Democrats bet Big on Obamacare to win Virginia Statehouse victory

Virginie Democrats bet health care will help them take control of the state legislature in November, following the rout of Republicans that has almost eliminated government retention by the people in the state of Virginia.

Democrats are already pouring dozens of Thousands of dollars in ads targeting health records of GOP incumbents at the newly competitive races, hoping to capitalize on newly redesigned legislative districts deemed more favorable to Democrats. And new survey data indicate that health care ranks high for potential voters.

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State lawmakers will face voters for the first time since Virginia adopted the Obamacare extension to Medicaid in a poll that will verify whether the same pro-Obamacare messages can work again. The year's elections will be seen as a harbinger for 2020 after Virginia's decision The last national elections announced the blue wave in the medium term, although the Democratic presidential candidates are engaged in a bitter and sometimes confused struggle over the future of the historic health law. Another Virginia victory in Virginia this fall could fuel health care. This is a worrying sign for President Donald Trump, who is looking to take advantage of health care since he has not replaced Obamacare.

The two legislative chambers of Virginia are up for grabs this fall, with Republicans having only a tiny majority in each room. A fully democratic takeover could usher in the most liberal government in Virginia's history and give the party the power to redraw the electoral cards of seats in the state legislature and Congress in 2021.

Few polls were conducted on the parliamentary elections, more than two months away from the elections, but the results of a Roanoke College poll last week showed that health care was a priority topic for potential voters, just behind education and the economy. The poll also showed that Democrats had a slight advantage over Republicans on a generic ballot.

House Democrats, in an initial $ 90,000 digital campaign, broadcast health-focused ads to two senior GOP officials – President Kirk Cox and Chair of the Credits Committee, Chris Jones – for their opposition to "affordable health care", even though the two powerful legislators voted for Medicaid expansion last year.

The fight for Medicaid expansion, as well as Trump's retaliation in the middle of the left-leaning state, led Governor Ralph Northam's successful campaign in 2017 and helped Democrats almost regain control of the House of Commons. Virginia delegates. In a repetition of this strategy, Democrats recall voters that Virginia Republicans, including Cox and Jones, had long opposed The Medicaid expansion, which has covered more than 300,000 low-income Virginians since the start of registration last November, says only Democrats can trust the preservation of the program.

"You know why we were able to go ahead and successfully expand Medicaid, that's because we had a successful wave election." [in 2017], "Said the state Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, who heads the Democratic caucus of the House." You can see who fought against him – which party, which members, year after year. "

Jones, a pharmacist who has been representing a district near Virginia Beach since 1998, has aired several ads touting his support for the program. An announcement calls it a "decisive decision" for Medicaid's expansion, although the program was adopted with a comfortable margin in the House. Another said: "He led the fight to develop Medicaid and voted to improve our mental health system."

Democrats say Jones is distorting his record on Medicaid's expansion now that his political career is in danger.

"What voters tell me the most is that they are offended and upset that Chris Jones is spreading false information about his record," said Clinton Jenkins. the democrat defying Jones. "He was not a leader in health care reform., He voted against four times, that's what I hear."

Jones and Cox did not respond to several POLITICO inquiries.

At the national level, institution-aligned Democrats hope that the party in 2020 will maintain its health advantage by committing to preserve Obamacare, even as progressives advocate for a "Medicare for All" system that would virtually eliminate private insurance and would provide everyone with government coverage. Trump and the Republicans have tried to link all the Democrats to the Bernie Sanders-backed health regime, calling it "socialist" and excessively unaffordable for taxpayers.

In Virginia, however, health care will compete for attention with other high-profile issues Democrats and outside groups will rely heavily on turnout in an election outside the year. This includes pressure for tougher firearms laws after 12 people were killed during an attack in Virginia Beach in May.

Rachel Bitecofer, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University, said firearms and health care were the two most important issues for voters in competitive districts. The Democrats in Virginia are trying to turn around in November.

"Health care, in their opinion, is a problem that attracts moderate voters," she said.

The Medicaid expansion has long been favored by Virginia residents, but Republican lawmakers had refused the program since 2014, when states had first been able to expand coverage to millions of adults poor people receiving significant federal funding from Obamacare. The program continued to be popular in Virginia after it came into force last year. Three-quarters of Virginians supported the expansion months after its passage, but before registration began, according to a nationwide poll conducted in September 2018 by the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg.

"Defending Medicaid's expansion is a message that I think makes sense to Democratic voters and is an important message for candidates this year," said Gaby Goldstein of the Sister District Project, a defense advocacy group. Progressive rights working for the control of the legislative power of states to be entrusted to the Democrats.

Political experts and strategists have said that health care, unlike the previous election cycle, might not be the only issue that define the voters of Virginia, in part because Democrats have already won over the expansion of Medicaid.

"Every time you win a big victory in a legislative affair like this, voters on the winning side tend to forget and move on," said Democratic strategist Ben Tribbett. "It becomes a lot less of a political issue for the people who won."

Republicans now have a majority of 51 to 48 in the House and a 20 to 19 advantage in the Senate. If Democrats were to take control of the state, they would have little chance of setting up a single payer plan, such as Medicare for All or a public option, that state legislators recently passed. in some democratic fiefs.

The Democrats of Virginia do not have again presented a unified health care program for next year, but each candidate highlighted health care priorities, such as protecting abortion, improving rural health care and the transparency of health care prices, in addition to protecting the development of Medicaid.

Democrats could seek to remove the requirement for some Medicaid enrollees to work, which was essential to gain support from the GOP for last year's extension. State officials are currently considering an almost final agreement with the Trump administration to apply coverage restrictions, and an announcement is expected in the coming weeks, according to two officials familiar with the discussions.

Filler-Corn, the Democratic House leader, has not ruled out the possibility that his caucus will remove the demands of work when he takes over the House.

"This is something to discuss," she said.

Senate Republicans, facing an election for the first time since 2015, are focusing their message on reducing health care costs. They blamed Northam for vetoing legislation expanding short-term health plans and business association protection schemes, two major pillars of the Trump administration's effort to promote solutions. cheaper and cheaper alternatives to the Affordable Care Act.

"You can not talk about health care without talking about the cost of health care for those who buy it," said state senator Siobhan Dunnavant, a Republican who voted against the expansion of Medicaid and faces the electoral challenge of a Democrat of the House. His campaign included health-focused advertising, including the cost of prescription drugs.

Dunnavant, an OB-GYN representing neighborhoods in the suburbs of Richmond, said she was comfortable with explaining her vote against Medicaid's expansion.

"The only conversation was between developing Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act or doing nothing, and none of these solutions was a good option in my opinion," she said.