David joined dozens of volunteers this weekend knocking on doors throughout Alexandria to turn out voters for Tuesday’s local elections. This Tuesday, May 2, Alexandrians go to the polls to elect the mayor, City Council, and School Board.

“Thank you to all of the volunteers who turned out this weekend to spread the word about our Democratic candidates,” said David. “Hard work wins elections, and your efforts will make sure we send the right team to City Hall on Tuesday.”

The Democratic ticket includes: Mayor Bill Euille, Vice Mayor Del Pepper, Councilman Ludwig P. Gaines, Councilman Rob Krupicka, Councilman Andrew H. Macdonald, Councilman Paul C. Smedberg, and Timothy Lovain, who is running for the seat being vacated by retiring Councilwoman Joyce Woodson.

“Alexandria has been blessed with responsible, progressive leaders on City Council who have worked hard to make tough choices that continue to strengthen our community and improve our quality of life,” said David. “This year’s Democratic ticket includes the right combination of ideas, energy, and experience to give Alexandria the strongest possible team to lead us into the future.”

The Alexandria Democratic Committee still needs volunteers to turn out voters on election day. Click here or call 703-549-3367 to join David and volunteer!

David joined other elected officials, citizens, and members and leaders of Alexandria’s Jewish community in Market Square today for the city’s annual ceremony to observe the Days of Remembrance, or Yom HaShoah, for the victims of the Holocaust. During the ceremony, Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille and other City Council members lit the menorah — or six-branched candelabrum — that Holocaust survivor Charlene Schiff and her husband, Ed, donated to the city in memory of Charlene Schiff’s parents, sister, and six million Jews and millions of others who perished in the Holocaust.

The guest speaker, Ruth W. Messinger, president and executive director of the American Jewish World Service, implored the audience to remember the lessons of the Holocaust and to speak out and act against evil in our own time. Messinger has been leading the effort to stop the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, which is now in its 38th month, and she urged people to join this weekend’s Rally to Save Darfur in Washington, D.C. on the National Mall.

“There are few more moving ceremonies in Alexandria than our annual Yom HaShoah observance,” said David, who in 2004 founded an online effort to lobby Congress on the Darfur genocide. “As a Jew and as an Alexandrian, it means a lot to me that our community comes together each year to reflect on this horror and to use it as a reminder of our obligations to our fellow human beings.”

This is the 19th consecutive year that the City of Alexandria has publicly observed Yom HaShoah, making it the oldest continuous remembrance of the Holocaust in Virginia.

David joined hundreds of children and their families at Bucknell Elementary School in Mount Vernon today for the opening ceremonies of the 2006 season of the Alexandria Potomac Little League. After opening remarks and introductions by the organizers, David and each of the other elected officials present threw ceremonial first pitches to a line of Little League catchers.

“Congratulations on the start of the season, and congratulations and thank you to all of the parents and volunteers and organizers who make this happen,” said David. ” Play well, have fun, and have a great season.”

The Alexandria Potomac Little League is the oldest Little League organization in Northern Virginia, covering parts of Mount Vernon and Lee in Fairfax County, including all of the Fairfax County parts of the 45th District.

The blog Virginia Progressive conducted a live online interview — or LiveBlog — with David today, where blog readers posted questions for David, who posted responses in real time.

“I was impressed with the questions, which ranged from property taxes to immigration to the future of the Virginia Democratic Party,” said David. “It’s a challenging media format for a slow typist like me, but I always enjoy talking public policy and politics with engaged citizens like these.”

Click here to read the complete LiveBlog at Virginia Progressive.

Mark your calendars! On Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30, Team Englin volunteers will be knocking on doors throughout Alexandria to identify and turn out voters for the entire Democratic ticket for the City Council election on Tuesday, May 2.

“Alexandria has been blessed with responsible, progressive leaders on City Council who have worked hard to make tough choices that continue to strengthen our community and improve our quality of life,” said David. “This year’s Democratic ticket includes the right combination of ideas, energy, and experience to give Alexandria the strongest possible team to lead us into the future.”

The Democratic ticket includes: Mayor Bill Euille, Vice Mayor Del Pepper, Councilman Ludwig P. Gaines, Councilman Rob Krupicka, Councilman Andrew H. Macdonald, Councilman Paul C. Smedberg, and Timothy Lovain, who is running for the seat being vacated by retiring Councilwoman Joyce Woodson.

Contact us at gro.nilgnedivadnull@ofni and let us know when you’re available between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, and between noon and 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 30 to keep up the fight for progress!

David spent yesterday and today in Richmond as the House of Delegates very briefly resumed the special session that convened on March 27. House Republicans pushed through a new version of Virginia’s biennial budget that still raids money for core services like education, health care, and public safety while now pushing off any discussion of transportation funding to an unspecified future special session.

“House Republicans continue to be isolated in the extreme when it comes to the budget,” said David. “Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats, House Democrats, the Governor, Virginia’s business community, and most mainstream Virginians all agree that Virginia needs about $1 billion a year in sustained, dedicated, long-term transportation funding to get people out of gridlock, keep our economy strong, and improve quality of life. Now House Republicans want to push off transportation to some future session, which may or may not even happen.”

Once again, House Democrats offered a series of budget amendments to reinstate funding for core services like veterans care, fire departments, gang prevention, and education, but the Republican majority in the House voted against these critical priorities.

The House adjourned until after the Reconvene Session — also known as the “Veto Session” — on April 19 in which the General Assembly addresses bills from the regular session that Governor has vetoed or amended.

After the House adjourned, David returned home to celebrate the first night of Passover — and Shayna’s birthday! — with family and friends at a seder hosted by Dan Solomon and Laura Dove in Del Ray, the Englins’ Alexandria neighborhood.

David and Shayna joined more than 1,300 supporters of equal rights at Equality Virginia’s annual Commonwealth Dinner in Richmond yesterday. Former Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator Charles Robb electrified the crowd with a keynote address in which he vigorously denounced discrimination against GLBT people and declared his intention to vote NO on the constitutional amendment before voters this fall that would ban any legal recognition for relationships of unmarried individuals, including civil unions and domestic partnerships. During the dinner, the newly-formed Commonwealth Coalition launched its campaign to prevent the passage of the amendment, which David fought in committee and on the House floor during his first minutes and days in office.

“It’s inspiring to be surrounded by so many people form all across Virginia willing to stand up and fight for equal rights,” said David. “This constitutional amendment flies in the face of American values, and Team Englin will be working closely with the Commonwealth Coalition to defeat it. As November approaches, our house will again transform into Campaign Central as our grassroots volunteers make phone calls and knock on doors to persuade others to Vote NO.”

For more information about the campaign to defeat the amendment, please visit the Commonwealth Coalition web site at www.votenova.org.

A letter by Governor Timothy Kaine, read at the event by the Honorable Viola Baskerville, Secretary of Administration for the Commonwealth, urged all Virginians to join Governor Kaine in voting NO on the amendment. Kaine called the amendment a “divisive measure (that) is stealing from the important issues — transportation, education, health care and the environment — that truly affect all Virginians.”

The Hotline, an influential political newsletter published by the National Journal, last week named David one of Virginia’s “Stars to Watch in the Future.”

According to the edition of The Hotline making the announcement:

“We wanted to know who The Hotline would be writing about two, five, even 10 years down the road. So we took a look at some rising stars in every state from both parties. . . Relying on interviews with consultants, state party officials and journalists familiar with each state’s political landscape, we’ve done our best to update our list and survey each state party’s bench going in to the ’06 cycle, the ’08 cycle and beyond.”

“Of course I’m very flattered that The Hotline would be so kind, especially considering the other terrific people on the list,” said David. “More than any reflection on me personally, it’s really a tribute to the hundreds of grassroots volunteers who stand with me. If they’re writing about me ’10 years down the road’ I hope it’s because I continued to work hard for the people of the 45th District and because Team Englin continued to build and to grow and to empower individuals to make a difference.”