay or lesbian supporters who know that I consider their day-to-day fight against bigotry and for equal rights to be my own fight as well.

Would you support efforts, in this office, to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment and housing? I will not merely support efforts to ban all discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation — including in employment and housing — but I will also help lead those efforts. As a straight, married man with a young son and a military background, I believe I can be a particularly effective public advocate for nondiscrimination policies.

Would you oppose any efforts to amend the United States and Virginia Constitution to ban same-sex unions? I would, I will, and I do oppose any such efforts to write bigotry into the U.S. or Virginia constitutions. Moreover, I hope we can work together to move society forward so that some day we can repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and portions of the Virginia code prohibiting same-sex marriage.

Would you support adding “sexual orientation” to the list of categories for hate crimes protection? Yes. As a Jew, I have personally felt the sting of hate, and I believe we must send a clear message as a society that targeting members of certain groups for attack and persecution is an offense to our most basic values.

Would you vote to protect women’s reproductive rights? Without a doubt. I will fight any and all attempts to restrict a woman’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, and I will fight for policies that ensure access to reproductive health care, contraception, and accurate sex education. Even beyond that, I will fight for policies that ensure access to pre-natal and post-natal care for women of all income levels, and for policies that lend a hand to young families, so that income and economic status are not barriers to reproductive freedom.

Would you support Family Life Education and guidance programs in public schools that offer age-appropriate, nonjudgmental information on sexuality, tolerance, homosexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases? Absolutely. As parents, Shayna and I feel a deep responsibility to make sure our son, Caleb, grows up with the information he needs to understand and accept himself and others and to grow into a strong, safe, healthy, loving adult. Programs that offer age-appropriate, nonjudgmental information on sexuality, tolerance, homosexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases are an important part of that effort for all of our children.

Have you attended events for, joined, or otherwise expressed support for the Virginia Partisans Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club, Equality Virginia (formerly Virginians for Justice), the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry, or other Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender or AIDS groups? Certainly. Shayna and I are members of Equality Virginia and the Human Rights Campaign, and, over the years, we have attended events for and given money to a number of other GLBT and AIDS organizations, including Gender PAC, Food & Friends, Whitman Walker Clinic, and the Alexandria Gay and Lesbian Community Association. The first parade our son, Caleb, ever marched in was the D.C. Pride Parade, where I carried him on my back as part of the Food & Friends contingent.

How have you advocated for same sex equal rights in the community at-large in the past (i.e. have you publicly spoken out for policies at your place of business, testified before government bodies adopted written policies for your employees, marched for lesbian and gay rights, etc.)? As an Air Force officer stationed at the Pentagon, I advocated both publicly in articles and talks and privately among my military peers for the end of the military’s ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel. When I was still in the service, a group of Charlottesville high school students interviewed me for a Memorial Day film they were producing of people who were inside the Pentagon on 9/11, and I used the opportunity to argue for marriage equality — in uniform, on tape. I worked hard through small acts of leadership each day to change the culture of the military by making it clear that I would not tolerate the use of anti-gay epithets in my presence, whether they came from peers, junior personnel, or more senior officers. As a freelance writer and blogger activist, I have written about and lobbied Congress and the General Assembly on a number of GLBT rights issues. As a member of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, I recently spoke out publicly to strengthen the committee’s stand on marriage equality. I have always considered the day-to-day fight against bigotry and for equal rights to be my own fight as well.

In what ways have you worked to include gays, lesbians and other minority groups in the community life of your city/county? Have you hired/appointed openly gay staff, etc.? As a member of a religious minority, I have always been especially sensitive to how easy it can be for the majority to forget, ignore, or disregard the views or concerns of various minority groups, and that background has informed all of my endeavors. For example, at the Pentagon, I managed a program reaching out to the parents of deployed service members. When I realized that a number of those parents didn’t speak English, I conceived the Air Force’s “E Pluribus Unum” program to reach out to parents in 100 different languages. Moreover, I served alongside openly gay and lesbian Department of Defense civilian employees, and I made a point to solicit their expertise and engage them as valued members of the team. I’m proud to say that my campaign team includes a number of openly gay or lesbian supporters, as well as people from various ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds, all of whom strengthen and enrich us with their various perspectives. Shayna and I boast a wide and diverse circle of friends, and we’re proud to be raising our son in an environment where he has positive relationships with people of all backgrounds.

Is there anything else we should know about your candidacy? This race is about the future of Northern Virginia. I have spent my life fighting for what I believe in, even when it meant putting my safety, my career, or my reputation on the line. I’m not stopping now. George Washington, a great Northern Virginian, wrote a famous letter to the Jews of Newport, Rhode Island, extolling his vision of a government “which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” At the dawn of our Nation, great Virginians expressed a profound vision of freedom, justice, and equality that was a world apart from the reality of the day. I believe that each generation has moved us a little closer to realizing that vision, and I ask you join my campaign to add your energy to the men and women of our time who are moving us forward in the direction of our ideals.

At noon today, David filed his official Declaration of Candidacy and petitions containing the signatures of 45th District voters. Prior to filing the petitions, the Alexandria Registrar of Voters certified the validity of the 125 signatures David needs to secure a place on the June 14 ballot.

“Thank you to everyone who signed the petitions to put my name on the ballot,” said David. “This is but a first step, and I hope that together we can work to win in June and to build a movement of grassroots Democratic activists dedicated to building a Democratic majority and fighting for a progressive future for Virginia.”

Noon today was the earliest opportunity for candidates to file.

In case there was any doubt that David is the most forward-thinking candidate in the race, today’s Washington Post includes this article that highlights the potential of internet-empowered car sharing as a creative new transportation solution to deal with Northern Virginia’s “crowded neighborhoods, limited parking and nightmarish traffic.”

For weeks, David has been making this very point as part of his Progressive Agenda for the Future:

“We should also explore and support creative new transportation ideas, such as internet-empowered car sharing (e.g. “Zipcar” and “Flexcar”), that can reduce parking, traffic, and pollution.”

The current editions of the Mount Vernon Voice and the Mount Vernon Gazette include versions of the following letter to the editor:

Englin Is Very Responsive to Area Residents

Dear Editor:

On June 14, Mount Vernon residents get to elect the Democratic nominee and likely next Delegate to Richmond [in the 45th District]. Since Republicans are unlikely to mount a challenge — it is even more important that we participate in the primary. When I decided to get involved in this decision, I emailed each campaign asking why I should support them.

David Englin was the only candidate who gave me a detailed answer explaining why he wants the job. He wants to go to Richmond to help make housing more affordable, fix and fund education, and lower the cost of healthcare.

David impressed me because I believe our next delegate should take the time to listen to people in Mount Vernon and explain where they stand. Come June 14, I’ll be voting for David Englin. Visit www.davidenglin.org for yourself. Maybe he’ll impress you too.

Dan Cronin

Link to “Englin is Very Responsive to Area Residents” (PDF Version)

Shayna, Caleb, and I returned this evening from a week-long trip Shayna’s grandfather planned more than a year ago. He is in his 80s and in poor health, and he wanted a chance to spend some uninterrupted time with his children, grandchildren, and great grandson, Caleb.

Where some campaigns might slow down with the candidate away, our growing army of grassroots Democratic activists actually put in additional days of canvassing and evenings of volunteer work. They turned out in force to welcome Gov. Howard Dean at his first Washington-area event as Chairman of the DNC, and they represented the campaign at events across the 45th District, from Mount Vernon to Arlington. This past week proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are the campaign in this race that is energizing the Democratic grassroots and building the party from the ground up.

Thank you to everyone whose dedication and energy continues to make that possible. You inspire me to work even harder to listen to your concerns, respond to your needs, and fight for you in Richmond!

This holiday weekend did not stop Team Englin from knocking on doors in Old Town Alexandria on Saturday.

With the March 31st fundraising deadline approaching, the campaign is heating up! Team Englin is ready and will be out hitting doors, holding events, and attending candidate forums all week!

Join David at any of our events this week or at the doors next weekend – Saturday and Sunday!

If you can’t make it out this week, we could use your help with a contribution before the Thursday financial filing deadline!

More than a dozen David Englin supporters gathered Wednesday evening to hear Governor Howard Dean, the new Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, talk about the ways in which Democrats can turn red states blue.

It was Dean’s first event in the Greater Washington area since being elected Chairman in February.

In his address, Dean spoke of the importance of Democrats standing up for what we believe in. He also cited the importance of having candidates with conviction, the need for universal heathcare, and the need for Democrats to not be afraid to talk about morals and moral values.

Danielle Yates, a young professional who has only recently became active in local politics commented, “I enjoyed seeing Dean and I’m supporting David because I believe in the reinvogoration of the Democratic party; to both further progressive ideals and to strengthen the party from within. I think Dean’s main point to not only win elections, but really strengthen the party. I see David as the candidate that can do this.”

Before and after the event, Englin supporters were able to share David’s progressive agenda with fellow DNC supporters, garnering both votes and volunteers!