Welcome to Red Wine & Blue Virginia,

It’s not just abortion. Extremist politicians are coming for birth control, too. In 2024, the Virginia legislature passed the Right to Contraception Act to protect birth control for all Virginians. But despite broad support for this bill, Governor Youngkin vetoed it, putting our right to birth control like the pill, IUDs, and emergency contraception at risk.

All across the country, extremists are trying to limit our reproductive rights and take away our access to contraception. In fact, 195 Republicans in Congress voted against the Right to Contraception at the federal level. And in the U.S. Senate, all but two Republicans just voted against protecting access to birth control and IVF, despite the fact that the majority of Americans overwhelmingly support both. You can learn more about our national campaign to Save IVF and Birth Control here. 

Here in Virginia, extremists have been extremely vocal about their plans to strip away these rights. We have to vote for candidates who promise to protect our right to reproductive freedom at the federal and state level. That means re-electing Tim Kaine to the U.S. Senate to help protect our reproductive freedom.

Public education in Virginia is under attack. Extremists at the local level are banning books, rewriting history, and making LGBTQ+ kids, Black kids, kids of color and all children regardless of how they identify less safe in the classroom. Anytime kids are targeted or bullied in a school environment, all of the kids at the school are less safe. All children benefit from a safe and accepting school environment.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is at the forefront of these so-called “parents’ rights” attacks on public education. That’s why in 2023 we launched our “Parents, Not Politics” tour across Virginia. And it worked! In 2023, we defeated two-thirds of the extremist school board candidates in our 16 target school districts. 70% of the candidates who attended our “Parents, Not Politics” tour won their races and common sense candidates flipped three school boards. 

We are riding this momentum into 2024 and continuing the fight to protect public education for all students. That means showing up at school board meetings, pushing back on book bans, and promoting a safe and inclusive environment in which all children can succeed. Learn more about how our work in VA corresponds with our national Freedom to Parent campaign.

Before Governor Youngkin and extremists in the legislature took power, Virginia passed common sense gun violence prevention laws that the overwhelming majority of Virginians support. This includes background checks, red flag laws (which allow guns to be removed from individuals who present a danger to others or themselves), and a one-gun per month purchase limit. Cities and counties also create gun-free zones at places like parks, recreation centers, and sports facilities, creating safer spaces for all our families. No one needs a firearm at a kids’ baseball game! 

But under Youngkin’s leadership, extremists proposed legislation to loosen gun restrictions such as concealed carry without a permit. They made it a priority to dismantle the recent gun safety legislation. But their ideas are out of step with the majority of Virginians, and in 2023 we won back control of the state legislature. It’s more important than ever that we continue to push for gun violence prevention legislation and maintain control of the Virginia legislature in 2025.

Virginia has made great progress in the last five years to increase voting access in the state with same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting. But Governor Youngkin has been laying the groundwork for voter suppression. They want to reverse our progress and make it harder to vote in Virginia. Thankfully in 2023, we defeated many extremists on the ballot, helping to protect our voting rights against Youngkin’s extremism. 

Despite the success of 2023, there is still so much work to do. The Youngkin administration pulled us out of ERIC, a bi-partisan national organization that works to clean up voter rolls and ensure accurate and fair voter data across state lines. We are also one of only two states that still bars those convicted of a felony from voting in elections. This law dates back to the Jim Crow era, and directly targeted Black voters, which is why it’s so important to update the Virginia state constitution to allow those convicted of a felony to regain their voting rights. We have to ensure that all of our rights to vote in Virginia are protected into the future.