Key Virginia Democrats pulled their support from the proposal by Governor Glenn Youngkin to build a new sports complex in Alexandria, Virginia for the Washington Wizards and Capitals, and did not place a bill to advance the initiative on the Senate schedule on Monday.
State Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) first indicated she would use her power as the Senate Finance Chair to block the bill in a Saturday post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in which she slammed Youngkin for suggesting Democrats do not want “a strong America” in his speech at the 28th Mock Convention at Washington and Lee University.
The student-run Mock Convention includes stump speeches from various hypothetical candidates representing whichever party does not control the White House, and this year was attended by prominent Republicans including Youngkin, influencer Candace Owens, Donald Trump Jr. and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. A video message by former President Donald Trump, who was the winner of the Mock Convention, was played for attendees.
“Democrats today do not believe in – nor do they want – a strong America, an America with no rivals; they are content to concede, to compromise away, to abandon the very foundations that made America exceptional,” said Youngkin, according to a portion of his speech he posted to X.
The clip drew sharp criticism from Lucas, who wrote, “This is the speech he gives while wanting us to compromise with him and give him the Glenn Dome?”
This is the speech he gives while wanting us to compromise with him and give him the Glenn Dome?!?! https://t.co/U0w8gjivdD
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) February 11, 2024
Lucas on Monday reportedly described the project as the “half-baked Glenn dome” and claimed it places to much risk on Virginia taxpayers. The senator reportedly declared, “The more we use the reputation of the Commonwealth to finance billionaires’ projects, the more we risk not being able to finance our own projects.”
Her remarks followed confirmation to The Richmond Times-Dispatch from Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), who proposed SB 718 to create an authority to oversee revenue generation for the proposed project, that Lucas’ committee would not consider his bill before the Senate “crossover” on Tuesday, which the outlet explains is the “deadline for both chambers to act on all of their bills except the budget.”
Youngkin’s bill stalling in the General Assembly comes after Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote in an opinion column published Sunday that the district would hold Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Capitals and Wizards, to the terms of its existing lease and retain ownership of the property should they decide to leave.
Lucas previously predicted that Virginia Democrats would end all cooperation with the Youngkin administration and Republicans if he did not accept her proposal to increase the commonwealth’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026. Youngkin previously suggested market pressures are sufficiently raising wages without government interference.
The senator also once wrote on X that “[a]nyone who thinks I am going to approve an arena in Northern Virginia using state tax dollars before we deliver on toll relief and for public schools in Hampton Roads must think I have dumbass written on my forehead.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Glenn Youngkin” by W&L Mock Convention.
