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On Sunday, Sen. Mark Warner appeared at a rally in support of Virginia State Senator Edd Houck’s (D-VA-17th) re-election campaign.

Sen. Warner noted how Sen. Houck has been critical in helping to maintain and protect Virginia’s AAA bond rating. He also talked about how if Washington doesn’t deal with its’ huge debt in a fair and balanced way that there would be cuts that disproportionally effect education, infrastructure, law enforcement and research. This trickle down effect will have a devastating effect on local communities.

Virginia, under Gov. Bob McDonnell, has already cut billions of dollars in education and health care the past couple of years. This is all while his biggest donors get hefty tax breaks while Virginians struggle.

Combine what’s happening on the federal level and on the state level and you have a recipe for disaster. Virginia’s AAA bond rating has been assigned a “negative outlook” by Moody’s. Sen. Edd Houck has consistently supported a balanced approach to our state budgets, which has helped to preserve Virginia’s AAA bond.

As Sen. Warner put it, “the last thing we want to do is turn Richmond into Washington.” He went on to say:

If we turn Richmond over to all one party and not the John Chichester types because their voices will not be heard in a legislature where compromise is not viewed as an essential trade of government, but compromise is somehow viewed the way it is now in Washington as a sign of weakness.

Sen. Houck’s Koch Brothers backed opponent doesn’t comprehend the words “balance” and “compromise.” The Republicans have lurched so far to the right that moderate’s in the party, who understand “balance” and “compromise,” have no home.

One such person is former State Senate Finance Chairman John Chichester (R-VA) who recently endorsed Sen. Houck. In his endorsement, he had the following to say:

Senator Houck worked closely with me and other Republicans to pass common sense legislation that helped to protect and create jobs, make create jobs, make critical investments in core services, and cut taxes.

Party labels are not as important as someone’s commitment to principle and willingness to work in a bipartisan fashion to find solutions. Edd will continue to be a leader on issues important to Virginias like improving our economy and keeping taxes low…I strongly encourage all of my fellow Republicans and other friends in the 17th District to send Edd Houck back to the State Senate.

Vote on November 8 to re-elect Virginia Sen. Edd Houck, our futures depend on it! The 17th District consists of all or parts of the counties of Albermarle, Culpeper, Louisa, Orange, and Spotsylvania and the City of Fredericksburg.

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