“Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is laser focused on the important issues facing Central Virginians and she has kept her promise to be accessible and listen to her constituents. Fiercely independent, with a track record of success, Abigail works with anyone, regardless of party, to get things done. Her constituents know they can rely on Abigail to represent their best interests, and that record will earn her a second term come November.” —DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos.
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To: Interested Parties
From: Christine Bennett, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: July 18, 2020
Subject: The Case Against Nick Freitas
Nick Freitas has shown time and time again that he simply cannot be taken seriously. Freitas’ nomination signals that another “powerful” and repeated “shellacking” is coming to the Virginia GOP and cements Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s strong prospects for re-election, as Freitas’ toxic legislative record and ramshackle campaign weigh down any hopes of him winning this swing seat.
Democrats can’t wait to talk about Nick Freitas’ repeated votes undermining Central Virginians’ health care: voting against efforts to expand Medicaid to thousands of Virginians and against efforts to cap the price of prescription drugs like insulin. And Democrats can’t wait to remind voters of his obstructionism, extremism, and partisanship – the kind of politics VA-07 voters rejected in 2018.
Nick Freitas is driven by his own political ambitions and beholden to special interests. He’s run for three different offices in 18 months, including one where his failure to submit paperwork on time left him off the ballot. One major donor, Richard Uihlein, who has forked over millions in campaign contributions, buying local and federal seats across the country, dropped half a million dollars into Freitas’ campaign coffers to save his election. Uihlein was one of a few donors to give to a pro-Roy Moore super PAC after Moore was accused of having solicited women and young girls – yet still supports Freitas to this day. This time, it even appears that Freitas has had to rely on a secretive, good ol’ boys network making backroom deals to ensure he was the nominee.
Last month Freitas failed to file necessary candidate paperwork, triggering a rush of bad press as it was unclear whether he would make November’s ballot. For the second year in the row, Freitas embarrassed himself and his party with his incompetence.
Focused on issues important to Central Virginia, Rep. Spanberger has put her country and constituents first. A problem solver who has built a strong brand as an effective leader, Spanberger has been named the most bipartisan representative from Virginia. Whether working with Republicans in Congress to ensure rural Virginians have access to reliable internet amid the pandemic or working with the President and Vice President to pass the USMCA trade deal, Spanberger has done what’s best for Central Virginia, and she’s only getting started.
NICK FREITAS: BAD FOR VIRGINIA, BAD FOR AMERICA
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
HEADLINE: Spanberger Bill Aims To Shed Light On Prescription Drug Pricing [NBC12, 1/17/2020]
HEADLINE: ‘Passionate Pragmatist’ Spanberger Sees Bipartisan Progress In D.C. [The Chesterfield Observer, 5/1/2019]
EDITORIAL: Community Input Matters On Lowering Prescription Costs [Richmond Times-Dispatch, 11/28/2019]
“Drugs for more serious conditions like cancer can carry price hikes above an annual salary. Revlimid, which treats certain types of cancer, ballooned from $147,413 per year in 2012 to $247,496 per year in 2017. Unsustainable is the first word that comes to mind.
That’s why we’re pleased to see U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, and AARP Virginia State Director Jim Dau hold important conversations like Tuesday’s prescription drug town hall in Glen Allen. Community input matters on lowering costs and the public knows the issues that require legislative attention from Congress.
Market transparency would be a good start. In late October, the House unanimously passed Spanberger’s Public Disclosure of Drug Discounts Act — a bill requiring the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to post information online about how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) negotiate with manufacturers and charge consumers.” [Richmond Times-Dispatch, 11/28/2020]
HEALTH CARE RECORD MAKES CENTRAL VIRGINIANS SICK
Voters consistently name health care as their number one priority, and now, in the wake of a deadly pandemic, voters are looking for leaders who are working to expand access to affordable health care. Unfortunately for Central Virginians, Nick Freitas (who once described the Affordable Care Act as a “cancer”) believes ripping health care away from working families is his number one priority.
Freitas has worked overtime to limit access and jack up the costs of health care. Just this year, Freitas couldn’t be bothered to show up to cast a critical vote on a health care relief package and later voted against capping insulin prices. The Virginia Department of Health estimates that over 631,000 Virginians have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, and insulin costs per patient nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016, with the average price per vial going from about $20 to $250—a more than 70 percent increase over the past two decades. Despite all of this, Freitas was still one of only four votes against lowering insulin prices for Virginians.
Freitas opposed expanding Medicaid in Virginia, and had his efforts been successful, 30,000 Virginians would not have had coverage during the coronavirus pandemic. Thanks to expansion, tens of thousands of residents have been treated for underlying conditions of the virus, including high blood pressure, asthma and diabetes.
Nick Frietas even voted twice against insurance coverage for autism treatment. In one instance, Freitas was the sole no vote against the bipartisan plan. He even opposed insurance coverage of hearing aids for minors – one of just two no votes.
What’s worse, like his Republican backers in Washington, Freitas wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which protects over 300,000 people with preexisting conditions in Virginia’s 7th district and allowed 400,000 more Virginians to enroll in Medicaid.
Unlike Nick Freitas, Rep. Abigail Spanberger has been focused on the issues important to Central Virginia. After running on health care in 2018, Spanberger has made working to ensure that every Virginian has quality, affordable health care a top priority. When given the opportunity to vote to lower the cost of drugs like insulin, she took it. And she introduced bipartisan legislation to address the prescription drug affordability crisis in Central Virginia.
OBSTRUCTIONIST WHO THRIVES ON PARTISANSHIP
From 2019 to 2020, Nick Freitas opposed over 100 legislative initiatives that had bipartisan support in the House of Delegates, voting with a superminority of 10 or fewer fellow legislators. His consistent votes against bipartisan commonsense bills paint a clear picture of an extremist partisan who is uninterested in delivering for working Virginians.
Freitas was one of just six no votes against creating a task force to address mental health screenings in schools and voted against training school bus drivers on safety measures including safely loading students on and off the bus and driving in adverse weather.
Freitas was the sole “no” vote against creating the Virginia Rural Information Technology Apprenticeship Grant Fund and Program, which awards grants to small rural businesses for employee training and mentorship.
Freitas even voted against preventing the state from rescinding Medicaid benefits from a designated beneficiary. He was the only person to vote against the measure.
Abigail Spanberger has always put her country over party, as a CIA officer and as a member of Congress. Spanberger ranked in the top 5 percent of legislators for bipartisanship in this Congress, making it her mission to work with Republicans to get things done. She worked with Republicans to introduce legislation to combat drug and human trafficking at the southern border and worked with President Trump to pass the USMCA trade deal. Eighty percent of the bills Spanberger has supported are bipartisan and she’s voted for more than 60 bills that President Trump has signed into law.
PATH TO VICTORY
VA-07 is a rapidly changing district that looks significantly different than it did even just a few years ago. A majority suburban district located in the suburbs of Richmond, the district is diverse and has a large African American community—of the citizen voting age population 18.5% are African American, 3.8% are Hispanic/Latino, and 3.3% are AAPI.
Recent elections point to growing Democratic support in this district. Democrats flipped Senate District 10 in 2019 and held all delegate and state senate seats won in 2017.
Abigail Spanberger has over $3.5 million cash-on-hand – and the track record and brand to hold this district she flipped two years ago.
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