As Virginia nears a pivotal moment in its statewide election on Tuesday, Danica Roem, a Democratic nominee for the state Senate, underscored the significance of the upcoming vote.
Roem, a current member of the state's House of Delegates, is the first out transgender person seated in a state legislature in the U.S., an achievement she claimed in 2018. All of Virginia’s General Assembly seats are up for grabs.
Image: Christopher Wiggins for The Advocate
In her passionate address during the final pre-election door-knocking kickoff event in Manassas on Monday, Roem said, “I am so grateful to serve the people of the 13th District … for us to win collectively, all three of us bringing home tomorrow.” She detailed her family’s immigrant history, tying it to her political journey: “That kid from that Italian family who struggled so so much is on the verge of being a state senator.”
Image: Christopher Wiggins for The Advocate
Roem also highlighted the negative campaigning tactics of her opponents in a conversation with The Advocate in her campaign office.
Related: Danica Roem Hit With Transphobic Ad as Virginia Election Looms
“They sent more than 30 negative mailers against this campaign … they are good with that,” she said, gesturing to several mailers that contained transphobic content. “They have tried every one of these tropes over and over again to try to scare people.”
Roem’s opponent is Republican Bill Woolf, a former law enforcement officer who has been staunchly anti-trans.
Woolf’s firm, Woolf Group Strategic Solutions, earlier showcased its readiness to assist groups in opposing the Biden-Harris administration’s proposed expansion of transgender rights under Title IX. This stance is underscored by Woolf’s endorsement of social media posts that resist transgender rights, including a tweet from the Republican Party of Virginia that endorsed participation in sports based on sex assigned at birth, not gender identity.
Woolf is also a proponent of “Sage’s Law,” which mandates that school officials inform parents if their child is transgender, a measure he argues could help combat human trafficking. Democrats blocked the measure.
This position aligns with the Republican Party of Virginia’s platform, which advocates for parental rights and banning trans girls from participating in girls' sports teams. According to the Washington Post, Woolf faced potential termination from his previous role as a Fairfax County police detective prior to his resignation in 2017 amid an internal affairs probe. The investigation unearthed evidence suggesting that Woolf, who touts his background in law enforcement and anti-human trafficking efforts in his campaign, had falsified reports of duty hours while concurrently working another job.
The police records revealed that during his 15-year tenure, he was found to have engaged in dishonesty and insubordination, having received compensation from the police on at least two occasions while employed elsewhere out of state, the Post reported.
Josh Thomas, a Democratic candidate on the ballot alongside Roem, shared personal anecdotes about his family’s challenges with Republican governance in Georgia and his professional work with LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.
Image: Christopher Wiggins for The Advocate
"I am a partner, both personally and professionally. I really mean it,” said Thomas, who is running for a seat in the House of Delegates. He is a former U.S. Marine and an attorney whose queer sister got married recently.
Narissa Rahaman from Equality Virginia focused on the importance of voting at all levels. “We’ve got Danica running for state Senate, Josh running for House of Delegates, but there’s so much more,” she said. Rahaman called for action against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s anti-trans policies, some of which are currently being considered by state school boards.
Image: Christopher Wiggins for The Advocate
Youngkin’s administration recently released what it calls model policies for the treatment of transgender students that critics warn force teachers to out students involuntarily and restrict students’ use of restrooms, participation on sports teams, and use of chosen names and pronouns. Many districts have rejected the policies.
Planned Parenthood’s Jamie Lockhart emphasized reproductive rights and the threat Youngkin’s administration poses to everyone's right to bodily autonomy should the legislature be in complete Republican control.
“What is at stake in this election for reproductive rights?" she asked, noting that Virginia’s pro-abortion rights majority in the state Senate has been the only barrier against abortion bans in the state.
Finally, Kelley Robinson of the Human Rights Campaign rallied the crowd with a call to victory: “Our rights are on the line. Our democracy is on the line right now.”
As Roem and her allies make a final push for votes, the shadow of Youngkin’s school policies looms large. In a defiant stance against such policies, Roem told The Advocate, “We do not believe the governor has the authority to do what he’s doing, and we’ll see him in court.”
