Ex-DeSantis staffer Parkinson runs for Kaine’s Virginia seat
RICHMOND, Va. — Scott Parkinson, a former congressional staffer and advisor to Ron DeSantis and different Republican officers, is ready to announce plans Monday to hunt the GOP nomination to problem Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia subsequent 12 months.
Parkinson, who works for the conservative financial coverage group Membership for Progress, instructed The Related Press forward of a proper announcement that frustration over pandemic-related faculty and enterprise closures “modified his worldview” and pushed him to hunt public workplace for the primary time.
Kaine, a fixture in Virginia politics recognized for his down-to-earth strategy, is weak due to his votes for key items of President Joe Biden’s agenda which have contributed to inflation now crushing the center class, Parkinson stated.
“I feel that there’s this notion that he’s a pleasant man,” Parkinson stated. “He performs the banjo and the harmonica, they usually don’t peel again the layers of the onion to see precisely how we acquired to the place we’re right now. And Tim Kaine has voted for all of it.”
Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential working mate in 2016, has been in public workplace for practically three many years, serving as Richmond’s mayor and later because the state’s lieutenant governor and governor. He was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and handily defeated a far-right challenger in 2018.
To this point, no Democratic opponent has emerged to problem Kaine, who firmed up his plans to hunt a 3rd time period in January after hypothesis he may retire.
Kaine’s determination to run eased his social gathering’s worries about the potential of an open seat. He might be seen as having an edge within the must-win race for Democrats dealing with a troublesome Senate map in 2024. Although Virginia has been trending blue in latest many years, voters elected a slate of Republican statewide officers, together with Gov. Glenn Youngkin, in 2021.
Parkinson has spent greater than 15 years working in Washington, D.C., together with as a staffer for U.S. Sens. John Ensign, Ron Johnson and Marco Rubio and as govt director of the Republican Research Committee, a conservative Home Caucus. He was chief of workers to then-U.S. Rep. DeSantis after which served as deputy govt director of the DeSantis gubernatorial transition workforce in Florida.
Parkinson’s array of Republican connections will assist him increase the cash and attain the voters essential to compete in what’s shaping as much as be a crowded subject in search of the social gathering’s nomination, he stated.
Parkinson plans to marketing campaign on a promise to cap the expansion of presidency spending and scale back taxation. He voiced assist for doubling down on Trump-era tax cuts and rolling again authorities rules “stifling American alternative.”
“I’m terrified about what the way forward for the American economic system seems to be like for my youngsters,” Parkinson stated. “And in order that might be a giant, massive ingredient of our marketing campaign, after we create a motion to rescue the center class.”
Parkinson described himself as pro-life however declined to immediately reply a query about what limits on abortion rights he thinks are most acceptable, together with whether or not he helps exceptions in circumstances of rape, incest or hazard to the lifetime of the mom.
Requested if he believes the 2020 presidential election was free and truthful, he expressed considerations concerning the accuracy of voter rolls. Parkinson stated he wouldn’t describe the election as being stolen, as Trump falsely has, however believes there are “authentic considerations” across the nation about election integrity.
Parkinson, 40, is at present the vice chairman of presidency affairs for the Washington-based Membership for Progress, an influential conservative group advocating for decrease taxes, restricted authorities, faculty selection and the repeal of Obamacare.
He lives in Arlington, Virginia, together with his spouse and 4 kids.