On Monday, November 3, the statewide GOP ticket held a spirited rally at the Shenandoah Club, which is directly behind the Hotel Patrick Henry in Downtown Roanoke. The three candidates are Lt. Governor Winsome Sears, aiming to be governor, radio host John Reid, hoping to be lieutenant governor, and Attorney General Jason Miyares, running for election. Each gave a stump speech, and they were joined on the stage by Gov. Glenn Youngkin and former Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Doors opened at 11:30. By 11:00, a group of about 15 protestors had gathered on the sidewalk on both sides of the driveway into the Club’s parking lot. The protestors were all white, mainly appeared of retirement age, and with three or four exceptions, all women. They held signs but did not impede traffic and were peaceful.
One woman who agreed to speak with The Roanoke Star about her reason to join the protest explained: “I’m an independent moderate, for one thing, and since Trump emerged in 2015, I have been radicalized (emphasis hers) against him. I am not radicalized against all the Republican positions, but his ideology, his obvious lean towards totalitarianism, lying, cheating, stealing, to get what he wants… that is entirely why I’m here. I’m giving up my retirement (emphasis hers) and the fun things I could be doing, to save democracy for my grandchildren.”
At which point, a male protestor chimed in, “the destruction of democracy,” and another woman added, “to resist authoritarianism.”
The apparent spokeswoman continued: “Hopefully the voters are starting to realize that they are not going to get any truth in the Trump-controlled media (…) It’s really scary if that’s all they get.”
When asked her name, she said only “Cathy” and declined to give her last name, claiming the whole nation is now under surveillance. When asked if she spelled her name “Cathy” or “Kathy” so it would be written correctly, she declined again. She stated: “I would normally give my name, but we are now realizing that if we don’t stop Trump in his tracks, everything we do is being watched, traced, first through DOGE, having all of our information, now through ICE, being able to know every single detail about anyone they want to go after. So, we will start being a little bit undercover in the long run if things don’t turn around.”
Beyond the protestors and outside the Club door, a line of attendees waited patiently in the parking lot. Two in line were somehow identified as potential trouble-makers, because two men who appeared to be security spoke with them, explaining that the event was for supporters only and noprotestors were allowed, and those two men quietly left the premises.
On the opposite end of the spectrum from the protestors was Roanoke City native and resident Jeff Hayslett. He was in line, and when asked why he attended, he stated: “I’m here because I believe in Winsome Sears, I think she, John Reid, and Jason Miyares, who has proven to be attorney general, have done a good job. So, I’m going to vote for people who have got common sense. That’s the word today, too many people don’t use too much (…) I figured this would be the last day [before the election] and hopefully we’ll see good results for tomorrow.”
The doors opened shortly before noon, and inside was a who’s who of local Republican leaders. They included Congressmen Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith; Sens. David Suetterlein, Chris Head, and Bill Stanley; Dels. Terry Austin and Joe McNamara; Roanoke County Supervisors Martha Hooker, Phil North, and Tammy Shepherd; Sixth District Republican Chairman John Massoud; and Roanoke County GOP Chairman Chris Newton.
Maynard Keller is running a feisty independent bid to unseat far-left Del. Salam “Sam” Rasoul. Many in the community have recoiled to learn, not only did Rasoul fully endorse Jay Jones, but Rasoul had no denunciation of Jones’ violent fantasies of seeing another political leader, and his two small sons ages two and five at the time, and police officers die brutal deaths, all in the hopes that Jones might see more of his political ambitions come true.
When asked about his opponent’s radical endorsement of a man who expressed violent fantasies, Keller firmly responded: “Political violence is never okay.”
“…Unless Democrats want to do it,” Chairman Massoud added. (As reported here, many have been shocked to learn that some in our community publicly celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk by a leftwing gunman.)
Glenvar mother Tam Dawyot said she brought her daughters to the rally to experience a real-life civics lesson. “I think it’s important for my daughters to meet a strong, independent, American-loving, God-fearing lady, like Winsome. They have no school today, so there’s no better time to come.”
The crowd was comprised heavily of retired-aged folks, which makes sense since it was held at noon on a workday. But like Dawyot, there were a number of other young parents who brought children in tow.
On the other end of the age spectrum was Vinton resident Mildred Scott, 97, who is still physically spry and mentally sharp, walking unaided with a spring in her step. She sat in the front row, and when asked why she attended, she explained: “I worked with the Republican Party for thirty-eight years, I’ve made eight-nine cakes to auction off [to fund local GOP causes], and I’m truly a Republican and I’ll never be anything else.”
The event was held in a room with about 100 chairs, and by the time the event began, all were filled, and perhaps fifty other people or so had to stand. The media were lined up across the back.
Around 12:13, Sen. Chris Head opened the program with a prayer and told the gathering, “The power of prayer is incredibly important. Our 40 Days of Prayer ends today, and God is sovereign.” He cited a passage from 2 Kings about the power of God to deliver.
Del. Joe McNamara led the assembled in the pledge of allegiance, then Sen. Suetterlein remarked how “One year ago, Roanoke City elected its first Republican City Council member in a generation. You never know how an election will turn out.”
The first member of the ticket to speak was John Reid, running for lieutenant governor. That is a part-time position, but its main power is to break ties in the Senate. He called out his Democrat opponent, Ghazala Hashmi, as “the most liberal member of the state senate” and criticized her for refusing to debate during the entire campaign. Reid said he has traveled to every corner of Virginia to show that no one is forgotten. He went places where he was the only white person and even visited NAACP meetings and a mosque in Northern Virginia. He wants us to remember “uncomfortable conversations are ok… in Virginia today, the dialogue is missing.”
Reid added, “everybody wants freedom, we don’t need unions.” Reid sounded the alarm that has received scant attention in the whole campaign: if the Democrats win, they have promised to end Virginia’s “right to work” status, which will raise prices and limit freedoms.
Next, former Gov. Bob McDonnell touted the ticket, explaining, “The best way to know what somebody will do is look at what they’ve already done. There have been $9 billion in tax cuts, record new jobs, record surpluses, teacher pay has been raised, and more investments in mental health.”
“Do we believe the police, strong borders, and traditional values are healthy, or do we want to go back to the chaos?”
McDonnell warned: “If the Democrats win, there will be the immediate abolition of the ‘right to work’ here. Taxes will go up. Police will not be backed and will not be allowed to coordinate with ICE, the cost of living will rise. Your beloved Virginia will be virtually unrecognizable in one year.” Claiming the race is razor close, he added, “This is a margin of error race, a turnout race.”
Attorney General Miyares took the stage next, touting the impressive accomplishments that the Republican-led executive branch has had. Miyares said that Virginia was “dying” four years ago after a long stretch of Democrat control. Then the Old Dominion ranked #46 in job creation; now we’re in the Top 5. He said Virginia going from Democrat leadership to Republican since 2001 makes our state “the biggest turnaround of any state in modern times.”
Under Democrat governors, more people were leaving Virginia than entering; that was the first time that had happened since the days of President Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s. However, in recent years, more are moving into that excitement.
Miyares said under former Gov. Ralph Northam, the murder rate in the state was at a twenty-year high and the violent crime rate was at a thirty-year high. In Roanoke City, only 0.12% of the population committed 30% of the murders. But murders in the Star City have plummeted 62% since the current administration’s Operation Ceasefire was begun in some of the state’s most violent cities, including Roanoke.
Miyares reserved some of his harshest criticism for his opponent, Jay Jones, at which point many in the crowd booed. Miyares claimed Jones goes against police and victims, wants School Resource Officers [SROs] out of schools, wants no cash bail, and voted to end the mandatory reporting of violent crimes in schools.
Miyares said the attorney general race is “a national referendum on violence.”
Gov. Youngkin then took the stage to a riotous welcome. He too touted the accomplishments of the past four years, and called on everyone to contact ten of their friends or family, and encourage them to vote tomorrow. He called this our “Patrick Henry moment,” in the spirit of our founding father who declared, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
He jokingly said he called the Governor of Tennessee recently to congratulate his state on being Number 10 in job creation… but that Virginia was Number 9. Youngkin warned that if the Democrats win this election, our state will “lose to Tennessee” and other states with more business-friendly climates.
Following Youngkin, Sears entered the room with her husband and two daughters, then she took the stage for a lively, twenty-minute stump speech. She explained her vision to continue the successes of the past for years, decrease taxes and regulations, end the car tax, and work to reduce energy costs.
Mocking Spanberger’s reliance on wind and solar, Sears said, “the only clean thing about their ‘clean energy’ is, it will clean out your wallet.”
After Sears’s speech, the entire ticket and Gov. Youngkin gathered on the stage to wave and offer photo opportunities.
The fired-up crowd left the venue on the cool but sunny day, the protestors having already dispersed.
The last day to vote is Tuesday, Nov. 4.
The terms for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general are four years. All 100 seats in the House of Delegates are up for grabs; those terms are two years each.
Want to find your voting place, dates, and hours? Use this state-run, non-partisan website, elections.virginia.gov, to find it.
— Scott Dreyer
