Putting the "Fair" in Fairfax Senate Discussion Forum
What do candidates for the Virginia Senate and House races have to say about issues impacting the GLBT community? Come to the Putting the "Fair" in Fairfax Discussion Forum to find out. This is our chance to hear directly from the candidates about issues impacting our community. Candidates include:
34th Senate: Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and Chap Petersen (both attending)
37th Sentate: Ken Cuccinelli (unable to attend) and Janet Oleszek (attending)
39th Senate: Jay O'Brien (unable to attend) and George Barker (attending)
Equality Fairfax, Equality Virginia, Virginia Partisans and Log Cabin Republicans are sponsoring this non-partisan discussion
forum to hear the views of candidates running for state-wide office for the VA General Assembly.
Candidates representing Fairfax, Centreville, Chantilly, Burke, Vienna, Oakton, McLean, Springfield, Clifton and
Fairfax Station will be in attendance.
Bring all of your friends, family and other allies to these important community meetings.
Turnout is important -- elected officials in Virginia need to know that our issues DO matter.
Please take a couple hours out of your busy schedule to attend these worthwhile community events.
Senate Discussion Forum
Thursday, September 27
Social gathering time-6:15pm-6:45pm
Discussion Forum-6:45pm-8:45pm
MCC NOVA can be a little hard to find if you haven't been there before. It is in the block on townhouses behind the Safeway. Here is a better link showing the actual location of the building rather than the slightly off marker that Google Maps does on it's own: Better Google Maps link to MCC NOVA. And, here is an embedded map:
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For those interested, this
For those interested, this forum will include the following races:
The 34th Senate District (Vienna, Oakton, Fairfax, Fair Oaks): incumbent Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis (R) vs challenger Chap Petersen (D). This is a high-profile State Senate race, and both candidates will attend the Forum. Both have voting records and histories on issues of interest to the GLBT community, and we very much look forward to giving our members, friends, and interested press an opportunity to hear these candidates expound on where they stand.
The 37th Senate District (Centreville, Burke, Fairfax (Government Center & along Fairfax County Parkway), parts of Springfield): incumbent Ken Cuccinelli (R) vs challenger Janet Oleszek (D). This is another high-profile contest completely within Fairfax County. Although Senator Cuccinelli had a prior engagement the evening of the Senate Forum, Janet will likely be able to join us for the start of the program at 6:45 PM until she leaves for a School Board meeting.
The 39th Senate District (Clifton, Fairfax Station, Lorton, parts of Springfield, Franconia, and the Occoquan District in Prince William County): incumbent Jay O'Brien (R) vs challenger George Barker (D). This race, again, is a high-profile race in Fairfax and Prince William counties. While Senator O'Brien unfortunately also had another commitment that evening, George Barker has committed to the event.
Hopefully if you live in one of these districts, or if you are interested in where these candidates stand on a range of issues, you will attend on September 27, 2007 at MCC NOVA church in Fairfax City! For more information about why the 2007 Senate election is so important to GLBT equality in Virginia look here.
Forum went well!
Our first candidate forum went pretty well tonight! Four of six candidates from three different races came to talk about our issues . Somewhere between 40 and 50 people came to listen to them and ask questions.
We should have photos up within a couple of days and I'm hopeful that we can make the audio from the forum available on the website for those that couldn't be present in person.
Audio from the event
Audio from the senate forum is now available:
"Seeking the Gay Vote" article in The Washington Post