The Virginia Senate has only 40 members, and almost half of them are leaving because they are retiring or because they were defeated in a primary. That's an unusually large number of open seats, and Democrats say they are hitting the campaign trail in the last few weeks of the election hoping to keep control of a chamber they like to call the "blue wall" stopping the agenda of Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Joel Griffin, who's running in a competitive race in Stafford County, spoke on a call with reporters Monday. "We are in the thick of a battle, a battle to represent to the rest of the nation that a woman's choice, equality under the law, public schools. These are things that matter," Griffin argued.
Republicans have been trying to make the case that Democrats are extremists on the issue of abortion. But Senator Monty Mason, a Democrat who's in a toss-up race in Newport News, says he's hearing from voters in his district that they don't want to see existing rights rolled back or diminished.
"This cuts across all socioeconomic, all gender, all class," Mason said Monday. "They know that a restriction of a right that exists today is not a compromise, and it is not a consensus position."
Republicans are hoping that their support of a 15 week ban will resonate with voters, and on the campaign trail they’re saying Democrats don’t want any restriction at all on abortion.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
