House Speaker Kirk Cox launches early TV ad as he defends redrawn Virginia district
Cox (Colonial Heights), one of the most powerful Republican politicians in the state, is running for reelection under a court-imposed map that turned his GOP stronghold into a district that now tilts blue and where more than a third of voters are African American......
...“As much as Cox is trying to paint himself as the friendly neighborhood delegate, he’s one of the most powerful Republicans in Virginia, and he’s clearly scared of running his first competitive race in years,” said Kathryn Gilley, spokeswoman for the House Democratic caucus. “Sheila Bynum-Coleman has the momentum and the support — and Cox knows it.”
Bynum-Coleman's campaign manager, Rob Silverstein, issued a statement in response to the ad. "Republican Speaker Cox's efforts to rebrand himself as 'one of us' doesn't square with his 29-year public record of taking hard right votes that are way outside the mainstream of the district," he wrote. "Cox's attempt to keep his grip on power and buy this election in August demonstrates that Sheila's message of economic fairness and keeping our communities safe is clearly resonating with voters."
Virginia Republicans are defending razor-thin majorities in the General Assembly in November, when all 100 seats in the House and all 40 in the Senate will be on the ballot. The GOP controls the House 51 to 48 and the Senate 20 to 19, with one vacancy in each chamber.
House Republicans must mount that battle on a revamped political map handed down after a years-long fight. Federal courts ruled that the House map drawn in 2011 was racially gerrymandered and imposed a new one drawn by a court-appointed special master.
As a result, Cox and five other Republican incumbents face tougher dynamics in their bids for reelection. The speaker’s district swung from favoring Republicans by 26 points to tilting toward Democrats by six, from 76 percent white to 58 percent, and from 18 percent black to 34 percent, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/house-speaker-kirk-cox-launches-early-tv-ad-as-he-defends-redrawn-virginia-district/2019/08/12/f4ccef26-bd34-11e9-b873-63ace636af08_story.html
https://www.sheilafordelegate.com