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Chesapeake, Virginia Mayor and Former Congressman attacks Nancy Pelosi and Dem's across the Country [1]

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Date: 2022-11-06

This letter is in response to a letter sent out by Republican Mayor Rick West and former Congressman Randy Forbes:

Thank you to the amazing citizens of Chesapeake, Virginia for supporting and loving this great city! It is our duty to care for each other, to unite our neighbors and to work in the best interest of all citizens. You should be aware of a letter, intended to divide us, sent by Mayor Rick West and a former United States Congressman, Randy Forbes. The letter makes unsubstantiated and reckless allegations and references which are not based on facts or for which a direct cause and effect cannot be supported.

It is not fair, just or reasonable to blame Democrats for the violence we see and experience in America. This is a multifaceted, multi-pronged matter which impacts all Americans, to include Democrats and Republicans. Let's not blame each other when we can better use our resources working together to address the problem.

It was in extremely poor taste to cast blame on Democrats and Nancy Pelosi for violence in America while her elderly husband was fighting for his life after a brutal and heinous attack, in his home, in the middle of the night. Compassion should have been the only human reflexive action during this time of pain and grief.

As for the Chesapeake City Council race, we have qualified, respectable candidates and they are more than capable of representing this city and it values well. It doesn't matter as local elections are supposed to be non-partisan. Our leaders should know this and should stop the escalation of division related to party affiliation for local elections.

Councilman Dwight Parker was the person with the next highest number of votes in the last city council election. The people of this city voted, and their will was done when he took the seat vacated by former Councilman Matt Hamel. He is a seasoned educator, an experienced former councilman, a former Vice Mayor and the best choice for Chesapeake. When he was elected to serve in this position, there were eight Republicans and one Democrat on the council.

Let's be clear, the tax cut denied by the city council failed while the Republicans held the majority of the seats on city council. There were only two Democrats at the time of the vote. It seems a bit unhinged to blame Democrats for the vote failing.

Democrats do stand for justice and hence supported an investigation of a disruption to the democracy of his country, related to the January sixth insurrection. This was the first attempt in American history to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power and it was truly an obstruction of justice. We need to be grateful to the bi-partisan January 6th Committee and the Democratic-controlled Congress that appointed it, for standing up for the founding principles of this great nation.

Mayor Rick West and former Congressman Randy Forbes should be ashamed of themselves for the letter they wrote. It is beneath the dignity of the offices they hold or have held. An apology is requested and appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Please stay informed and be aware of the facts. We can accomplish more for the great citizens of this city when we work together, state the facts and avoid personal attacks against each other.

Democrats this is a CALL-TO-ACTION Chesapeake Democrats are running neck and neck not only in our Congressional race with Elaine Luria but our City Council and School Board races as well.

Please help us get to the finish line strong and make a donation TODAY!!

Go to the Chesapeake ActBlue link and help us BEAT these RADICAL REPUBLICANS: secure.actblue.com/...

Sincerely,

David Washington

Chairman

Chesapeake Democratic Committee

Here is the letter in its entirety:

Mayor Rick West

City of Chesapeake

Congressman Randy Forbes

Member of Congress 2001-2017

Dear Chesapeake Neighbor,

Thank you for taking time to read this letter. It is very important.

November 8, 2022 is election day when you and I have the privilege to determine whether Congress will be controlled by Conservatives or Liberals and whether the Chesapeake City Council and Chesapeake School Board will be controlled by Conservatives or Liberals. In fact, early voting has already begun.

The margins may be extremely narrow, but the difference in the direction for our country and our city will be vast.

Every day we watch the Liberals or, as they now like to be called, Progressives, continue to chip away at many of the core principles that have sustained our country. They have rapidly undermined the institutions our Founding Fathers carefully crafted.. .to the point that many are hardly recognizable.

Our parents raised us to defend and protect our principles and our Constitution. We have tried to raise our children and grandchildren to do the same. In today's world, those who do try to stand for the principles we were taught, often face a relentless barrage of coordinated personal attacks designed to silence and destroy them. The same attacks are now being waged against political leaders, veterans or historical figures who have stood and fought for our freedoms and those same principles. We thought we were somehow immune from this in Chesapeake, but we are sad to tell you that is no longer true.

In our schools, on the athletic field, in the job market, and in the professional world, our friends, family, children and grandchildren are having their careers and reputations destroyed if they dare to embrace the basic conservative platform we stand for. This is not happening because of some act of disrespect or violence on our part. These attacks are happening because these people disagree with our determination to remain true to our Conservative principles. Conservative political pundits are convinced that the Liberals will abolish our Constitution if given the opportunity. We agree.

We watched helplessly as the lives of innocent Duke lacrosse players were destroyed by the media and an unscrupulous district attorney more concerned with political gain than justice. We hoped, even prayed, our citizens would never face that in Chesapeake. Now, in our opinion, we feel it knocking at our doors.

Parents are now labeled terrorists if they care about what their children are taught in school. Conservative Supreme Court Justices are offered little or no protection from threats outside their homes. Random acts of violence have been happening across

America and, in many of our largest cities, violence has increased threefold since the Progressives took office.

While there are no consequences for these acts, Fox News recently interviewed a longtime FBI and SWAT team veteran who acknowledged that Biden's FBI now "routinely uses heavily armed SWAT teams to raid homes of American citizens who dare to criticize the administration." These citizens are people who pose no danger to anyone and have never even been accused of a violent crime. According to the article, the "point is to terrify and intimidate" political opponents. For the first time in our lives, we are seeing similar threats and actions to intimidate political opponents here in our city. We have seen family members and friends come under attack through various tactics such as unmerited character assassinations, lies, and intimidation. The two of us have lived in Chesapeake our entire lives and have NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THE MALICIOUSNESS WE HAVE EXPERIENCED THESE PAST TWO YEARS.

We believe in a strong political debate because nobody has all the answers. But there are many in this country and in our City who do not want to debate the issues because they know they will lose. Instead, they mask the issues by trying to make every election about good people vs. bad people and trying to smear anyone against them as a bad person. We could not disagree more with their tactics.

We do not believe every election is about good people vs. bad people. Many of those who disagree with us politically are good people. However, we believe elections are always about good direction vs. bad direction. We need more Conservatives, not Progressives. That is why we are asking you to join us in supporting the ONLY CANDIDATES ENDORSED BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF CHESAPEAKE. They are as follows:

CITY COUNCIL SCHOOL BOARD

John M. de Triquet Amanda Grace Dean

C. Jeff Bunn Michael K. "Mike" Lamonea

N. Baxter Ennis John Michael McCormick

Amanda L. Newins, Kim A. Scott

Daniel W. Whitaker Brittany N. Walker

AND

Norman G. Pool for the School Board Special Election (2 year seat)

LET'S CONSIDER SOME OF THE IMPORTANT ISSUES:

REAL TAX CUTS, NOT DECEPTIVE GIMMICKS:

Biden's inflation has hit everyone hard, and it is growing every day. Many Republican governors across the country are giving major tax reductions to offset this unfairness. If you own real property in Chesapeake, you know the assessed value went through the roof this year and so did your new inflationary tax assessment. At the same time, you are paying more taxes, you are losing city services such as curbside recycling. Our Conservative candidate, Vice Mayor John de Triquet led the fight for a permanent reduction in the real estate tax rate of four and a half cents. Mayor Rick West and Council Member Ritter joined Vice Mayor de Triquet in supporting this tax rate reduction. Sadly, a majority of council members, including Susan Vitale, would NOT support that permanent tax relief. Instead, they voted for a ONE YEAR ONLY real estate tax credit, that ironically, applied during an election year!!

TEACHER UNIONS:

We think it matters whether Conservatives or Progressives have a majority on

Chesapeake City Council and School Board. Teacher unions have changed dramatically!

This year, the National Teachers' Union has given 98% of their campaign dollars to Democrat candidates who will support their Liberal agenda. Last year, they spent twice as much promoting their Liberal policies as they did on their members. You know too well the dangerous policies they are now advocating and their passion to impose them in schools across America. The Chesapeake Teachers' Union acknowledges they are an affiliate of the National Teachers' Union. Susan Vitale and Ella Ward have both been ENDORSED by the Chesapeake Teacher's Union and have been published and photographed together as part of a team identified as candidates who will lead Chesapeake down a "Progressive" path. We think that Progressive path is not the direction people in Chesapeake want to travel.

Contrast that with the Republican candidates for City Council and School Board.

Our Republican ticket will stand for teachers, students and parents...NOT AGENDAS. Our candidates have repeatedly stated that they will strongly support providing resources for a quality education for our students. They will be strong advocates for strong parent, teacher and student relationships. Safety for our teachers and students will always be a priority for our Conservative candidates. They are passionate about our students and teachers having a safe and healthy learning environment. But...they will NEVER support the Liberal initiatives being advanced in grades as low as Kindergarten. And, they will NEVER support the notion that parents are not a vital part of their children's education.

Our candidates are the ONLY ONES ENDORSED by the 300+ members of the REPUBLICAN PARTY OF CHESAPEAKE and Conservative leaders we hope you have come to trust. These leaders are Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, former 16 year Congressman Randy Forbes, Senator John Cosgrove, Delegate Jay Leftwich, Delegate Barry Knight, Republican Commissioner of Revenue Victoria Proffitt, Mayor Rick West, Vice Mayor John de Triquet, Council Member Debbie Ritter, School

Board Members Christie New Craig, Colleen Leary, Angie Swygert, former Republican Commonwealth's Attorney Nancy Parr and former Republican Commissioner of Revenue Ray Conner and the Chesapeake Public Safety Alliance.

Element removed SUSAN VITALE AND ELLA WARD VIOLATED CITY COUNCIL RULES TO VOTE FOR DEMOCRAT FOR CITY COUNCIL:

When a Republican seat was vacated on Chesapeake City Council, it seemed fair to most Republicans that a qualified Republican be appointed to fill the remainder of that term. When it was discovered that deals had been made to appoint a Democrat to that vacated seat rather than a qualified Republican, the sentiments were so strong against this planned action that 1 31 respected Republican leaders and citizens drafted and signed a letter in only 24 hours requesting that they interview candidates for a possible Republican replacement. This letter was delivered to Susan Vitale, Ella Ward and other City Council members on a Tuesday evening prior to their vote. However, Susan Vitale not only refused to interview a single Republican candidate, she voted with Democrat Ella Ward and her other supporters on City Council to suspend the rules of the interview process and appoint a former chairman of the Democrat Party to the vacated seat.

GOOD NEWS! THE REPUBLICAN "ENDORSED" CANDIDATES ARE THE ONLY Element removed ONES BEING ENDORSED BY THE 1,000 MEMBER PUBLIC SAFETY ALLIANCE.

The Republican endorsed candidates were endorsed as our LAW AND ORDER candidates by the Chesapeake Public Safety Alliance which comprises of over 1 ,OOO members representing our Chesapeake Police, Fire and Sheriff's

Departments. President William J. Goodman stated " We proudly endorse these five candidates for Chesapeake City Council. We are confident they will be a strong voice for public safety and fight to keep our City safe."

As we said earlier, we do not believe everyone who disagrees with us is a bad person. We choose to believe and hope that everyone running for City Council or School Board, whether a Republican, a Democrat, a Progressive or an Independent is a good person. However, we stand against those who have embraced campaigns of personal attacks and destruction. We also stand against the Liberal or Progressive policies that are destroying our nation and, if allowed, will destroy our City.

We realize this is a long letter. However, there is so much on the line and there are so many distortions that we wanted to share our thoughts with you. If we are to stop this abuse of power for political gain and the Liberal principles being thrust upon us, we must stand together to send a message that THIS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED IN THE CITY WE LOVE.

WE SINCERELY HOPE YOU WILL STAND WITH US FOR THOSE PRINCIPLES WE HOLD DEAR and encourage your family and friends to vote in this very important election. When you go to the polls to vote, make sure you ask for the REPUBLICAN SAMPLE BALLOT. And remember, if you VOTE FOR MORE THAN FIVE your ballot WILL NOT COUNT. If you would like to help in any way, contact the Republican Party of Chesapeake at Chesapeakegop.org.

With kind regards,

Mayor Rick West

Congressman J. Randy Forbes

Paid for by the Republican Party of Virginia

Authorized by Friends of Mayor Rick West

[END]
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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/6/2133989/-Chesapeake-Virginia-Mayor-and-Former-Congressman-attacks-Nancy-Pelosi-and-Dem-s-across-the-Country

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