Vogel: Setting the Record Straight

by Senator Jill Vogel

This year has been one of my most productive legislative sessions. I chaired my Finance subcommittee to help square up a budget shortfall while fixing serious issues for our state employees and constitutional officers who have worked with me each step of the way.

I worked on regulatory rollback, tax reform, domestic violence, Second Amendment bills, and ethics and redistricting reform. I have enjoyed every minute of the time working with my colleagues and with people from around Virginia. Meanwhile, I have dedicated time to campaign for Lieutenant Governor, always looking for new ways to reach out and improve our opportunity to win in November.

Only one thing stands out this session as remarkably out of synch with the positive and it has been the early launch of false and negative attacks by my colleague and fellow Lieutenant Governor candidate whom I have always respected, but whom I have been disappointed to watch tear down our race.

It has been an unprecedented launch of negative and baseless attacks, political stunts, and ugliness toward supporters and volunteers – and it has no place in this race.

The negative drumbeat attaches to our whole ticket and flatly turns people off to the candidate who is negative. It makes no sense that a legislator running statewide would launch such a campaign during the crunch time of the legislative session, saying something about time spent playing politics while letting colleagues carry the load.

People who take public service seriously do not engage in this way.

Ads run and websites set up by my colleague, Senator Reeves, have attacked me as being weak on the Second Amendment.

The truth is that I have an A+ rating from the NRA and a perfect voting record according to the VCDL. This session I have introduced more pro-gun bills strongly supported by the VCDL than any other Senator.

My record of introducing strong pro-Second Amendment bills is tied only with conservative Delegate Todd Gilbert – who has endorsed my campaign for Lieutenant Governor.

Reeves has also attacked my longstanding record as an advocate for life. In the almost ten years that I have served in Virginia’s Senate, I have maintained a 100% pro-life voting record – each and every year and have been in the front lines of attacks for my pro-life positions.

Truthfulness matters and candidates will be judged by it. Voters are paying attention. They are suspicious, disturbed, and turned off by scorched earth efforts to tear down the party and other candidates.

To those who ask for my thoughts on the matter, there they are. To those who are working so hard to support me, I am incredibly grateful and will never forget it. For those who don’t support our campaign but play fair, I thank you even more.

Senator Jill Vogel represents the 27th Senate District and is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.