Thread by @A_Siegel

A tour de force from ⁦@GerryConnolly⁩ about Virginia’s transformation from deep red to true blue during ⁦@VaDemocracy⁩ meeting. ⁦@FairfaxDems⁩ ⁦@DranesvilleDems⁩

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems Meeting was in #Dranesville.

Connolly: "In 1980s, Dranesville was seen out of reach and the only time @TheDemocrats won was when it was a three-way race. In 2007, @JohnFoustVA was first to win one-on-one. He won't be the last. Things have changed."

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva In 1995, Connolly first ran for #Fairfax, VA, Board of Supervisors, it was 6 R and 4 D. Connolly made it 5-5 and sound it was majority D and we've never looked back. 2019 made it 9-1. @FCPS School Board is 12-0.

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps With @HelmerVA's election, there won't be a single @VA_GOP who will represent Fairfax in Richmond.

Connolly: "If I had told people this would happen when I started in the mid-1980s, they would have laughed and told me to dream on."

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps @HelmerVA @VA_GOP "Virginia's tipping point truly was 2017. We were expecting 5-6 House seat gains on an incremental path. Who would have guessed we would have won 15 seats in one night. Unbelievable." @ElectConnolly

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps @HelmerVA @VA_GOP @ElectConnolly "What fueled it was the #womensmarch. I went down there dreading it, thinking it would be funeral but that wasn’t it at all. It was ‘we aren’t going anywhere, we are getting organized."

(Amusing moment: Connolly asked who had been to march. every person raised their hands.)

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps @HelmerVA @VA_GOP @ElectConnolly "When you go back to Virginia's 2017 election, the @VA_GOP nominee got the largest number of votes for GOP candidate for Governor ever. They hit their numbers. @RalphNortham did nine points better."

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps @HelmerVA @VA_GOP @ElectConnolly @RalphNortham "This happened in the mid-term as well. It wasn't that the @GOP GOP didn’t get the vote out, but @TheDemocrats did better. It was fueled by women outraged by Donald Trump and it hasn’t gone away … “ Connolly

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps @HelmerVA @VA_GOP @ElectConnolly @RalphNortham @GOP "When you have a Congresswoman from a pro-#guncontrol district who gets an A from the @NRA, they deserve an F from voters. #VA10 retired @BarbaraComstock by the largest losing margin for any incumbent Congressperson in the nation."

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps @HelmerVA @VA_GOP @ElectConnolly @RalphNortham @GOP @NRA @BarbaraComstock "In 2019, people have woken up that elections have consequences. That [@VAHouseDems and @VASenateDems are in the majority] changes everything. We can pass #ERA, #guncontrol, roll back voter restrictions ..."

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps @HelmerVA @VA_GOP @ElectConnolly @RalphNortham @GOP @NRA @BarbaraComstock @VAHouseDems @VASenateDems "Northern Virginia has realigned and a Republican will have a really hard time getting elected in this place for a long time to come ... In Dranesville, the GOP went hard and lost the school board by 23 points ...."

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps @HelmerVA @VA_GOP @ElectConnolly @RalphNortham @GOP @NRA @BarbaraComstock @VAHouseDems @VASenateDems "#Virginia is an archetypal example of how to turn a Red place and turn it blue, how to consolidate gains and minimize losses ... We need to have @TheDemocrats around the nation to pay attention to Virginia."

@GerryConnolly @VaDemocracy @FairfaxDems @DranesvilleDems @TheDemocrats @johnfoustva @fcps @HelmerVA @VA_GOP @ElectConnolly @RalphNortham @GOP @NRA @BarbaraComstock @VAHouseDems @VASenateDems Connolly was generous in praise for @ElaineLuriaVA, @JenniferWexton, @RepSpanberger: professionalism, hit ground running, "credit to Virginia".

Also, to group of activists, he finished:

"Thank you for all you did to #MakeVABlue."