Today State Sen. Mark Herring released a web video comparing his record against State Sen. Mark Obenshain’s. A transcript of the video is below.
On Saturday, Tea Party activists in Virginia nominated their choice for Attorney General and Lt. Governor to join Ken Cuccinelli on the ballot this Fall. Emerging from this convention was Senator Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) for Attorney General.
Since Saturday, Virginians have been introduced to Senator Obenshain’s extreme record, which includes sponsoring a bill that would require women to report miscarriages to the police. Obenshain also sponsored the “Personhood” amendment with Ken Cuccinelli which would ban common forms of birth control, restricting women’s access to contraception and punishing them for their private medical decisions.
Obenshain’s extreme record isn’t just limited to his assaults on women’s rights; he also has an extreme record on guns. Mark Obenshain voted to allow guns in bars, voted to repeal the one hand gun a month law, voted to allow guns in child day care centers and voted against closing the gun show loophole.
“It’s no wonder Mark Obenshain was Ken Cuccinelli’s handpicked candidate to replace him as Attorney General,” Senator Herring said. “Obenshain has been pushing the same extreme agenda in the State Senate as Ken Cuccinelli. His views on women’s rights and on guns is completely out of the mainstream. Virginians need to know who the real Mark Obenshain is – a Tea Party politician looking to push ahead his extreme social agenda.”
Herring also announced he would be hosting a Tele-Townhall to tell voters the differences between his record and the extreme record of Mark Obenshain. This includes:
- Standing up and supporting a woman’s right to choose and fighting legislative efforts of right-wing Republicans to restrict women’s access to contraception.
- Supporting comprehensive background checks for guns and the one-gun-a-month law. Herring also supported closing the gun show loophole and opposed allowing guns in bars.
- Making voting easier, not harder. Herring sponsored legislation to increase absentee voting and reduce long lines on Election Day. Obenshain sponsored the voter ID bill which disenfranchises voters and makes voting more difficult.