Last November the totally unhinged Christianist, Ken Cuccinelli was elected attorney general of Virginia - a totally terrifying prospect - thus leaving his state senate seat open for a special election. The local GOP in Fairfax County has nominated an equally homophobic candidate, Stephen Hunt (pictured at left), a local school board member, to be Cuccinelli's successor. The Washington Post has come out with a strong endorsement of Hunt's Democrat opponent, Dave Marsden which, among other things looks at Hunt's anti-gay agenda and past abuse of his position to further homophobia in the public schools. Virginia truly does NOT need more nutcases in the General Assembly. Here are some highlights:*
IN VIRGINIA, the two candidates running in a special election to fill the state Senate seat vacated by Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli II, in western Fairfax County's District 37, offer voters a stark choice.
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One of them, Dave W. Marsden, a Democrat, is a well-respected expert on incarceration, juvenile justice and rehabilitation, having run the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center for 17 years as well as the state's Department of Juvenile Justice, a position for which he was chosen by a Republican governor. Mr. Marsden has served two terms in the House of Delegates with distinction.
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The other candidate, Stephen Hunt, a Republican, served a single term on the Fairfax County School Board; unusually for an incumbent, he failed to win reelection. Although he was hardworking, his tenure is remembered mainly for his being unanimously censured by his colleagues after he sent a letter to high school principals denouncing homosexuality as a "very destructive lifestyle" and urging them to expose students to former gays and lesbians who had rejected homosexuality.
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Mr. Hunt's sin wasn't mouthing the usual platitudes of socially conservative orthodoxy; it's his consistently bad judgment. . . What Mr. Hunt offers is mainly cliches. Better to elect Mr. Marsden, who brings policy expertise, fiscal realism and sound judgment.
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IN VIRGINIA, the two candidates running in a special election to fill the state Senate seat vacated by Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli II, in western Fairfax County's District 37, offer voters a stark choice.
*
One of them, Dave W. Marsden, a Democrat, is a well-respected expert on incarceration, juvenile justice and rehabilitation, having run the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center for 17 years as well as the state's Department of Juvenile Justice, a position for which he was chosen by a Republican governor. Mr. Marsden has served two terms in the House of Delegates with distinction.
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The other candidate, Stephen Hunt, a Republican, served a single term on the Fairfax County School Board; unusually for an incumbent, he failed to win reelection. Although he was hardworking, his tenure is remembered mainly for his being unanimously censured by his colleagues after he sent a letter to high school principals denouncing homosexuality as a "very destructive lifestyle" and urging them to expose students to former gays and lesbians who had rejected homosexuality.
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Mr. Hunt's sin wasn't mouthing the usual platitudes of socially conservative orthodoxy; it's his consistently bad judgment. . . What Mr. Hunt offers is mainly cliches. Better to elect Mr. Marsden, who brings policy expertise, fiscal realism and sound judgment.
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Again, Virginia already has too many members of the Christian Taliban holding public office. We do NOT need another one. I urge readers in the 37th District to make a point to get out and vote for Marsden.
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