A few months ago, Indivisible Charlottesville endorsed Kellen Squire for the Democratic nomination to the House of Delegates in the 55th district. We did that because Kellen has been sticking up for progressive causes for years. First among those causes is reproductive freedom.
Kellen is an emergency department nurse at UVA. He has spoken about being the only candidate in Virginia who has actually provided abortion care. He has written about how the Dobbs ruling is changing the lives of pregnant people and of the medical professionals who care for them. He talks about the importance of reproductive choice all the time.
But over the last few days, some voters in the 55th have received deceptive and misleading leaflets about Kellen from his primary opponent, Amy Laufer. Laufer’s leaflets ripped some of Kellen’s old words out of context to paint him as an anti-abortion candidate. Anyone who knows anything about Kellen, or has listened to his campaign, knows that this is absolutely untrue—Kellen is as pro-choice as they come.
Six years ago, when he was a rookie candidate running in a deep red district, Kellen tried to speak about reproductive choice in a way that might win over some anti-abortion voters and tried to reclaim the phrase “pro-life” from the anti-choice movement. That’s no excuse for Laufer’s campaign to twist his words into a grotesque smear. And plenty of former Democratic chairs and local elected leaders agree.
In 2023, the district is blue, and the winner of the Democratic primary will be a heavy favorite in November. The district deserves a delegate who is honest with their constituents—not one who blurs out the context to slander a progressive opponent.
More than ever, we encourage everyone in the 55th district to vote for Kellen on June 20th or during early voting. We also hope you’ll support his campaign to counter these attacks by clicking here to donate, and that you’ll help knocking doors, write postcards, or call or text voters by clicking here to volunteer.
In solidarity,
David for Indivisible Charlottesville
