VAYD: Upcoming 2021 Candidate Events

With the number of great Dems running for office in 2021, VAYD has decided to host a series of virtual forums to help young people get to know the candidates. They are hosting an event for each statewide office: Lieutenant Governor, Governor, and Attorney General.

The schedule for the forums will be:

VAYD Members can submit their questions for the candidates through this Google Form. For more information, please go to vayd.org/events.

Get Caught in the Act, Help Clean Up Litter in Virginia

During the month of March, Keep Virginia Beautiful is hosting a month of beautiful acts across Virginia. As part of this state-wide effort, the Albemarle County Solid Waste Alternatives Committee (SWAAC) would like to invite all to join. Grab a bag, take a walk, and pick up some litter. When you’re finished, take a minute to let us know where (include the nearest street address or zip code) and how much litter you picked up. This will help us to better understand and address litter in our area!

https://keepvirginiabeautiful.org/do-beautiful-things/get-caught-in-the-act/

The Virginia People’s Debates

There is an exciting opportunity to engage with local politics and policies! The Virginia People’s Debates is an upcoming debate series that is being organized by dozens of progressive groups across Virginia.

Dozens of racial justice, economic justice, gender justice, climate & environmental justice, and clean government groups across Virginia are coming together to host “People’s Debates” for the three 2021 statewide elections this year.

Every statewide Democratic candidate is invited, and most have already confirmed. Interested Democrats can register to watch the zoom events at VirginiaPeoplesDebates.org, stream on YouTube at tinyurl.com/PeoplesDebateYoutube, and follow along and stream on Facebook at tinyurl.com/PeoplesDebateFB.

Co-sponsors include: 350 Alexandria, 350 Fairfax, Activate Virginia, American Promise — Virginia, Appalachian Women of Action, Arab American Democratic Caucus, Blue Ridge Democrats, Climate Reality Project (NOVA Chapter), Earth Rise, Indivisible Northern Virginia, Indivisible Virginia, Loudoun Progressives, NETWORK NOVA, NOVA Climate, Our Revolution (National), Our Revolution Alexandria, Our Revolution Arlington, Our Revolution Falls Church, Our Revolution South Central Virginia, People Demanding Action, Progressive Democrats of America — National, Progressive Democrats of America — Virginia, Protect Our Commonwealth, Resolutions Addressing Systemic Racism, Richmond for All, Sierra Club — Virginia, Sunrise Virginia, Sunrise Williamsburg, Together We Will Henrico, Virginia Cannabis Equity Coalition, Virginia Coalition for Human Rights, Virginia Democracy Forward, Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee, Virginia Political Cooperative.

Resources for Petitions

Before we can vote on candidates this fall, they’ve got to make it onto the ballot. This means gathering signatures, which is a complicated process as we’re all trying to say safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, Virginia is now allowing candidates to gather signatures digitally.

We have the Virginia Young Democrats to thank for compiling a comprehensive list of petitions that you can access to discover how you can help and get all the resources you need to collect legal, legitimate signatures for your Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General candidate of choice. Visit VAYD.org/petitions.

Notice a few positions missing from the list above? That’s right, candidates for the Board of Supervisors and School Board still need to collect in-person signatures. With elections this year in the Jack Jouett, Rio, and Samuel Miller districts, we need to make sure that candidates get on the ballot! So we’re making it as easy and safe as possible to add your name to the necessary petitions—and do some good for our community in the process.

We’re hosting a drive-through petition signature event on Saturday, March 6, from 9 a.m.–11 a.m., at the 1 Morton Drive Building right next to the Bodo’s on Emmet Street. The City Dems will be joining us, but we will have separate lines to make sure everyone is signing the correct petition. You will be able to drive up, sign petitions—please bring your own pen—and drop off contributions to our ongoing Toiletries Drive. The goods collected will go to the Piedmont Housing Alliance and the Charlottesville Housing and Redevelopment Authority for distribution.

Some of the most needed items for the Toiletries Drive are:

  • Toilet paper
  • Soap
  • Shampoo and conditioner
  • Toothbrushes and toothpaste
  • Clorox wipes
  • Disinfecting sprays