What They Are Saying: Virginia Democrats Furious At Ralph Northam Over Pipeline Admission

After Virginia Democrat gubernatorial nominee Ralph Northam finally admitted on Friday that he will support the Atlantic Coast Pipeline after months of shamelessly dodging the issue, anti-pipeline Democrats have erupted at their party’s nominee, mobbing his campaign’s events and threatening to withhold support for Northam unless he changes his stance. While his campaign has desperately attempted to walk back his admission, falsely claiming that his statements were “the same thing he has been saying all along,” Democrats aren’t buying it, with some calling his stance “the middle finger” to Virginia progressives. With anti-pipeline Democrats making clear to Northam that they “aren’t going anywhere,” it becomes apparent with each passing day that Northam has a huge problem on his hands and his chances of unifying Democrats for November are looking tougher and tougher. Here are some highlights of recent coverage:

The day after Northam admitted his support for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the top liberal blog in the Commonwealth, Blue Virginia, accused Northam of giving “the finger to Progressives” by deciding to back the project:

“…And now, with today’s interview, he outright gives the middle finger to me and all the other progressive voters who care about our environment, who care about the beautiful forests and mountains of Virginia that will be destroyed, who care about their fellow Virginians whose land will be taken. He is letting us know that he has no interest in winning our support, that he thinks he doesn’t need our votes. Perhaps he thinks we should ‘just get over it.’

You can deride people who say that they won’t vote for Ralph Northam in November, but the truth is that it’s Northam who has chosen to drive a wedge into the Democratic Party of Virginia.”

In his very first campaign appearance after finally revealing his stance on the issue, Northam was “peppered” with questions by protesters, all of which were about the pipeline. NBC 29 reports:

“Anti-pipeline protesters in central Virginia are challenging Democratic candidate for governor Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam to change his views on Dominion’s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. 

They peppered him with questions at Saturday morning’s monthly breakfast meeting of the Albemarle County Democratic Committee.

Northam supports the ACP. He fielded many questions after his speech to party members; all of them were about his support for the pipeline”

Politico’s Kevin Robillard responded to the NBC 29 story, tweeting that it “makes it clear that Northam’s position on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will be A Thing in #VAGov:”

Glen Besa the former director of the Virginia Sierra Club penned an op-ed criticizing Northam for his pipeline stance, urging him to reconsider the issue, warning that his position “is going to lose him votes:”

“I oppose the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines, as do many Virginians, and I’m not aware of many Democratic Party faithful or independent voters clamoring for either of these projects. If anything, Northam’s failure to take a position opposing the pipelines is going to lose him votes.”

Jonathan Sokolow, a Democrat activist who supported Tom Perriello, also published an op-ed critical of Northam, noting how anti-pipeline Democrats overwhelmingly rejected him in the primary and that he “stands alone” as the only candidate on the Virginia Democrats’ 2017 ticket who supports the pipeline:

“But Northam lost by lopsided margins  among Democratic voters in the rural western counties where opposition to the ACP has run strong. (Nelson: 91% – 9%; Buckingham: 73% – 27%; Augusta: 65% – 35%; Cumberland: 63% – 37%; Highland: 62% – 38% and Prince Edward: 61% – 39%)…

Northam thus stands alone as the only Democrat among the five who ran for Virginia’s two top offices who is both pro-pipeline and willing to take donations from its builder, leaving the Democrats split on these issues at the top of their ticket.”

Some Democrat leaders, including the vice chair of the Waynesboro Democratic Committee, are so upset with Northam’s decision to support the Atlantic Coast Pipeline that they’ve threatened to withhold votes for him unless he has “a change of heart:” 

“‘In a perfect world I would love to see our Democratic governor candidate return the money he’s gotten from Dominion and come out against the pipelines,’ Lewis said…

Lewis is also the vice chair of the Waynesboro Democratic Committee. She says she will not vote for Northam unless he has a change of heart about this issue.”