(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Y'all just made my opponent flee- and made taking back the Virginia House that much easier. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-25 Six years ago, the community here stood behind me as I took on the Republican House Election Chair of the Virginia GOP; an entrenched incumbent, who'd run unopposed for almost a decade. Told we'd get no structural support from the state party, it was grassroots support from places like DailyKos that enabled us to panic that incumbent so much that he blew $500k on our race including $125k the last week of the race to get on TV- fighting us off, instead of doing his job and sending that money to other candidates across Virginia. We came up short that year- the incumbent had drawn his own district, after all- but the "sacrifice fly" we hit enabled us to get other runs on the board" across Virginia... and got Medicaid Expansion passed by a single vote. It was you- all of you!- who contributed to that with the support you poured into Virginia in 2017, not just in my race, but across the Commonwealth of Virginia. And now you've stepped up again, helping to make our campaign the most grassroots in Virginia, with more donations and small dollar support than anyone else in Virginia in 2022. Knowing what he faced- a fairly drawn legislative district and an opponent amassing a veritable grassroots army of support- he decided the effort just wasn't worth it, and announced today he was giving it up. Let me say that again: the most entrenched incumbent in the Commonwealth of Virginia, one of the most senior Republicans in the state, is abandoning a 22-year legislative career because he's terrified of the strength grassroots progressives can bring to bear. It turns out the spasm of attacks we received recently about the abortion care I provide via my job as an ER Nurse was a “last gasp” to try and throw what they could at the wall to save this legislator. While I am sure there will be more of those attacks to come at some point, the fact you all stood with us, and enabled us to hold strong, is the reason that they gave up. They'd rather cut and flee now than to fruitlessly blow millions of dollars here, only to be beaten soundly by a redneck ER Nurse and unapologetic progressive running the most grassroots campaign in Virginia. They knew that kind of loss would be a direct repudiation of them and their policies, and would almost certainly be a lightning rod nationally to inspire other candidates to do the same thing across the country. YOU ALL OWN PART OF THIS IMMENSE VICTORY FOR ALL OF VIRGINIA. There is so much more power here than most people realize! I got so many comments from people “apologizing” for only being able to donate $5 or $10, but those small donations are what just took this seat away from the Virginia GOP! YOU! I've been asked if I'm "disappointed" I won't get a chance to retire him at the ballot box. And the answer is unequivocally no; absolutely not. He was the author of Virginia's transvaginal ultrasound bill, the architect of Operation Red Map here in Virginia. He was the lead speaker before the mastermind of the Unite the Right "Nazi" attack in Charlottesville in 2017. He literally single-handedly held back criminal justice reform in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And now? He's gone. I don't care how it got done, because this isn't about me. This isn't my win. This is a win, not just for the people of my district, but for every single Virginian across the Commonwealth. Nothing changed about what I set out to do- prove that a working-class candidate and unapologetic progressive can run and win. To push directly back against a GOP that thinks they have things sewn up out here. To prove that the future of the Democratic party is one that will be spearheaded by blue- and pink-collar workers; by the generation now forced to shoulder the mistakes of the past. Someone who isn’t just a spectator to those burdens, but knows them from firsthand experience. Someone who is an unapologetic progressive who understands the needs- and shares the concerns of- rural and working-class families. I’m taking the afternoon to celebrate with our campaign team, and then move forward into winning our primary. And once we do, I plan to spend this summer and fall crisscrossing not just my district, but all of Virginia, and help fight to send as many people as I can to join me in Richmond- and prove conclusively that investing in fifty states- from the ground up!- is damn well worth it. That progressives can fight in every zip code, every holler and hill, every corner of America and move the needle forward. Thank you. Thank you all. Kellen Squire is an emergency department nurse from Charlottesville, Virginia, running for the Virginia House of Delegates. Donate today and help send an unapologetic rural progressive to represent our district in Richmond! 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