How Virginia Won Big — A Story of the Grassroots

It’s Time We Take Credit

By Robbin Warner

The story of Tuesday’s big win in Virginia is that years of hard work and organizing by the Virginia grassroots paid off in a big way. You don’t get a sweeping victory at the top of the ticket, reelecting every incumbent, flipping 13 additional seats in the legislature from red to blue, and increasing the blue margin in every county across the state in one election cycle because of one candidate. Though pundits will talk about polls and trends, it’s time we claim that the muscle behind this victory came from the grassroots.

Below are snapshots of some of the many grassroots groups who made this win possible. I wish I could mention everyone who has been a part of this movement but there’s not enough space. Just know that your work was essential, valued, and provides a blueprint for strong local and statewide organizing.

Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Every month since 2017, grassroots activists and leaders have met in a church basement, a coffee shop, or on Zoom to share strategies and tactics, support candidates when the state party wasn’t, grow a year-round volunteer army, and maintain joy, enthusiasm, and a “we can do this” attitude no matter the obstacle or disappointment. Under the leadership of Luisa Boyarski, the coalition has built a community of grassroots groups across the state. Together these groups work on elections (Virginia has elections every year) and when it isn’t campaign season, focus on legislation. The Coalition’s website serves as a ready reference for all things grassroots, maintained by the tireless Denis Orsinger. The great thing about Virginia’s Coalition is that local groups all over the state have spent years working together, a testament to what can happen with ongoing and steady coordination.

Network NOVA - Network NOVA truly represents the grassroots. Stair Calhoun and Katherine White started the group after the 2017 Women’s March—and they’ve been going strong ever since. Network NOVA is a grassroots organizing hub, known for making the work fun and year-round. From their first Adopt a Candidate program to their annual Women’s Summit, Network NOVA is the consummate connector, creating a feedback loop that energizes volunteers, candidates, elected officials, and grassroots leaders. Each June, their Women’s Summit is often the place candidates meet each other for the first time. This year attendees were able to take the first photos of House of Delegates candidates with statewide candidates: Abigail Spanberger for Governor, Ghazala Hashmi for Lt. Governor, and Jay Jones for Attorney General.

Attendees at the 2025 Women’s Summit taking the first photos of what would come to be the winning slate of candidates across Virginia...

Friday Power Lunch – For five years this weekly video podcast has given a voice to Virginia’s grassroots. The Friday Power Lunch hosts interesting conversations about politics and culture, and features women doing groundbreaking work. The Power Lunch has become a vehicle for introducing new candidates to grassroots leaders, volunteers, donors and other candidates. Co-host Finale Norton reminds everyone on the Power Lunch’s Substack that there are many ways to win. Even if a candidate doesn’t win, getting more blue voters in a district—called “moving margins”—is still a big success. This election, every district saw more blue votes.

Rural GroundGame – This election was notable because, for the first time in recent history, a Democratic candidate ran in all 100 House of Delegate seats (the Republicans only had 83 candidates). No group worked harder than Rural GroundGame to make sure Virginia had a delegate in every districts. Founder and political director, Lynlee Thorne, and her team worked nonstop with local committees to find candidates rooted in each community and give them the necessaary resources and infrastructure. In many districts, these candidates were the first Democrats to run in years, finally giving blue voters someone to support.

Postcards4VA - From the very beginning, writing postcards to voters has been an important part of Virginia’s grassroots work. Postcards4VA is the oldest statewide postcard group. Writing postcards brings people together, creating a sense of community that the grassroots really value. As one of the co-founders, I’m proud to share that we supported 40 candidates and worked with postcard writers throughout the state and around the county. We did this by focusing on what postcards do best—helping down ballot races. This year that meant Delegate, Supervisor, and School Board candidates. Here is our list of candidates and results.

COVA Coalition –In coastal Virginia, the COVA Coalition made a big impact. Co-founder Carrie Short will proudly tell you that they wrote 21,000 postcards, got 6,000 people to join local protests where protests don’t usually happen, dropped leaflets on 1,600 doors, worked 1,200 hours at team events, helped at 52 poll greeting shifts, held visibility brigades and street team events, and threw postcard parties whenever possible. COVA Coalition hopes their work in 2025 will reap big benefits when they flip CD2 next year.

WofA – The powerhouse Indivisible group WofA (We of Action) in Arlington, VA, led by retired teacher Micaela Pond, participated in every tactic you’d expect. They also spearheaded the new tactic by the Virginia Grassroots Coalition of adopting a PowerPack (a group of candidates from the same geographic area who work closely with a grassroots group). They are thrilled that all their PowerPack candidates — Stacey Carroll, Josh Cole, and Nicole Cole — won! You can read more about PowerPacks in the Grassroots Connector article “PowerPacks - Reimagining How Grassroots Activists and Candidates Work Together.”

Swing Blue Alliance Virginia Team – Many grassroots groups from outside Virginia came to help, too. The Swing Blue Alliance Virginia Team, led by longtime activist Michelle Moore, supported four candidates in rural areas who weren’t getting much help from traditional groups. They called them the “Fearless Four” — Mary Person, Cat Peterson, Cheryl Smith, and Liz Richardson — and gave them a big boost by raising $70,000, something that rarely happens for candidates like this. Even though these women didn’t win, they helped bring in more blue voters and made their districts more competitive for the next election. The Swing Blue Alliance Virginia Team worked with the grassroots and candidates—as true partners, not outsiders parachuting in with their own plans. This was a great example of in-state and out-of-state teamwork.

“On Tuesday, Virginia didn’t just notch another election night,” said Katherine White of Network NOVA. “We made history—and we did it the way we always do: with year-round work, stubborn hope, and fearless community. They said maybe five flips. We said, we’ve been building something bigger. We delivered 13.”

Where does the grassroots get the chutzpah to think we can deliver more? In 2017 the grassroots supported 17 House of Delegates seats. The party supported 4 - 8. We flipped 15 by the end of it.

Hey, pundits and podcasters, if you want real experts to explain what it takes to win big in Virginia, email me (robbinwarner@gmail.com). I’m happy to connect you to champions behind the Virginia sweep.