I Almost Fear to Bring This Up!
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With just a couple of weeks left for this session of the Virginia General Assembly — Sine Die is February 23 — something you’re not going to like is going to start on February 24 ... election season.
Once the legislature adjourns, all 140 members of the General Assembly are allowed to start fundraising for their re-election. And believe me, they are getting ready. You might want to bury your head in the sand and yell, “no, please, no more!!!” Or, you might even say, “Throw all the bums out. Let’s start over from scratch.” Well, that’s not going to happen and we’re faced with the prospect of a very strange upcoming election. Again, every member of the House of Delegates and every State Senator is up for election this coming November.
And on top of this election season, some of our friends are highly vulnerable to either defeat by the other party or even, in a couple of cases, through primary/convention/caucus defeat. While we’re not a player like some of the large utilities, every little bit counts. It’s becoming more and more expensive to run for these part time jobs and we’re still looking for insurance agents to not only get involved, but throw their hat into the ring.
IIAV provides financial support to our friends through the Virginia Agents Political Affairs Committee – VAPAC. We are non-partisan! We don’t give money to just Rs or D's. Frankly, there are members on both sides of the aisle that it wouldn’t break our hearts if they lost their re-election. There are others who are friends and are highly vulnerable. And while there are also some seats where we would remain neutral, there are a couple where I believe that VAPAC should be obligated to give money to the opponent.
I might also note that VAPAC does not contribute to candidates for state wide office, unless of course one of our members decided to run for statewide office.
So, before anyone else gets to you: Please, either individually or through your agency, support and make a contribution to VAPAC.
IIAV’s policy during CE classes is if your cell phone goes off in the middle of class, you have to make a $20 contribution to VAPAC. This year we’re going to be strict and hold to this policy!
We need to support our friends!
Robert N. Bradshaw, Jr., MAM
IIAV President & CEO
