In case you missed it, today the Maine Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Virginia held a joint press call ahead of a Paul LePage fundraiser this evening featuring VA Governor Glenn Youngkin. During the call, party officials and legislators from both states slammed both LePage and Youngkin for their extreme and divisive records.
You can watch the full press call here, or see selected quotes below:
Maine Democratic Party Chair Drew Gattine: “So far during this campaign, LePage has tried to pretend that somehow he’s a changed man—that he’s no longer the guy who attacked us Mainers with his words and policies for eight years. But it’s clearly not true. And campaigning alongside Governor Youngkin is just the latest example of how it’s obvious that he hasn’t changed…When Glenn Youngkin ran for Governor last year, he did everything he could to turn the conversation away from his unpopular stance on abortion rights. However, as you’ll hear, now that he’s governor, and Roe v. Wade has been overturned, he is pushing hard to criminalize abortion in Virginia. Paul LePage is currently engaged in the same kind of dance—trying to take attention away from his draconian views on abortion rights. Make no mistake—if he’s given the chance, he will follow in Governor Youngkin’s footsteps. He knows it’s not what Maine people want, but he doesn’t care. We cannot let him take away our rights.”
Democratic Party of Virginia Chair Susan Swecker: “[Youngkin] tried at all costs to avoid talking about how is was going to rip away decades of women’s rights and ban abortion in the Commonwealth. He knew his position on abortion was out of touch and too extreme for Virginians so he hid it. And then right when he gets in office, what does he do? He pushes for a an abortion ban going as far as saying he’ll ‘gleefully’ sign any abortion ban that hit his desk. Don’t let LePage do the same thing!”
Virginia House Minority Leader Don Scott (D-Portsmouth): “It’s disrespectful to the good people of the Commonwealth of Virginia that Governor Youngkin would feel comfortable going to campaign with [LePage]...he is running towards extremism, and radicalism, and this attack on people like myself—people of color. I’m hopeful that the people of Maine will reject this radicalism, and I’m hopeful that the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia will just ask the governor to come home to do the job he was elected to do only eight months ago.”
Maine State Senator Anne Carney (D-Cumberland): “The risk of losing our rights is real. On November 8th, we’ll either re-elect a staunch defender of reproductive rights or we’ll return to the Blaine House a man who claims he doesn’t have time to talk about abortion. We all deserve to know whether our governor will turn back the clock on Mainers’ rights, reproductive privacy, and abortion care. We all deserve to have our rights protected.”