Archive for September, 2005 Page 4 of 4
Congratulations and THANK YOU to Team Englin Master Chef Tania Blagrove, whose Vote Strong Vegetarian Chili won the “Beans Obama – Best Chili with Beans” award today at the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s annual chili cook-off. Tania has kept Team Englin well-fed throughout the Primary and now the general election, and we can’t thank her enough for cooking up gallons of her (award winning!) chili for our entry into the cookoff!
David, Shayna, and Caleb joined dozens of Democratic activists and elected officials for this traditional Labor Day event marking the official start of Arlington’s campaign season. Earlier in the day, the Alexandria Democratic Committee hosted its annual Labor Day picnic at Fort Ward Park. Attended by a who’s-who of Alexandria Democrats, this local political tradition marked the start of Alexandria’s campaign season.
This Labor Day, David is proud to announce that the Virginia AFL-CIO has endorsed him as its choice to represent the 45th District in the Virginia House of Delegates.
“It’s an honor to have the support of an organization that represents working families in Virginia and across the country,” said David. “Our country has a strong, prosperous middle class today thanks in part to decades of organizing and advocacy from the labor movement.”
David earned the group’s support because he is willing to stand up for progressive values, and he supports the right of workers to organize into unions to improve the lot of workers and their families.
“With the Virginia AFL-CIO’s support, and together with our growing army of grassroots volunteers, we will continue to fight for sensible, progressive policies that will strengthen our communities, defend our values, and invest in our future,” said David.
Team Englin hosted an event in Alexandria’s public housing projects by the Charles Houston Recreation Center today to thank members of that community for their strong support during the primary and to encourage them to stay politically involved. In addition to food and fellowship, volunteers from the Advancement Project were 
on hand to help register people to vote and to help certain people apply to have their voting rights restored.
“Today was a wonderful opportunity to thank my friends here for their support and to continue reaching out so I can better represent the needs 
of our low-income residents in the General Assembly,” said David. “If we Democrats are serious about standing up for the poor and disenfranchised, we have an obligation to reach out and get to know the people in these particular neighborhoods and help them become more politically engaged.”
One gentleman came by who cannot vote because of a crime he committed and for which he completed his sentence 25 years ago. 
A specially-trained volunteer interviewed the man and is now helping him through the process of applying to have his voting rights restored.
“More than 60,000 African American men in Virginia do not have the right to vote because they are ex-felons. We need to change the law 
to automatically restore the voting rights of people who have fully paid their debt to society, instead of further marginalizing people whom we ought to be integrating back into our communities as productive citizens.”
Rev. Lee Earl of Shiloh Baptist Church and Rev. Philip Pointer of St. John’s Baptist Church dropped by to share in the festivities. Both pastors minister to many of the city’s public housing residents, and a number of David’s supporters and volunteers are members of the congregations they 
lead.
“Pastor Earl and Pastor Pointer share my commitment to policies rooted in social justice that will strengthen our entire community,” said David. “Their presence today — and the help and support of so many of their members — really means a lot to me.”
