Rep. John McGuire is a No-Show at Indivisible Charlottesville 4/26/2025 Town Hall

Rep. John McGuire is a No-show at Indivisible Charlottesville 4/26/2025 Town Hall

Representative John McGuire (VA-05) hasn't held a town hall or taken constituent questions at an open forum since he was elected; instead, he keeps holding secret meetings with rich donors and pretending they're town halls. Since he didn't do his job we did it (partially) for him.

On April 26th, Indivisible Charlottesville held a town hall and 500+ people showed up to ask their absentee congressman some powerful and personal questions about how his votes and actions have been hurting them and their communities. Too bad he refused to come and listen.

You can follow along with the audio using the transcript below this video player:

[earlier: Good afternoon. — Ed.] So I get to do the technical details from the beginning of the day. I think some people are going to continue to come in, so if you are on an aisle there's a bunch of empty seats in the middle; feel free to slide in or at least be ready let us fly over for you. We have fire exits in case of an emergency. The way you came in of course is one, there are also doors here and… for people on stage there's also an exit back here, so leave quietly and quickly if you're told to evacuate. There are bathrooms outside the doors that you came in from. The men's room is over there and the women's room is over there.

There are ushers and marshals available if you need any help during the program, look for someone in a colored penny or someone with a name tag. If you have mobility problems and want to come to the mic but can't get there raise your hand and want a mic brought to you raise your hand and try to get the attention of an usher or a marshal and they will bring it to you.

We don't expect any trouble today, but if anyone does decide to heckle or disrupt our program, please do your best to not respond, and let our marshals take care of it; they're all trained, they all know what they're doing.

Turn your phones off or the ringers off. Alright, I'm going to ask you to stand briefly.

[2:09] We're going to recite together the land acknowledgement for this place: “We recognize that the people who lived here before us, many of them have descendants still here, and we want to acknowledge that.”

[Audience repeats:] “We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and we are on today, the Monacan nation, and pay our respects to their elders past, present, and future. Thank you.”

How's the sound, can you hear me back there? How about this?

[3:00] Alright, my name is Sage, and thank you so much for coming, we're so delighted that you came. I'd like to start by introducing our group, Indivisible Charlottesville. Indivisible Charlottesville is an all-volunteer, pro-democracy, grassroots group that started in early 2017, along with thousands of other Indivisible chapters across the US. We are committed to empowering citizens, to hold their elected officials accountable through nonviolent action and communication. And two, to working towards a more progressive and inclusive America that values the well-being, diverse contributions, and civil rights of all people.

[4:02] And now a brief introduction to town halls. Raise your hand if you've ever attended one before… nice. I just attended my first one last week. I didn't know it was a thing, but it's been a part of our democracy since for hundreds of years, going back to the 1600s...no...1700s?… a long, long time. Town halls involve a legislator regularly returning to their districts to be accountable to the voters, to explain their work and to answer voters questions and concerns. Meeting with and being accountable to their constituents is not just a nice gesture that our officials can choose to make or not... it is part of their job.

In 2009 and 2010 the conservative Tea Party used town halls to express their anger when Congress passed Obama's healthcare reforms. Our congressman at the time, Democrat Tom Perriello [applause], did not hide from their anger; he repeatedly showed up at town halls, faced angry crowds again and again to explain why he felt he had to vote for the Affordable Care Act.

After 2016 Indivisible groups across the country used town halls to push back on the right-wing effort to repeal Obamacare.

During the past few months, as Trump, Musk, and the DOGE boys have been ripping through the federal government, crashing the economy, targeting immigrants and people of color, trying to destroy our constitutional system of checks and balances, and repeatedly violating our First Amendment rights to free speech by trying to silence peaceful dissent and alternative viewpoints, town halls have seen a huge resurgence across this country.

[6:30] Some of us on this stage just joined into this role I think in January or February, but a few of us started a town hall working group, and we started meeting on Sunday nights after the kids had gone to bed, to plan a town hall with Representative McGuire, because we know that many of you are concerned, distressed, and have been harmed by Trump's Administration's actions.

So let's just see who that might be I’d like to see a show of hands if you or someone you care about is a veteran...thank you. Please raise your hands if you or someone you care about is a federal worker or even a federal contract worker, because they've been affected too...thanks. How about a union member, any union members here? Okay, it's not the most union-friendly state... you guys hang in there. How about nonprofit workers? Yeah, thank you. How about educators, either in a K12 setting or a university level? God bless you! And my last one; if you or anyone you know or care about relies on social security, disability, survival or retirement benefits. Yeah, I could go on and on, but in the interest of giving you all a voice I'm going to leave it there, but I think the point has been made.

[8:11] In February and March we repeatedly invited McGuire to hold a town hall in Charlottesville at a date of his choosing. He refused to even acknowledge our invitations, and he limited his engagement with us to form letters and a telephone town hall which contained a lot of pre-recorded segments, and only allowed pre-screened callers with softball questions to talk. Yeah, that is not what democracy looks like. And so we decided to hold a town hall for him during this two-week long recess, because meeting with constituents is exactly what he should be doing now. [Applause]

Yeah, and yet again he repeatedly ignored our invitations sent by email, by certified mail, and on Wednesday... in person.

[9:28] So this is one of those... I don't know if you’ve heard them... called one of those “empty chair town halls” because he's not on this stage with us. And his decision shows how little he cares anything about his constituents. But we have a number of elected officials tonight. If anyone who's an elected official, local or state level, would you please stand up so we can acknowledge you? [Applause]

[10:20] Thank you. Our congressman couldn't be bothered, but you showed up to be with us, and listen to us, and support us. Thank you very much, all of you.

So McGuire isn't here, but today is still your chance to tell him what you think he needs to hear about the state of our democracy, about the state of our federal government, about how government is affecting you and the people and the things you care about... and his performance as your representative during these last four months us. Because we’ve got a lot of months left to go, right?

As you heard, our group is taking the video recording and all the comments cards that you've left for this and delivering it to his office on Tuesday in DC because he may try to ignore you. He is trying to ignore you, but your voices must be heard. Thank you for coming.

Samantha, can I move this mic?… Sorry y’all, my clicker isn’t working.

[12:03] Thank you, thank you Sage, my name is Theresa. I’m a mom, I’m a former public-school teacher, and an Indivisible volunteer. [Applause] Before we open the public comment period, I just want to tell you guys a little bit about John McGuire. If you're here, you probably know some about him…. [indistinct]

[12:53] If you live in the Fifth District it's not showing on the map, because the map's not showing, John McGuire is our representative in the House of Representatives. He was elected in 2024 after defeating the incumbent Republican Bob Good. He also admitted to attending the Stop the Steal rally on January 6th, 2021. He states he did not enter the Capitol building. He is a former Navy Seal and has historically acted in the interests of veterans; however, he's remained silent regarding the mass firings of federal workers, which hit veterans particularly hard since they make up about 30% of federal workers, and similarly, he has not spoken out about cuts to the VA which will make it more difficult for veterans to obtain quality healthcare.

[13:50] In his telephone town hall, he repeatedly stated that he was a member of the DOGE Caucus and that he supported their work to find what they call “waste, fraud, and abuse”. I think many of us are aware of what have been doing mass firings of tens of thousands of government workers in the name of alleged efficiency, including the whole US Agency for International Development, researchers at NIH, climate scientists at NOAA, the prosecutors and auditors who go after tax fraud, and even seasonal volunteers who keep National Parks clean. He is a member of the Committee on Armed services, yet doesn't seem to think adding a reporter to third party messenger app—the Signal thing you guys heard about - and discussing war plans is a problem. He's going to run for reelection in 2026. He'll be running against Bob Good in the primary. No Democrats have officially announced a campaign for office, but maybe we can inspire someone in the audience this afternoon! [Applause]

[15:26] Here are a few highlights of what he's been doing in Congress. He voted for the House budget resolution, which includes massive cuts to Medicaid that could affect 160,000 residents in the fifth District, as well as cuts to SNAP benefits that could affect 110,000 residents in the district. All to fund tax breaks for billionaires. He is a co-sponsor of the SAVE Act and that’s the one that, if passed in the Senate, will disenfranchise millions of voters by requiring proof of citizenship like a passport in order to register to vote. It's estimated that 50% of Americans don't have a passport, and the cost of obtaining one should not be a requirement to vote. He introduced two bills and he held a telephone town hall in February and is planning to hold another in May, but has not yet advertised the date or time. As Sage said, we've invited him many times to organize a town hall in Charlottesville, on a date of his choice, and when he refused to respond, we organized this one for him. We sent him an invitation by mail and certified mail. We followed up on our invitation by sending him a list of 10 questions to answer. We asked him about his support for cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, about what he's doing to protect us from rising prices due to tariffs, and about whether he will condemn President Trump's unconstitutional actions. He didn't answer. You can see the full list of questions at IndivisibleCharlottesville.org/townhall. He didn't respond, so earlier this week we made sure to deliver the invitation in person:

[17:20 “Bird-dogging” video plays]

IC: Representative McGuire, hi, how are you, nice to see you! I’m one of your constituents.

McGuire: What’s your name [talking to another IC volunteer, trying to shift conversation to someone else—Ed.] ?

IC: I’m a volunteer with Indivisible Charlottesville…

McGuire: I know Indivisible Charlottesville… Who’s this? What’s your name?

IC: And we've been inviting you to some of our town halls, and you haven’t responded to us.

McGuire: Nice to see you. We got a town hall next month.

IC: Yeah, well, you haven't come to see us, and we've invited you twice now. You haven't even given us the courtesy...

McGuire: I was never invited.

IC: We have a certified letter that your office signed.

McGuire (to a staffer): Have you guys seen that letter?

Staffer: We haven’t got it yet.

IC: We invited you during the March recess.

McGuire: Excuse me, yeah, I don't want to go, I mean who wants to go to a town hall where they undress a naked mannequin and act like [indistinct]

IC: That's not us. We did not.

McGuire: Whoever did that...

IC: We invited you for a civil conversation; instead, you're going to a private meeting with the finance industry.

McGuire: Yes. Hey nice to meet you guys.

IC: So you won't give us a reply, you won't come to our town hall on April 26? Representative? That's a no? You won't come?

[“Bird-dogging” video ends, pause while stage re-arranged]

[19:03] Hi, I'm Mary Stewart, a longtime resident of Charlottesville, and only recently connected to Indivisible. Welcome each and all of you. I’m a little nervous because I've never done this before, but now is the time. I’m here… we’re all here. In planning this event, we've sensed that people really need opportunities just to be present and real together, at a time of profound uncertainty and turmoil. Not that we should all agree, but rather the opportunity here is to be together in community. Chances are good that, here in this room, there are some very different perspectives on what's unfolding in this country, and how that touches our community, our families, each of us. And chances are good that in this room there's anger, there's fear, there's grief, confusion, and likely also a whole lot of creativity, compassion, healthy curiosity, and a deep sense of commitment to what each of us holds most dear. We are here to try to hold all this and more as a community, because that's what humans can do, and we trust that what emerges here will be helpful. We hope people will leave feeling like they're more informed by others’ perspectives, less alone, and with some ideas and inspiration for further action. This is a vital part of what democracy looks like. We are the people in “we the people”. In that spirit, I invite you to take a few moments to see who's sitting near you, especially someone you didn't come with. Turn to someone on your right, your left, in front of you, behind you…greet each other, welcome each other here.

[21:52] Thank you. Okay... thank you. Thank you. When we end, we can continue those conversations.

We don't want to be “tone-police”, but we do want a family-friendly, civil, and respectful atmosphere—no profanity, personal insults, or threats. If we keep audience responses — that's the cheers and the boos and all that in between — to a minimum, we'll be able to hear more voices more clearly. Everyone will be treated fairly. Each speaker will have two minutes. If you keep it shorter that will allow us to hear more from more of our fellow citizens. At each microphone there's an usher who will help adjust the mic so we can all hear you. We'll go from mic to mic in clockwise order. Please speak slowly and clearly. Begin by stating your name and zip code so McGuire knows that you're a constituent. At the mics there will be yellow sign when you have 30 seconds left, and a red sign when you have five seconds left, and at 2 minutes the microphone managers will cut off the mic. If for accessibility reasons you need to speak from your seat, a volunteer can bring you a roving microphone.

We hope that many of you will share how your loved ones and others you're concerned for have been or are worried about being personally affected by actions taken by the Trump administration with support from John McGuire. We acknowledge that some of these stories are sensitive, and we've understandably heard from some people that they can't risk speaking here, given the retaliatory political climate... for example, federal employees who have lost or may soon lose jobs, people who run nonprofits whose funding has been suddenly cut or put in jeopardy, the list goes on. You might consider asking someone else if they will present your comment, vouching for your experience while preserving your anonymity. Due to the huge attendance here today, unfortunately, we'll likely run out of time before everyone who wants to speak gets the chance, so we ask each of you, whether you speak at the mic or not, to write your comments and put them in the boxes near the mics and also on the way out the door. They will be hand-delivered to McGuire next week, along with the video recording of all of this. It was great to read the comments that people wrote when getting your Eventbrite tickets but please write each of these and more. If you want to, there are extra cards floating around as well. Leave them with us since that's the way we'll get them to McGuire. Put your full name and zip code on them. If you don't put your full name and zip code, the congressional staffer will likely throw them out… but if you want a response, include your email or mailing address. It's great to think of McGuire's staff getting to log and respond to boxes full of our concerns... and I hope those people watching the livestream or recording will also send mail to McGuire's office.

[25:24] Finally, we aren't going to try to answer your questions, or really respond to your comments; we're providing a forum for you to tell McGuire what he needs to hear. He's not present today but look around; a thousand or so of your fellow constituents have shown up to hear you as you stand up for democracy. So you're speaking to McGuire, and also to all of us. We hope that McGuire will note the deep concern and strength that brings us together, and that he'll be motivated to listen and respond thoughtfully to, and act on, our concerns. What he sees here today should be an inspiring demonstration of how democracy works; citizens coming together to further the common good.

[26:21] Before some of you start lining up at the mics, Kristin's going to lead us in song.

[26:45] Hi so I get to get you singing. Singing is a way to warm up your voice for talking. So a quick little introduction to this song you're going to be singing so listen so you can kind of get it in your heart. So when I was five in 1964, and now you know how old I am. My parents took jobs teaching at Tougaloo College, which is an HBCU in Mississippi, and we moved into a small two-story house on campus. Tougaloo at the time was a center for the Mississippi civil rights movement. Our house was the guest house on campus for folks who weren't welcome at local hotels, so I had a child's view of the planning and organizing of the movement among people who consistently put their lives on the line for freedom and democracy in the face of violence and danger. [Applause] One of the things I learned was how important music can be in galvanizing folks to act, and to giving activists a feeling of unity and courage. As we get ready to speak truth to power today, and in the days ahead, I'd like to share one of those songs with you... but I really can't do it alone. These songs are meant to be sung by everyone, whether you're a professional singer or completely tone-deaf. This one's easy to learn and to sing, and I'll lead out the beginning of every verse with new words, and you'll join in as soon as you hear them and know what to do. You may know this song, you may not; it won't matter. So I'm going to ask my choir to come over here and give me some moral support. And I'm going to get a C, so I can do it in the right key that I can actually sing it in. Can you see the words? You won't need to see the words after the first verse. All right

[28:29]
Ain't gonna to let nobody turn me around, turn me around, turn me around
Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around
I'm gonna keep on a’walkin’, keep on a’talkin’, marching up to freedom land.

Ain't gonna let race hatred turn me around, turn me around, turn me around
Ain't gonna let race hatred turn me around
I’m gonna keep on a’walkin’, keep on a’talkin’, marching up to freedom land.

Ain't gonna let the Congress turn me around, no turn me around, no turn me around
Ain't gonna let the Congress turn me around
I’m gonna keep on a’walkin’, keep on a’talkin, marchin’ up to freedom land.

Beautiful, thank you

[29:52] All right. As Mary said, now you can start. If you want to speak, we have a mic here, a mic, there, a mic there, and a mic there. You can start lining up for this mic you're going to be over there, for this mic over there, and for the back mics, kind of toward the doors. We're going to rotate the questions, starting with this one. As Mary said, the mics will turn off after two minutes, but take less if you can and more people can talk. After this person speaks, that person will speak, then that one, then that one. All right, go.

[bringing McGuire cardboard cutout back onstage—Ed.]

Is there someone with a question?

[31:38] Hey, thank you so much. I have worked in government my entire adult life, right. That's about eight years with the US Navy, then a little bit at DOJ, and now I'm a supervisor [on the County’s ruling Board of Supervisors—Ed.] in Albemarle County. Thank you. In my whole life and career the single most chaotic day in government I've ever encountered was January 28th. That is when the federal administration said that they were freezing all federal grants all, of them, no elaboration, and we had no idea at the nonprofit I worked in in the county government what that meant. We did not know what that meant about our broadband expansion program. We did not know what that meant about free and reduced lunch. We did not know what it meant about housing choice vouchers, UVA's funding, whether or not schools would get the funding they need, whether or not our food pantries would stay open. It was so chaotic that the administration completely “180ed” on it within 24 hours, but those policies have slowly crept back into place, and not because it's within the President's power. It's in Congress's power; it's happening because Congress, because McGuire, is asleep at the wheel. And frankly that I'm not surprised. I was prepared to be disappointed, but the thing that has surprised me about our congressman is that I thought he at least would be someone who was bold, but I've been surprised by how much of a coward he is... not just because he's not here with us, but because he keeps saying what he thinks we want to hear and not what he actually believes. He said on his town hall "Oh, the budget I voted for did not use the word Medicaid. Medicaid's fine." Even though you cannot execute the funding cuts he calls for without cutting Medicaid.... so either he can't do math, or he's lying to our face. The second bill he brought in Congress would make all of Southside face poisoning in their water supply, in their farmland... and yet he says to us "Oh, that doesn't apply to Virginia though don't worry." And most egregious... he says that he loves us. Now I'm a married man, I like to think I know a little bit about love, and I don't think you can say that you love someone when you make their spouse unemployed, when you make their children hungry, and when you make their parents sick. So the question I would ask Mr. McGuire is: when the hell are you going to cowboy up? When are you going to say what you actually believe? You actually believe that some people deserve care for life-threatening diseases, and other people deserve to die? You actually believe that the uranium supply chain is more important than healthy children and clean air in Pennsylvania County? You actually believe that there are, yes, people you love, and there are other people that deserve to be disappeared?

[34:55] Sage: Thank you so much. I do want to remind... we have a lot of people here, so the mics are supposed to be cut off after two minutes. So when there’s someone at each mic… you're amazing, you did great yeah, and so don't feel badly... we're volunteers, right! We're trying this out for the first time! So at each mic, there should be a person that's going to hold up a yellow card when you get to 30 seconds and when they have the red card... not you, but everybody else... needs to stop. He gets a pass, I invited this man... but seriously, we got to stop. [indistinct chatter about logistics]

[35:55] My name is Kathleen Schwarz. I live in Crozet and I'm the child of immigrants from Germany who suffered during World War II. My question for Mr. McGuire is, “How does Trump's grasp at power over our media, press, judiciary, and legislative branches differ from that of Adolf Hitler?”

[36:38] I'm Suzanne Smith, I am from Charlottesville, my zip code is 22903. I'm a retired hospital chaplain and had a lot of experience in medical ethics - what is the right thing to do? Representative McGuire, the oath that you took as you began your service in the military and as our elected representative was “to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.” You are not honoring your oath. You are not only allowing but supporting the destruction of our democracy. Mask people in plain clothes abducting lawful residents, behavior like the Nazis and the KKK, and you have not done anything about our constitutional balance of powers being destroyed by your collusion with the executive branch gone wild. The destruction of our government is not efficiency. What is your plan to restore the balance of power and to honor your oath to support the Constitution against domestic enemies?

[38:03] Hi my name is Paula McConnell, my zip is 22936. I live on a small farm in Earlysville, my husband and I totally responsible do everything ourselves. We are retired now so yes social security, the money we put in all those years, is helping us to maintain our farm. If we lose that we may lose our mortgage. What happens to us, what happens to my animals? That's a big worry for us. Also Mr. McGuire, I sent you a letter when the first rumblings of dismantling the Department of Education started and I said to you that I am the grandmother of a three-year-old child who was born with Down’s syndrome. Dismantling the Department of Education will hurt her, will hurt her ability to excel and to prove herself as a valuable person in our society as she gets older. It will be detrimental to her education and her life as it will to so many other children with special needs who deserve to be a part of our society and our country. Thank you

[39:43] My name is Cindy Dodson, my zip code is 22924 that's Batesville. My first comment is: I have worked and contributed to Social Security for 52 years. Although President Trump promised not to touch Social Security benefits, the administration of these benefits have been decimated. What are you going to do to correct the damage done?

My second comment is: all the people in US are entitled to due process as enumerated in the constitution. Recently, people have been kidnapped and human trafficked out of the country without due process. Now the Administration is making threats to kidnap American citizens and traffic them. What are you going to do to correct this?

[41:17] Good afternoon my name is Paul Sullivan, and I'm retired. I live in a cabin down in Nelson County. If I gave away the zip code they'd know where my house was. I’m also a Gulf War veteran. I was in a scout platoon and a canvas Humvee in the ground invasion of Iraq in 1991, and then I spent the next 30+ years fighting to fix VA, including setting up a VA suicide prevention hotline and setting up disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxins that made us ill and shortened our lives. On April 10 McGuire voted for the Trump budget that cut funding for VA by tens of billions of dollars. So my question to Representative McGuire, who is with the do-nothing ignorant malicious rubber stamp Republican Congress — why did you vote to betray our veterans? How many veterans will die because they can't get through to the suicide hotline because Trump, Musk, and VA Secretary Collins fired counselors at the VA hotline? How many veterans will become homeless and not get VA care because Trump and Musk and Collins cut benefits for veterans

[43:32] Yes, Representative McGuire, Josh Pritchette, Charlottesville Virginia, zip code 22901. I’d just like to ask why is it all your campaign posters have you posing with guns? How does that benefit the residents of your district? And do you really think you're impressing anybody with your really bad John Wick cosplay?

[44:21] Hi, this is Claudia, I’m from zip code 22902. I wanted to thank Indivisible so much for today, and I think it's appalling that Representative McGuire couldn't make it. This is my first town hall, but I keep thinking about a town hall that I saw on live TV years ago. At that town hall I watched Senator John McCain disagree with and correct a voter who voiced hateful misinformation about his opponent and because integrity mattered more to him than political or personal gain He spoke from his heart and that moved me. I’m a Democrat, but I wept when I saw that. Today we're watching the foundation of our democracy being dismantled in plain sight. To debate that reality is not just dishonest, it's offensive. You don't need a degree from an elite university to see it daily in the Administration's own words and actions. I ask you Representative McGuire, if you won't call out clear lies or anti-democratic actions, then where is the line? Or in other words, at what point do you think silence becomes betrayal?

[45:57] My name is Richard, zip 22911. I’m a member of American Legion Post 308 and for you Navy Seal McGuire I have this scenario. Sir, you and your six person SEAL team are tasked with a critical mission to land onshore in the nation of Yemen. Explosives are involved. As you gear up and approach your objective you are notified by Ops Control that the secretary of defense has revealed your mission details with an insecure comm's network. Sir, search lights are already sweeping the beach. There is machine gun fire in the background. You are SEAL team leader. Yes, you do manage to exfiltrate because of your own personal bravery and skill sets, and almost immediately you're called to the Pentagon. What do you say in your debrief to Mr. Hegseth?

[47:43] Good afternoon, my name is Judy Duncomb, zip code 22901. My question for Congressman McGuire is: what are you doing to preserve the United States of America's preeminent position around the world as a leader in science. Scientist conjures up the image of a person in a lab coat toiling on some obscure detail that nobody cares about and it's possible that the some of the science funded by the government actually does look like that, but the majority of it does not. Let's look. The majority of the science that we use goes to predicting weather events that can cause harm to people and property. It goes to understanding the movement of landslides that can slip and cause harm to people. It goes to understanding complex astrophysics equations that have applications in aerospace, in military defense, and in the manufacture of things that we use in our everyday lives. And there's a vast body of American science that goes for health care. The National Institutes of Health is the world's leading medical research agency, the largest funder of cancer research providing about $8 billion in cancer science funding annually and about 12,000 jobs are expected to be cut at the National Institutes of Health as part of the layoffs at HHS and the administration has also canceled hundreds of grants to scientists.

[49:54] My name is Les Dorland, I live in North Garden, 22959. As a member of the Armed Services Committee on Oversight and Accountability, as a representative for more than 775,000 Virginia residents, are you working on keeping costs low for families protecting and serving the military, or are you just serving Donald Trump?

[50:36] Hello, my name is Vernon Lecti, my zip code is 22901. I am a union member and I am an educator in Albemarle County Public Schools. The reason why I'm here today is because of my neighbor. My neighbor came to ask me if I could come and speak about what's going on in the schools right now, what we've been doing to help organize everybody in the situation that we're in right now. Well, we've been pulling together because there's a lot of uncertainty going around, there's a lot of uncertainty in regards to the budget that's coming in from the federal government and state government too so we are pulling together. We're trying to lift each other up and what we need from everybody here is for you guys to help us because we can't control right now what’s coming in... but we can control what happens locally. So I'm asking every single person in here touch base with your community, connect with the educators in your school divisions, figure out what they want, and show up like you've done today, because this matters. This has a giant impact right here and everything starts locally and from here that snowballs to the state, and then to the federal level. Right there we got to make it so uncomfortable for positions that everybody's been talking about right now that they would never think of doing something like that but that involves doing what my neighbor. Did talk to your neighbor, talk to somebody else, get them to show up at a school board meeting or a city council meeting or a board of supervisors meeting. That makes a huge impact. Thank you all

[52:22] My name is David Michaelson. I live in Barboursville, 22923. First of all I'd like to state that America is great. We don't need to make it great, it already is. My question is: given the increase in natural disasters due to climate change, how can you reduce FEMA and deny climate change rather than aggressively addressing the root causes? It's clear when you look at what the insurance industry is doing and what the banking industry is doing that climate change is happening and it's costing us millions upon millions of dollars and if we don't address it, it could bankrupt us. So I would challenge you to look at moving forward rather than backwards, invest in green economy, and let's really compete against China who's leading the world in this effort.

[53:31] Hello my name is Patrick Dunnis. I live in Charlottesville, zip code 22901. Mr. McGuire I really wish that you would have shown up today. The Fifth District elected you to represent us, and I really hope you come to the next town hall and hear us. You work for us, not for President Trump, and that being said, tariffs, they get me going. Tariffs are attacks on the American family. Yale estimates that tariffs will cost the average American family $4,000 a year. President Trump thinks that other countries will pay for tariffs, just like he thought Mexico will pay for the wall. We know how that turned out. So the Smoot Hawley Act in 1930 increased tariffs to 60%. It resulted in a huge recession, 25% unemployment. So Mr. McGuire, how why do you support this tax on the American family that will cause inflation, cause the average household to pay more money, cause people to lose their jobs and even cause shortages of goods? So please push back on your president. You work for us, not for President Trump

[54:56] Hello. My wife and I live in the 22947 area. We're recent residents of this area. If you have to guess by my accent, I'm from New York, and we've been welcomed and warmed by the community and my wife and I want to thank you all for that. I am a product of social programs. My father passed away some 60 years ago, leaving my mom to raise four children. Because of the social programs, social security and VA benefits, I was able to go to college and become a teacher, and having retired down to this area, I had the opportunity to teach in the Fluvanna and the Albemarle school districts. So the fact is that social programs are so important to a society. If I'm not one of the byproducts, hopefully that you could see what would happen if those programs disappeared. So my comments are the following. There's so much power in this room that we fail to realize what power can be generated. I think one of the things we ought to start thinking about, because the people in Washington only listen when it hurts their pockets, I think that there should be a month-long economic boycott where you only buy the essentials – gas, food, medical. Eliminate everything else, restaurants, all those other things because that's the noise that's going to take to get Washington to do what we want to do. I am also a father of twin daughters. I am disheartened by the way ……….

[57:22] Hey everybody I am just looking at the time and it is 4:05. We have planned for this event to go until 4:30, and I see a lot of questions still out there, and I really want to hear them. So what I would like to suggest is that we just stop clapping for everyone's question, and quickly go through the questions so that we can hear what everyone has to say. And also [cut off]

[57:54] Okay, I am Trin [with child interjecting occasionally-- Ed.], and I'm a constituent from zip code 22901. [Aside to child: If we're gonna do this I got to talk, okay? —Ed.] We have been having lots of conversations in our house... I am tired of the lies coming out, Representative McGuire, and I'm tired of my questions being answered with lies... and my son has picked up on our energy, and he wanted to say something, so go ahead and give your message.

[Child-Ed.] I think that you should have hovering trucks so that you do not smush the crops….
Autism is not a disease.
[Trin — Ed.] Thank you, thank you.

[59:00] Hello my name is Annette in zip code 22923. I’m speaking for some farmers that I know who are busy today farming, but I work with a group and they have asked "Please help get the word to the congressman about the massive economic harm to their farming businesses because of the billions of dollars of cuts of USDA has made." Now in particular I want to highlight one particular set of programs. $21 million will not come to Virginia farmers who had been working on the farm-to-school and farm-to-food bank programs over all these years since the Covid era. The congressman should know this is directly hurting children and families in your jurisdiction. What are you going to do to make sure that the family farms don't lose their livelihoods (and these are small farms we're talking about all in our district and around our state) and that families don't lose their access to healthy food options? Weren't we supposed to be making America healthy again? Thank you

[1:00:17] My name is Barbara Creden, and I live in 22947. My question relates to reproductive rights. The most recent poll on key policy issues in Virginia conducted by the Wilder School of Government at VCU found out that in the Fifth Congressional District, Representative McGuire's district, a full 56% of respondents, more than half, support abortion rights while only one-third, just 34%, do not support abortion rights. Representative McGuire you have repeatedly stated that you personally oppose abortion, but given that the majority of your constituents support abortion rights, will you represent that majority, which is your mandate as our elected official, or will you choose instead to ignore that and represent your own personal interests regarding abortion rights? Let me add that I've asked this question repeatedly to Representative McGuire's office, both on the phone and in writing. I’ve received the same boilerplate policy response that he does not believe abortion is healthcare and that his objective is to “protect women”. Representative McGuire, we don't need your protection, but we demand your respect, and you can start by answering this question. Thank you.

[1:01:42] Hello I'm Edith Clus, zip code 22902. Representative McGuire we know that you owe your political life to Trump, and you are his lackey. I almost said handmaid but you are a lackey… we're gender neutral here. Be aware I’m going to repeat what everybody else has said. Your job is to uphold the Constitution and serve us, the people of Virginia and the United States, so that means everything that everybody said already, but it also means supporting and respecting people who are the majority of this country, who are people of various colors, people who are women of various genders. You look a lot like a white male supremacist, so try your hardest not to be that person. Acknowledge the great achievements of all Americans, don't erase people just because they aren't white and male. And then some other more economic things… Support the United States being a fair and reliable trading and security partner for established and emerging constitutional democracies, and use our strong military to help those societies. Serve the people of the United States, do not serve the oligarchs of the world. Thank you.

[1:03:39] Hi, my name is Priya and I'm in zip code 22911. I work for the Sexual Assault Resource Agency, a local nonprofit serving survivors of sexual violence. I am a survivor, I am the daughter of a survivor, and I am the granddaughter of a survivor. I also have a beautiful 13-year-old daughter who I hope never has to experience it... but in the worst case if she does, these are lifesaving services that SARA provides. What I want to know, not my representative McGuire, is: what are you going to do to stop the federal funding cuts that are drastically affecting the ability for us to do our jobs. What are you going to do to immediately reinstate those funds, and show actual support to these women that you love. One in three women, one in six men, and one in two of the LGBT community, are affected by sexual violence. So what are you going to do?

[1:04:49] I wanted to quickly say that we're having such strong comments from everyone here that we're going to go till 4:30 with the comments. We need to be all out of here by five, so after the comments end, we have a couple of speakers that will speak for five or seven minutes each, and I hope everyone will stay to hear them and then a closing. Thank you.

[1:05:20] Hello, Crozet 22932. My question is actually for all of us, but especially Mr. McGuire and the rest of Congress. What's your bright line? What's it going to take — ignoring the Supreme Court, renditions of US citizens, invading a sovereign country, arresting judges, arresting opposition party members? What is your bright line? What is a bridge too far? I would really want to know that. What's it going to take for you to stand up to this Administration and say no more, no more illegal acts? Thank you.

[1:06:08] My name is Bob Deveraux. I live in Charlottesville, 22902. I spent 35 years practicing family medicine in Southwest Virginia. One quarter of my patients were on Medicaid. I was really proud of the fact that Virginia was one of the first states in the south to extend Medicaid coverage during the era of the Affordable Care Act. My question for the congressman is, what are you going to do to protect the 1.8 million Virginians that are covered by Medicaid and rely on this for their only means of health insurance?

[1:06:56] My name is…... I'm a Crozet resident, 22932. I'm a social worker in the nonprofit sector, and my questions are: how do you account for your actions that have jeopardized thousands of existing jobs in your district? Beyond federal employees, thousands more of us are at risk of being laid off due to Medicaid cuts, DOGE slashing of grants, and increased scrutiny of agencies that exist to promote public welfare. What do you say to your hardworking constituents who go to work and face meetings regarding whether or not our livelihoods will be cut because some uneducated 19-year-old Musk crony deems us unnecessary? What do you say to those of us who are becoming increasingly aware by your actions, and your even louder silence, [that] the American dream is only for those who can buy their way in?

[1:07:51] My name is Wendy Walters, zip code 22911, and I scribbled these notes in between taking care of my children to get here today. Hope it works. I’m a survivor, which my t-shirt says, of adenocarcinoma. It's bone cancer, which typically maims and kills children. I endured barbaric treatments and surgeries that children have to endure which would bring any adult, let alone children, to their knees. I am here to speak for the children, because they cannot speak for themselves, and they cannot vote yet. Cancer research saved my life. Cancer research saved the life of my children's mother. Medicare Part A saved my life and, God willing, Medicaid soon will continue to save my life as I find that I might need it. Social Security disability income has saved my life. These things are going to be or have already been cut in the name of alleged waste, fraud, and abuse... in order to give filthy rich people more tax breaks than they already have... and they can pay out of pocket for their cancer treatments, but we cannot. So I ask you this Mr. McGuire: am I waste, fraud, and abuse? Are the children who did not survive what I survived, waste, fraud, and abuse? I call you every day, and I talk about things that matter to me, and you go out and you meet with financial people, and you hobnob around Mara Lago. But I'm asking you: who's waste fraud and abuse?

[1:09:56] A good afternoon. I'm Father Tony Andre, pastor of St john the Baptist Episcopal Church in Ivy. My home zip is 22920. Mr. Representative McGuire, I have…. let me give you a preamble to the question. That is 60 years ago I interviewed a congresswoman, and there was a scandal going on in Washington at the time at the end of my interview I said “Congresswoman what are the ethical implications of all this that Congress should be dealing with?” She said, “Young man, Congress doesn't deal in ethics and morality.” Mr. McGuire, isn't it time you began to deal with the moral questions involved, not just the political and economic issues? And if you answer yes to that, here are two ancillary questions. What Donald Trump has said he wants to make America a Christian nation… what part of the Christian gospel allows this government to cut off aid to women and children in Africa so that they are dying? What part of the Christian gospel allows money to be taken away from those who need help in Haiti where they are starving? What government allowance in the Gospel is there for the President to support the prime minister of Israel, who's cut off food to Gaza, and women and children are dying. You have a moral responsibility to answer that question!

[1:11:43] Hi my name is Khalil from Charlottesville 22902 and I have to ask John McGuire: what is he going to do about gun violence if he opposes gun control? Because so many people only oppose gun control or any other means to go around it, and they oppose gun control until it benefits them. NRA did not want smart guns, they wanted regular guns, because they get paid getting killed off of these instruments of violence... and the NRA can't make up his mind. And the problem I'm finding is so many people want to deflect attention, whether it's officers outgunned or the inconsistency of the gun control crowd and they get away with it, and that's why we don't have safety. And I'm going to ask John, if he's serious about gun violence, don't just say you're exploiting somebody, you know, because it can make you look really just a horrible person. And then not only that... but people need safety, and if you're going to say that, then at least call out the NRA for being inconsistent. Thank you.

[1:13:05] Hello, my name is Amy Laufer and I know John because we were colleagues for a short time and, right before he got elected, he and I were on a panel together, and at the end of the panel we were talking in the hallway and I said, “Hey listen, when you get there, you better bring back resources to our district, and you better, no matter what happens, support Virginia. Put us before party.” And we're here today because he's not here, and he refuses to stand up to protect our democracy from a President and his cronies who are tearing our country apart, piece by piece. While they threaten the rule of law, attack our institutions, and put personal power over public good, you are staying silent. But let's be clear, the daily assault on our democracy is not going unnoticed. Every single person here, and all over the country, is watching this, every lie, every abuse of power, every attack on our freedom... we see it. The MAGA Republicans are too scared of Donald Trump, including you, to stand up to him. But we're not, and we're not going away, and we are not going to be silenced. There are so many issues we could talk about today. We've already talked about the SAVE Act, which I cannot believe you sponsored. This would prevent almost 70 million women from voting because of the change of name. I also want to talk about the fact that the President is attacking ActBlue. ActBlue is a platform used by Democratic candidates and organizations to collect grassroots donations, and since this president took office in January, ActBlue has brought in more than $400 million, the most in its 20-year history for Quarter 1. He sees it as a threat. He knows that when we come together we are powerful, so now he's trying to shut it down and silence us, but we will not be quiet.

[1:15:17] Thank you hello I'm Cassie, 22902. I’m a constituent. Yesterday talking about the SAVE Act, Councilperson Dexter advocated for an amendment and proposed an amendment that would defend married women who changed their last names not to be shut out of the ballot, and make sure that democracy includes us all. She also introduced seven other amendments that were blocked by Republicans that would have ensured the right to vote, no matter what, to military service members, people of color, native communities, survivors of domestic violence who maybe can't get a copy of their marriage certificate to prove that's why they changed their name, on and on and on. I have more though. I work at a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities. The Department of Education funds a great deal of what we do, and the disability portion of it is one of the first ones that they wanted to just shuffle off to a different thing or a different organization part of the government that doesn't have any experience doing this. If you say you care about all of us, about people with disabilities, why wasn't any transition plan decided on ahead of time? Why wasn't it laid out so that people who have disabilities aren't the ones who are suffering? This my final bit. No one cares about you, no one cares about what you think, or your strongly held religious beliefs. Nobody cares which oligarch is your favorite. You represent us. What we care about matters.

[1:17:08] Okay we have time for one question at each mic before we are going to be out of time for questions today. I so appreciate everyone who came out with a question and is waiting in line. Please make sure those get into a box so that we can send them to Representative McGuire. Thank you.

[1:17:32] Okay I'm Bob McAdams, 22901. I'm a 79-year-old retiree who depends on Social Security and Medicare for my survival. I worked for 23 years as a customer support analyst for a local software company. I am appalled that 20-something DOGE hackers have access to Social Security, Medicare, IRS, VA, and dozens of other agency databases. They have no business there. It's illegal. A court has ordered them out. Representative McGuire what will you do to get the DOGE hackers out of our sensitive data?

[1:18:27] Hi my name is Alita Strickland, 23093. I live in Louisa, and I've known McGuire since he was my state delegate in 2018. None of this is new, just so you know. I want to thank Indivisible Charlottesville for hosting this. You guys have so many great questions but, based on my history with him, I framed mine a little differently. I'm a psychologist in private practice in Louisa. I'm the only psychologist in the county who sees children. We are in a health professional shortage area. That means there's not enough providers like there is everywhere, but it's a federal designation. I'm looking at expanding my space but I'd have to sign a year lease and over half of my clients are Medicaid and that's by choice, because that's a population I feel needs to be served. As a small business owner, Mr. McGuire, can you guarantee me that half of my income is not going to be cut on October 1 when the new federal government budget begins? He's a small business owner. He understands planning, he understands expenses. I have contacted him numerous times, both in email and by telephone, and I got one boilerplate response telling me what Medicaid was.

[1:19:53] My name My name is Creigh Deeds, 22902. Congressman McGuire, nearly 167,000 of your constituents, more than one in five, are Medicaid recipients. 62,000 of those recipients are children under the age of 18. 54,000 are adult, part of the expansion population. Taking $880 billion out of Medicaid over the next 10 years which would crush the program. Now two of your colleagues Jen Kiggins from Virginia Beach and Rob Whitman from the Northern Neck, both Republicans, have said they've taken the same vote you have, but they have said that they would oppose Medicaid cuts. Will you make the same pledge? Will you represent the people of the Fifth District or the man in the White House?

[1:20:58] My name is Lily, my zip code is 22903. I am a student at the University of Virginia. I have seen with my own eyes how student activists, especially students of color, are being targeted by the Trump Administration. President Jim Ryan just signed a joint statement with 150 universities condemning the overreach of the Trump Administration. As a Navy Seal, you swore to protect our freedom. Will you man up and fulfill your promise to protect the rights of students?

Alright, thank you all for making those last couple of ones shorter than two minutes. We have two more folks on the mic in line here, and you'll see why. One is State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, and then Katrina Callsen, and then we'll be done.

[1:22:02] Well good afternoon everyone. I'm State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, and I'm also a candidate for Lieutenant Governor. I'm running to be your next Lieutenant Governor. Now I am not a constituent of Mr. McGuire, nor do I have any questions for him. I had the opportunity to serve briefly with him. He was briefly in the Virginia Senate as my colleague, and frankly, I was not impressed with his time there. I have no questions for him, but I have a plan of action for each and every single one of us. You have shown up here today. This is an important step. So many of you have spoken. You said this is your first town hall. This is the first time you are speaking. This is critical action. Now I was a mild-mannered community college professor back in 2016, and then Donald Trump landed on us like a thud on our heads, and I went to my first town hall. I joined my first Indivisible in Richmond, and I decided to run for office because of the inspiration that I found with groups of likeminded people. We can take action. We can make a difference. And I just want to say one thing to Mr. McGuire. You know he is someone who is afraid of pronouns; I heard him say that over and over again. I want to remind him that there is a critical pronoun that is the very first word to the preamble of our Constitution, and that is “we... We the people”. We the people are stronger together. We the people are bolder together. We the people will save this country in 2025 when we elect a Democratic trifecta, a Democratic majority. We are going to send a signal to the rest of the country that the politics of Donald Trump will not stand.

[1:21:24 – Del. Katrina Callsen] Yeah, so I was sitting over there saying "This is going to be a real tough act to follow.” I actually don't have any question for Representative McGuire, and I wasn't planning on speaking. I mainly wanted to come and listen to what you guys have to say, and if you want to speak to me, I have a town hall next week, so you can always come by. I didn't plan on speaking, so I didn't have any notes, but what I did have today with me, all day, were my kids, and they drew on this flashcard and so that's what I'm going to leave. Instead of asking him a question, I'm going to ask all of you to think about your “why”. For me, it's my children. My children who go to school and I did one of them wanted to come out and I worry about them when I hear people saying "I can't wait to get all those immigrant children out of schools." What does an immigrant child look like? What does an immigrant child look like? What does that mean? So that's what my “why” is. I ask you to please look at your “why” in deep, so you can do, whatever we need to do to make sure that we stop Trump, that we keep rule of law, and that we protect our democracy. So that's my ask, oh and I'm speaking off the cuff and I'm following in really big footsteps. The picture that they drew is of a very strong man, a very strong man and a chicken, a Minecraft chicken, so my thing is make a choice, which one we want to be. I'm so glad that we're out here fighting for what's right, so thank you.

[1:26:11] Alright, thank you. Oh don't leave yet, don't leave! I mean, if you have to, I guess it is 4:30, but we do have a couple of speakers that we were hoping would come up on the stage and talk a little bit and I just want to quickly say, there's a lot going on in May. Tonight there is a fundraiser for New River Abortion Fund. April 29th there's a group taking all of your comments from today to McGuire's office in DC. May 1st there's a protest. There's three more things on the next slide. May 4th there's a labor in the park. You can learn about unions. May 23rd another fundraiser. John McGuire is having a town hall a telephone town hall in May, so get ready to participate in that. And now I'd like to invite Charles Barzen up to the stage. He's going to talk to us about constitutional order, and why what we do matters.

[1:27:23] Hi, hi there, can you hear me okay? Hi, Yeah, my name is Charles Barzen, I teach over at the [UVA—Ed.] Law School. I teach constitutional law and a couple other subjects over there, and I just have a couple of minutes, so I just wanted to really communicate two ideas. One is about Trump and what I would call the constitutional order, and the second is about, as just mentioned, what I think is important about what you all are doing right now. On the first point, when I say constitutional order, I don't just mean the written constitution. I mean something like the whole structure of rules, norms, and practices within which we expect democratic politics to take place. I think there is no question that Trump and the Trump Administration is a threat to our constitutional order. I could go on a laundry list, but you all probably know them, and some of them have been voiced today — everything from defunding Congressionally-authorized agencies without authorization, to denying due process rights of immigrants, to denying free speech rights of universities, or at least attempting to, and very many other things, some of which have been mentioned. Now it's tricky talking about a President violating the Constitution, because there is a sense in which they always are, right? I mean pretty much presidents are always trying to expand the boundaries of Article 2, and almost every year there's a case brought to the Supreme Court saying that they shouldn't, and the Supreme Court often strikes them down. And so there is something in which there's always an alleged... you can always argue that the President is violating the Constitution. However, I don't think I am alone in concluding that the speed, scope, and scale with which the Administration has taken obviously unconstitutional, or arguably unconstitutional, actions in the first couple months of their Administration is unprecedented in a long time... certainly not in my lifetime, has there been something like this.

When I talk about this with Trump supporters who are law professors, there are a few, what they've sometimes point to is the New Deal. The New Deal amounted to a kind of constitutional revolution of sorts and I actually think they're right about that, right? I think this is an inflection point in history, and the question is what we're going to do about it now, which leads to my second point. Now as you all probably know, the way the system is supposed to work is that there are three branches of government, and they're supposed to check each other, right? Madison famously wrote in Federalist 51, “We must let ambition counteract ambition”, that's the idea. Same goes with federalism with the states. But the problem is, that's not how it's turning out, as you all know, and has already been voiced today. As Michael said earlier, Congress is asleep at the wheel.

[1:30:00] Now it's pretty obvious why that's happening. I think there's widespread consensus and understanding about why that's happening, because what it turns out is, and the framers did not foresee this, that partisan loyalty trumps (no pun intended) institutional loyalty. We don't need to tell Mr. McGuire that, that's how he got his seat from Bob Good. They're all worried about being primaried, right? So it's pretty obvious what the incentives are for Congress, and that's why we're not seeing much from them. Which is why it's good you're all here voicing your concerns. Now the second main branch that could counter the Executive is the courts. They have the advantage obviously in not having to run for election, and not having to worry about primaries, and that has made a big difference. Right now it seems like the courts are really the kind of main resistance to some of the unconstitutional actions the Administration has taken. The other day the court issued a 7-2 ruling that is a pretty big deal to stopping the Administration from deporting a group of immigrants. So let me stress that it is very good that the courts are doing that, but that you should not depend on the courts to save us. They will not save us, for two reasons. One is some of the worst things that the Trump Administration are doing are not even necessarily unconstitutional in a strict sense. Think of the January 6 pardons, right? To efforts to deny security details from political enemies, right? The priorities of the DOJ, which the President has the absolute authority to set, are very concerning, so the constitutional order is a lot more than just a set of formal rules... and yet the courts can't do anything about that, right? It's the habits, the practices, the attitudes about an environment of fair play and reciprocity in a system of sometimes quite intense democratic politics. So the second reason why not to look to the courts is because the court's power is really very precarious, right? As Alexander Hamilton famously said in Federalist 78, the courts were the least dangerous branch because they have neither the power of the of the purse nor the power of the sword. What he said the power they did have was the power of judgment. Now what he meant by that I think was that they would follow the law and not their will, as he called it. But there is judgment in another sense that has proven very important over the nation's 200+ year history, right? Courts have to have a kind of political judgment because, if they issue an order and it is ignored, then their credibility and their ability to enforce future decisions is squandered. So they have to pick their battles and be very careful about when they do and do not intervene, right? So the New Deal revolution was essentially ratified, not literally, although some have argued that, but that it kind of got the popular consent when FDR was reelected in a major landslide in 1936, right?

[1:33:00] So quite dramatic constitutional upheavals can get a kind of democratic blessing. So the real question is whether that's going to happen now, right? People often ask “Oh, is Trump going to comply with Supreme Court orders?” Well, the more important question is “Will the Supreme Court issue the order in the first place?” Now I say that not because I was claiming that the Supreme Court is a bunch of conservative hacks, because I actually think that even some of Trump's own appointees are very concerned about what's going on. If you listen to the conservative constitutional commentariat right now, a lot of people are very concerned, right? And the Supreme Court clearly has acted on that. So rather it's because they know that they have to pick their battles and they know when the political winds are at their back and when they're facing strong headwinds. So the question really now is, is this going to be a moment like the New Deal that gets ratified? Do you want to say “yes” to what Trump has been doing, or do you want to say “that's not the kind of country we want to live in”? Either way, it's important that you get your voice heard.

[1:34:00] Let me just end with a very famous quote, at least famous in my world, from a judge named Learned Hand who is who is sometimes called the greatest judge never to have sat on the Supreme Court. This is what he wrote in 1944 in an essay. I think it was a speech called “The Spirit of Liberty.” “I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, and upon courts. These are false hopes, believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. But while it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it.” Thank you.

[1:34:56] Thank you. We have Sally Hudson next.

Thank you very much. My name is Sally Hudson, and I used to serve Charlottesville and Albemarle in the Virginia House of Delegates. Thank you. The fine folks at Indivisible asked me to close things out and remind us all that it is always election season in Virginia. In Charlottesville we have elections every single year — federal races in the even years, state and locals in the odds. Our general election is in November, our primaries are in June, and that means it is time for you to vote once again. The primary is on Tuesday, June 17th, and early voting starts this Friday, May 2nd. And so I'm here to talk with all of you about what is on your ballot this June.

[1:35:51] There are three big things that you have to make choices about — Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and your County Board or City Council. The race for Governor has already been decided at the primary stage, because both of the major parties have only put forward one candidate. But those other races matter just as much. As you heard from Senator Hashmi here today, you're going to vote for Lieutenant Governor, and they don't get a lot of limelight in Virginia, but they have a very important job to do. The Lieutenant Governor casts the tie-breaking votes in our State Senate. There are six candidates running in the Democratic primary in June, and I hope you will give them all your close attention. Please support the person who you trust most to make the toughest calls in the highest stakes, because the Lieutenant Governor is the conscience of the Senate. That body is divided by just one vote, so they may have an awful lot of big decisions to make in the years ahead.

[1:36:51] Next on your ballot is your Attorney General. That's the people's lawyer. The attorney general is responsible for ensuring that the federal government minds the rule of law. You may have noticed that attorneys general all across the country have been filing lawsuits against the Federal Government to protect critical programs that have had their funding cut. You may have also noticed some peace and quiet here in the press in Virginia about those lawsuits, and that's because our current attorney general, Jason Miyares, cares more about defending Donald Trump than he does about representing all of us here in Virginia. So when you pick the nominee for Attorney General on your ballot in June, you are picking the person who will be his opponent this November. Jason Miyares is running for reelection, and when you vote in June, you're picking the person who you trust to take on the big fights and win.

[1:37:44] If you live in Albemarle County, just to the west of us, right now in the Jack Jouett district, you've got a race for County Board. Our County Board members govern our local housing and schools and transit and water and all of the stuff that matters for our daily lives. And if you are a Charlottesville city voter, we have a very important election for City Council coming up. Do me a favor, raise your hand if you're a Charlottesville city resident — okay, most of you. One more time raise your hand if you have ever heard of ranked choice voting. Beautiful, your ballot's going to look a little different for City Council this year because we are using rank choice voting for the very first time. In a ranked choice election, you don't just vote for one candidate, you get to rank the candidates in the order that you like them. There are three people running for City Council, so that means you get to rank a favorite candidate first, your second favorite second, and the person that you like least third. Rank choice voting lets every voter be honest at the ballot box. You cannot hurt your favorite candidate by ranking more people and you don't have to worry about wasting your vote by supporting the person who you actually like the best. Rank choice voting is used all across the world and increasingly across the country to empower voters at the ballot box and encourage public servants to work harder on bringing communities together than on tearing us apart.

[1:39:12] And so I want to leave you with one last idea. About eight years ago, I was much like Senator Hashmi, and potentially a lot like a lot of you today. I was a citizen on the edges of civic engagement; I paid attention to the press, but I'd never been politically involved. But Donald Trump's election got me to start showing up to things like this, and I walked into a Democratic Party meeting of the Charlottesville City Council. And I said to one of the very serious people who was running that meeting that none of this would have happened if Virginia had rank choice voting, and we should really think about bringing that here, so that we could have better elections that encourage people to bring us together. And that very serious person told me "You seem bright, but we could never do that in Virginia." And they were very wrong. Eight years later, we're going to make that happen. [Applause] So sometimes it may take a lot of work, but please remember that Central Virginia has a long and storied legacy of forming a more perfect union, and we can continue that work here and now today. So this is just one of the many small steps that we will take to ensure that our community stays strong together, no matter who represents us in DC. And when you remember to vote by June 17th, you can pick even better representation for all of us at the state and local level. Thank you so much for coming out today.

[1:40:50] Thank you Sally. I think I am batting wrap up… what do you call it, batting “clean up” here? Do you have to anything to say? Are you part of the choir okay... so don't get up yet. Wait, wait, wait, so… I am going to ask you to stand and not walk. You have to sing one more time, and I promise you it will be worth the three minutes it's going to take, because you will feel so much better when you leave here. So, in August of 2017, there was a song that brought strength and courage to the clergy and other leaders facing violent white supremacists gathered at the Unite the Right rally Downtown, when the mob surged toward them. The clergy started to sing, and it helped them hold the line and not to give up in the face of fear and hatred. Maybe that would help Mr. McGuire be a little braver. We'd like to share that song with you and urge you to sing it with us, loud and brave, so we can all gain courage here in this room for the important work ahead. A lot of you know this song. If you don't, it's another easy one. We'll lead the words, you sing the song. If you want to sing harmony, throw it in. It's “This Little Light of Mine”. It may sound familiar:

[1:42:08]
This little light of mine, I'm gonna to let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna to let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna to let it shine.
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

I've got the light of freedom, and I'm gonna to let it shine
I’ve got the light of freedom, I'm gonna let it shine
I’ve got the light of freedom, I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine
Let it shine
Let it shine.

Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine.
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine.
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine.
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

Thank you!

As you go out, keep listening... we'd like to thank the staff of the Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center who kept all these mics and lights going, all the wonderful volunteers who made the event possible, everyone who donated or is planning to donate (there is a table out in the lobby), Dr. Charles Barzen and Dr. Sally Hudson, everyone who shared their thoughts today and bravely got up to the mics, and everyone here who helped us speak truth to power and let our congressman know: we will be heard! Thank you.

DMU Timestamp: May 16, 2025 09:58