Without Her, A Republican Wins

Meet Virginia Democrat Jasmine Lipscomb

-by Tracy B Ann

You may have heard of the clusterfuck which is the 2023 election in the 49th HD in Virginia. The Democratic committee has decided to hand the election to the Republican candidate.

In every state there is a different process to get on the ballot. Tennessee may be the easiest; 25 signatures does the job. In Virginia there are several ways. The first way is to get your paperwork done by April 6th so you can run in the primary.

The second way to get on the ballot, if there is no primary in your district, is to step up during a window. This year the window is from April 6th- June 20th.

The Democratic committees in the county do a “call to caucus”, sort of a “Hey, everyone, who wants to run?” The call to caucus lasts a week or so. Every county is different; in every instance so far, they have asked for a range from $0 to $250, sometimes refundable, no signatures required.

Well, except for one, Jasmine Lipscomb. She stepped up to run in Virginia's HD-49 during the call to caucus and was told by her county district committee that she needed to pay a nonrefundable $500 and gather 100 signatures. WTF?!?!

Now, according to the rules of the Party Plan of the Democratic Party of Virginia:

“If no one is chosen by the local committee party caucus anyone who is a Democrat can step up to run. The committee then names by acclamation.” (Me, paraphrasing rule 10.6)

Jasmine Lipscomb stepped up to run, during the call to caucus, but didn’t have the $500.

I’m not sure what the committee's problem is. They have a choice let this “imperfect candidate” (in their eyes I guess) run, OR, let the Republican candidate win without an opponent. Let him skate through while spending his war chest in other districts helping other Republicans win.

This is an R+6 district that is 47% minority. Fucking winnable!!

In Jasmine’s own words:

From: Jasmine Lipscomb Date: Thu, Jun 1, 2023, 5:12 PM Subject: Jasmine D. "Wisdom" Lipscomb - HD-49

Aloha All,

Just a quick note to all those who may be concerned regarding my HD 49 candidacy. As occurred in HD 100 and HD 40, I am now the beneficiary of an angel donor, Air Force Master Sergeant (ret.) Daphne Portis, who has given me $500 for my filing fee. The $200 filing fee in HD 100 and the $250 filing fee in HD 40 were likewise paid by angel donors; however, there was no requirement for signatures in either of those districts.

The great news is that a group called Rural Ground Game and their Chairperson Lynlee Thorne have generously volunteered to come down to Danville, VA to collect the 100 signatures required by the HD 49 nominating committee.

I have heard from others that the reason I was denied nomination by the HD 49 nominating committee is that I did not submit the $500 filing fee and the 100 signatures. Having read Section 10.6 of the Virginia Democratic Party Plan prior to the calling of the caucus and understanding that at the time of the calling of the caucus I did not have the $500 to pay the filing fee, I did not collect the 100 signatures. The caucus failed to nominate a candidate by the caucus methodology, because I was the only candidate to step forward who wanted to run as a Democratic candidate; something I still wish to do.

My reading of Section 10.6 of the Democratic Party Plan led me to believe that the only person to step forward to run as a Democrat would be named the HD 49 nominee by acclamation at that time.

During the time of my call to caucus, I learned that other locality nominating committees were having their calls to caucus. The candidate filing stipulations for these nominating committees varied drastically. In some, no filing fee was required at all; in others, a very minimal ($50) refundable filing fee was required. In other committees, a $200 refundable filing fee was required; however, signatures were not required in any of these calls to caucus.

I am trying to offer the voters of HD 49 a Democratic choice on their ballots. They are already being offered a Democratic choice on their Senate ballot, Air Force veteran Trudy Berry in SD 9. Both Trudy and I, female military veterans, understand that we are running in Republican districts. We understand well the uphill nature of this endeavor having served in the Air Force and Marine Corps as females. Neither of us is scared of this challenge; we are doing the work of Democratic party building in our regions. My main goal is to make sure that Danny Marshall has to run in a General Election. This will no doubt benefit the 2024 campaigns of Senator Tim Kaine and President Joe Biden in their reelection efforts. As well, our efforts will benefit the 2025 Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

I remain ready to run and represent Democrats on the HD 49 ballot.

Semper Fi,

Jasmine Lipscomb

Sgt, USMC, Veteran

The Virginia Mercury ran a piece on this, Why Democratic officials won’t let a would-be candidate run for the Virginia House.

It’s a pretty good piece, I thought it explained at least part of the situation pretty well. The part the author, Graham Moomaw, left out that I think is important was that yes, Virginia has different rules for getting candidates on the ballot, but this local Virginia Democratic Party has different rules for different candidates.

Mr. Moomaw could have included the fact that some candidates paid nothing. Some paid anywhere from $50 to $250 but it was refundable.

I do love the fact that he included information about both Dr. Fergie Reid’s in the story. Some background on Dr. William Ferguson Reid Sr., as well as his philosophy of running a Democratic candidate in every race, every time.

“The controversy is also spotlighting a divide among Democrats over whether it helps to run candidates in as many districts as possible even in places where they have little chance of winning. Some see having Democrats on the ballot as crucial, keeping rural Democrats engaged and forcing Republicans to play defense. Others see long-shot campaigns as a potential drain on resources to accommodate candidates with unrealistic expectations.” Why Democratic officials won’t let a would-be candidate run for the Virginia House - Virginia Mercury

Lynlee Thorne, Rural Ground Game’s political director, sent an email to Jasmine and “advised strongly against taking guidance from an individual in another state.”

Another state?!? Some of the biggest political consultants in the US regularly consult in states outside their own. The biggest campaigns usually hire these gigantic consulting firms that are in either New York or California. What are they talking about anyway, out of state? We live in the internet age and we are the United States of America.

“Lipscomb has been in communication with Fergie Reid Jr., a California-based voting rights activist who is the son of Virginia civil rights pioneer William Ferguson “Fergie” Reid Sr., who helped organize Black voters during Massive Resistance and in 1967 became the first Black person elected to the Virginia General Assembly since Reconstruction.

The junior Reid sees helping recruit and advise Virginia Democrats running in less-prioritized districts as part of carrying on his father’s work, but he occasionally clashes with party officials over the rigidity of rules like filing fees. Reid said he questions what message state Democratic leaders are sending to the Danville area’s substantial Black population by blocking a Black woman from running.

“Why is she being denied for her inability to pay $500?” he said.” Why Democratic officials won’t let a would-be candidate run for the Virginia House - Virginia Mercury

One of the responses Jasmine got from the nominating committee was this:

Good Morning Ms. Lipscomb,

Ms. Lipscomb, if cutting corners and disregarding policy and procedure is the strategy you wish to utilize, I must inform you that the integrity of the process and providing the voters with the best possible candidate is the one and only goal of this committee and will not succumb to tactics of deceit and the attempt of intimidation.

Therefore, the previous decision made by the House District 49 Committee stands as not having a Democratic Nominee for House District 49.

We wish you the best in your endeavors.

Thank you,

Patricia Harper-Tunely

The bolding is mine. What the fuck?!? The Democratic Committee is choosing to not run a candidate when there is one right there willing to run? Their goal is to provide voters with the best possible candidate and this Democratic committee thinks the best possible candidate is a Republican?!? Again, what the fuck?

It’s easy to get sidetracked with the process and how dumb this local Democratic Party is being, but the big thing here is Jasmine Lipscomb.

Lipscomb believes women should have control over their own bodies, that health care should be available for all, and that no one should ever be blocked from voting (or running for office for that matter). Jasmine is a former US marine who served as a legal service specialist— similar to a paralegal— and was selected to guard the U.S. embassy in Paris for a time. (A highly coveted position!)

To serve at an embassy in the Marines you get vetted pretty carefully by more than one agency with a 3-letter name. But that’s not good enough for this local Damn/Dem committee?!?!

I think Trudy Berry, a progressive running for senator in Virginia's SD-9 sums it up well:

“All of our questions could be answered if TPTB would just answer them. At the core is that DPVA has a Party Plan of rules that local committees must follow. Yet, the local committees violated that Plan when they put together a nominating committee for HD49 that included members who don’t live in HD49. That, in itself, nullifies their caucus and their decision not to nominate Jasmine Lipscomb.

If DPVA has no say in local committee decisions, why do they have a book of rules for local committees? What do they do when local committees don’t follow their rules?

Are all the decision-makers blaming Jasmine for something . . . for what . . . her attitude, taking advice from someone outside their control, asking them questions about their own rules . . . and that’s why they won’t nominate her?

Running for office isn’t supposed to be about controlling candidates and have them follow arbitrary committee rules. It should be about local committees doing what they can to get a candidate elected by providing what a candidate needs. What Jasmine— and the constituents of HD49— need is to have Jasmine’s name on the ballot.”

Trudy Berry Home - Trudy Berry