Support Our Democratic Nominees for Manassas & Manassas Park in the November 7, 2023 General Election
Our Democratic sample ballot for the City of Manassas
Our Democratic sample ballot for the City of Manassas Park
Danica Roem for State Senate (SD-30). Virginia state Delegate Danica Roem (D-13th) is a lifelong resident of the Manassas part of Prince William County and the Democratic nominee for the 30th District of the Virginia state Senate, which includes western Prince William County and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
As a third-term member of the House of Delegates, Danica currently represents the City of Manassas Park and parts of Haymarket, Gainesville and Manassas, Since 2018, 41 of her House Bills have been signed into law—all with bipartisan support, including 12 bills to feed hungry kids.
In 2023, Danica led the successful effort to secure $24.47 million to fund the implementation of her Route 28 STARS Study to fix Route 28 in Manassas Park and Yorkshire, with innovative intersection designs, a raised median, and 1.75 miles of contiguous sidewalk.
Before becoming the first out-and-seated transgender state legislator in American history, following her 2017 election, Danica earned a B.A. in journalism/mass communications from St. Bonaventure University in 2006 and then worked as the lead reporter of the Gainesville Times/Prince William Times from 2006-2015 and as news editor of the Montgomery County Sentinel from 2015-2016. Danica now works as the executive director of Emerge Virginia, where she trains Democratic women how to run for office, and is the author of the 2022 memoir, “Burn the Page.” (Viking Books/PRH).
Michelle Maldonado for House of Delegates (HD-20). A long-time resident of the Manassas area, Delegate Michelle Lopes Maldonado is an entrepreneur, business leader, mother, wife, and bridge-builder who proudly serves the people of Virginia’s 50th House District. She is the first woman, the first person of color, and only the second Democrat, to serve in this seat in the history of Virginia.
During her first term, Michelle served on the Education, K12, Privileges & Elections, Campaign Finance Reform, and Courts of Justice committees. She also was appointed by Majority Leader Don Scott to Chair the House Democratic Caucus Affordable Housing Policy Committee and by the Speaker of the House to sit on the new statewide School Health Services Committee.
A hardworking, action-oriented, and collaborative legislator, Michelle was named 2022 “Rookie Legislator of the Year” by the Virginia Education Association. She also founded and chairs the new bipartisan, Virginia Technology and Innovation Caucus.
Michelle is a former corporate and tech attorney turned business leader, who understands diverse industry sectors, missions, and services. Michelle has a passion for people, community and service and works hard to ensure that all Virginians have a voice, access, and opportunity to thrive.
Jacqueline Smith for Clerk of the Prince William Circuit Court. Jacqueline has had a passion for ensuring access to justice since serving as a volunteer attorney in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Her clients there were left with no ability to rebuild after their land records were destroyed due to the government’s practice of storing them in the basement of the courthouse. When she returned home to her law practice, she was additionally concerned with the lack of customer service offered by the Clerk’s Office. With phones unanswered, documents unavailable and limited service availability, residents were deprived of the ability to exercise their legal rights. Since being elected, Jacqueline has ensured that phone calls are answered by a person and not a machine. She has made all public records available online and has launched Seals on Wheels, a mobile Clerk’s Office that allows her to provide services to residents in their neighborhoods on weekends to ensure that no one is prevented from accessing the services to which they are entitled. Outstanding Service to our Residents is Jacqueline’s Priority!
Amy Ashworth for Prince William Commonwealth’s Attorney. Amy is a dedicated and experienced Commonwealth’s Attorney who has spent her career fighting for justice in the courtroom. She has a passion for public service and has worked tirelessly to uphold the rights of her community. Amy’s unwavering commitment to public service and her deep sense of community make her a trusted and respected leader. She is honored to serve her fellow citizens and is dedicated to making the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and all of Prince William County a safer community for all.
Joshua Lavon King, Sr. for Prince William Sheriff. With more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, Josh knows firsthand the challenges and opportunities within our law enforcement system. Josh will train a new generation of officers that will keep us safe and tackle issues, such as reducing recidivism, ending the school-to-prison pipeline, and enhancing safety at the Judicial Center.
Outreach at the Equality Prince William Pride Festival on May 21, 2023
The Manassas & Manassas Park Democrats will staff tables at major community events this spring, summer, and fall, to spread the word about our local Committee and Democratic candidates and to promote voter registration and early voting for the November 7th General Election. Look for our booth at the following events. Better yet, sign up for a volunteer shift at those events, to help us with this vital voter outreach.
The Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee typically holds monthly membership meetings on the third Wednesday of each month, from 7-8:30 pm. All Democrats are welcome at all of our meetings.
After meeting only virtually via Zoom during the height of the COVID pandemic, MMPCDC resumed meeting in-person in mid-2021 on the third Wednesday of each month from 7:00-8:30 pm, at the “Social Soiree” event center, 8270 Shoppers Square, Manassas, VA 20111 . Our in-person meetings now offer a Zoom attendance option.
Our scheduled meeting dates in 2023 are as follows: January 18, February 15, March 15, April 19, May 17, June 21, July 19 (cancelled), August 16, September 20, October 18, and November 15. For December, we typically have a potluck holiday party in lieu of a business meeting.
Virginia Supreme Court Approves New State and Federal Legislative Districts
On December 28, 2021, the Supreme Court of Virginia unanimously approved three sets of final legislative district maps in the aftermath of the 2020 US Census.
The new district maps will apply for legislative elections through the year 2031, starting in 2022 with elections for the entire US House of Representatives. All seats in the Virginia General Assembly are up for election in 2023.
Manassas and Manassas Park will be united within a new 20th House of Delegates District, a new 30th Virginia Senate District, and a reconfigured 10th Congressional District.
The new legislative district maps for Manassas and Manassas Park are displayed below.
Read the full court order and view all three sets of district maps here.
The new 20th House of Delegates District
The new 30th Virginia Senate District
Virginia’s new 10th Congressional District
Manassas & Manassas Park Democrats Reorganized for 2022-2023
Attendees more than two years ago at our January 15, 2020 Reorganization Meeting
The Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee held its biennial reorganization meeting virtually on Zoom on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. Seventy-two members were elected to the Committee at this initial meeting.
Congratulations to the following individuals who were unanimously elected as Committee officers for the 2022-2023 biennium:
Co-Chairs: Cheryl Macias and Gretchen Almstead
Vice Chair: Donald Shuemaker
Secretary: Michael Laverty
Treasurer: Patt Fields
MMPCDC extends its sincere appreciation to Mike Freeland, our outgoing co-chair, who has served us in that capacity for the past six years and had previously served as vice chair Fortunately, Mike will continue to be part of our Leadership Team as our immediate past co-chair.
New Voting Precinct, Precinct Boundary Changes, and Optical Scanner Voting Machines for City of Manassas in Effect, Beginning in 2017
Beginning in 2017, the City of Manassas has a sixth voting precinct, with its polling place at George C Round Elementary School at 10100 Hastings Drive. At the same time, the boundaries of the City’s five other voting precincts have been adjusted, to better balance the number of registered voters within each precinct. These changes were prompted by continued residential development and population growth within the City and the requirement under the Code of Virginia that no precinct have more than 5,000 registered voters or 4,000 votes cast in a presidential election.
On February 13, 2017, the Manassas City Council adopted a new City of Manassas voting precinct ordinance that sets the boundaries and designates the polling places for all voting precincts (including the central absentee voting precinct in the Old Town Hall building at 9025 Center St).
Below is a map of the new voting precinct boundaries. In Spring 2017, the Manassas Voter Registrar’s Office mailed a voter registration letter to all voters registered in the City to inform them of their polling location.
New City of Manassas Voting Precincts, Starting in 2017 (click to enlarge)
Also in 2017, the City of Manassas has begun using the OpenElect Voting System from Unisyn Voting Solutions to scan and record votes made on paper ballots. Voters now mark their votes on a paper ballot and then insert the ballot into an optical scanner that reads the selections and takes a digital image of the ballot. After the polls close, poll workers run a tally report on the scanner to obtain the precinct results.
Thanks to the Manassas Voter Registration Office, one of the new voting machines was demonstrated at our March 6, 2017 Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee meeting.
Has Your Voter Registration Been Purged?
Every two years, the Virginia Department of Elections removes inactive voters from the voter registration rolls of every Virginia locality.
Reportedly, a voter’s registration is purged only after an inactive voter fails to respond to repeated mailers from the Virginia Department of Elections requesting an address verification and then fails to vote at all during two Federal Election Cycles following the initial mailer.
You might want to check if your name is on one of the four lists linked above.
These lists of purged voters are organized by numbered voting precincts, and for the City of Manassas those numbers reflect the new (starting in 2017) voting precinct boundaries, not the precinct boundaries from prior years. The precinct codes for each city are as follows:
PCT Manassas Polling Location 0001 Dean Elementary School 0002 Weems Elementary School 0003 Metz Middle School 0004 Haydon Elementary School 0005 Baldwin Elementary School 0006 Round Elementary School
PCT Manassas Park Polling Location 0001 Manassas Park High School 0002 Costello Park Community Center 0003 Manassas Park City Hall
The best and easiest way to verify that your voter registration is still valid is to review your voter record at the Virginia Department of Elections voter portal, after entering your name, date of birth, locality, and last four digits of your social security number.
Paul J. Reid, April 13, 1951 – February 23, 2017
Paul Reid, a stalwart member of our Committee and a good friend to many of us, passed away on Thursday, February 23, following a bout with cancer. He died at home in his wife’s arms.
Paul was born April 13, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of the late William F. and Marcella M. Reid. He retired from the Central Intelligence Agency, then worked for General Dynamics and Geospatial Solution Inc., finally retiring in 2015.
After leaving federal service, Paul became an active volunteer for the Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee.
EJ Scott, MMPCDC’s Immediate Past Chair, summarizes Paul’s service to our Democratic community as follows:
Paul Reid was the true embodiment of Democratic values. He believed in equality and justice and was dedicated to making this country live up to its ideals. He was a quiet man, except when talking about the craziness exhibited by the other side. No one worked harder and longer than Paul. He knocked doors, made phone calls, worked the polls and was always the first one onsite to help set up for events. He was given MMPCDC’s second Blue Victory Chair’s Award for his service and commitment to getting Democrats elected.
Paul spoke fluent Spanish and loved to dance the salsa with his wife Betsy. At our festival booths, it was reassuring to have him there to converse with our Spanish-speaking visitors.
After the House of Delegate Districts were redrawn, and we could not find anyone to run against Jackson Miller, Paul even agreed to be our write-in candidate for the 50th District Delegate. We called and handed out write-in ballots, and he received a good vote showing.
Paul was generous. He often offered to assist with financing events, and he sponsored tickets to our events, so the less fortunate could attend. He gave to Democratic candidates and then continued to give his time and energy to getting them elected.
Paul Reid was a participant. Paul was a soldier in the fight to turn Virginia Blue. And recent past elections have shown the rewards of that battle.
When his widow was asked what can we do, she responded simply, “Take back Congress.” Nothing would please him more.
Paul also volunteered as the Vice President of in-line hockey for the Prince William Hockey Club from 1998 to 2006, where he also coached two of his sons, Andrew and John. In 2006, he purchased a second home in Capon Bridge, West Virginia, where he spent the weekends experimenting with home brewing recipes, reading, kayaking, fishing, biking.
Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Elizabeth F. (Betsy) Reid, three sons, Peter Reid of Falls Church, VA, Andrew Reid of Manassas, VA, and John Reid of Austin, Texas; one granddaughter, Mia A. Reid, and one grandson Luke M. Reid; daughter in-laws Alix Reid and Elizabeth Gonzales.
