“This year…a brand new thing: we were both getting mail and door knocks from The
@GlennYoungkin
campaign…very specifically targeting voters Democrats sometimes take for granted” - Maya Castillo, Political Director,
@NewVAMajority

TOP STORY

After GOP sweep some Democrats say outreach to minority voters was lacking

Mel Leonor 19 hrs ago

In Maya Castillo’s Mexican American household, tracking election mail is an instructive game. The liberal political strategist says that often, it’s her white husband, not herself, getting appeals from left-leaning candidates at their Northern Virginia home.

“This year I saw that dynamic play out, except for a brand-new thing: We were both getting mail and door knocks from the [Glenn] Youngkin campaign,” said Castillo, who works for New Virginia Majority, a political group that advocates for working class people of color.

“Because I work in this space, every single year I’m trying to figure out, who are they talking to? The Youngkin campaign and the Republican Party were very specifically targeting the voters that Democrats sometimes take for granted.”

As Democrats triage their stunning election defeat in Virginia, advocates and strategists aligned with the left are placing some of the fault — starting at the top of the ticket — with what they term lagging outreach by the party to voters of color, despite counting Black, Hispanic and Asian American voters among their core base of support.

Groups that advocate for the particular interests of Black, Hispanic and Asian American Virginians say lagging, late-stage engagement by Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s campaign and the party’s statewide coordinated campaign came amid unusual overtures by the Republican’s camp.

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mleonor@timesdispatch.com

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Twitter: @MelLeonor_