One of our goals at Virginia Christian Alliance is to help those within our network to make informed decisions at the ballot box. As a non-profit organization, we do not endorse or oppose any candidate or party. Instead, we ask questions about their positions on some of the issues that are important to us, do our best to obtain the answers, and then simply pass the information along to you.
To this end, several weeks ago we mailed a VCA Candidate Questionnaire to each of the six candidates for statewide office. Listed below are the responses we received(1):
Education
Should parents who homeschool or send their child[ren] to private school be provided with a tax credit or some other form of financial relief?
Ken Cuccinelli…… No
Mark Herring…….. Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson……. .Yes
Terry McAuliffe……Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam….. Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain… Did Not Respond
Would you support a system of school choice vouchers for every Virginia student?
Ken Cuccinelli….. Yes
Mark Herring……. Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson…… Yes
Terry McAuliffe…. Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam…. Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain..Did Not Respond
Should students who are privately educated be permitted to participate in athletic and other extracurricular programs of public schools?
Ken Cuccinelli….. Yes
Mark Herring…….. Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson……. Yes
Terry McAuliffe….. Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam…..Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain.. Did Not Respond
Parental Authority
Would you support a bill to remove the HPV vaccine from the last of required school immunizations and instead simply require schools to provide parents with information about the vaccine?
Ken Cuccinelli……Yes
Mark Herring…… .Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson….. .Yes
Terry McAuliffe… .Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam… .Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain. Did Not Respond
Religious Liberty
Are there occasions when it is appropriate for the government to censor references to particular deities from public prayers?
Ken Cuccinelli……No
Mark Herring…….Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson……Yes
Terry McAuliffe….Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam….Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain..Did Not Respond
Marriage
Would you favor a repeal of Virginia’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as between only one man and one woman in order to accommodate legal recognition of same-sex marriages?
Ken Cuccinelli……No
Mark Herring……..Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson…….No
Terry McAuliffe….Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam….Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain..Did Not Respond
Limiting Authority of Federal Government
Would you support a resolution calling for a Convention of States for the specific, limited purpose of passing amendments to the federal Constitution that limit the power of the federal government?
Ken Cuccinelli……Yes
Mark Herring……..Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson……..Yes(2)
Terry McAuliffe…..Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam…..Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain…Did Not Respond
Abortion
Do you believe that Roe v. Wade was correctly decided?
Ken Cuccinelli………No
Mark Herring……….Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson………No
Terry McAuliffe……Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam……Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain…Did Not Respond
Would you support efforts to weaken or overturn the health & safety regulations (including design and construction standards) that are now being applied to abortion clinics in Virginia?
Ken Cuccinelli……No
Mark Herring……..Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson…….No
Terry McAuliffe…..Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam….Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain..Did Not Respond
If Roe v. Wade were overturned, under what circumstances (if any) should abortion be legal in Virginia?
Ken Cuccinelli……. When mother’s life at risk
Mark Herring ………Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson ……..Documented risk of mother’s death
Terry McAuliffe…… Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam…… Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain ….Did Not Respond
At what point in human development does the “right to life” begin to apply?
Ken Cuccinelli………. Conception
Mark Herring………… Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson……….. Conception
Terry McAuliffe……… Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam……… Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain…… Did Not Respond
Under what circumstances (if any) should tax dollars be used to pay for abortions for poor women?
Ken Cuccinelli……… When mother’s life at risk
Mark Herring……….. Did Not Respond
E.W. Jackson ……….Never
Terry McAuliffe …….Did Not Respond
Ralph Northam …….Did Not Respond
Mark Obenshain….. Did Not Respond
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(1) VCA contacted the campaign of each non-responding candidate by phone and e-mail multiple times. Our messages were ignored by the McAuliffe, Herring and Northam campaigns. The Obenshain campaign indicated that they do not respond to surveys requiring categorical (“yes” or “no”) responses.
(2) Jackson added to his response, “The purpose would have to be well defined and not subject to change.”
Rita Dunaway, Virginia Christian Alliance Vice President for Public Policy, also writes on her blog Fundamental Things
VCA advocates for sound public policies at the local, state and federal level that are consistent with the foundational principles of the Bible, the Declaration of Independence and the federal and state Constitutions. Our advocacy includes, but is not limited to, the following issues:
1.The Sanctity of Human Life
2.Religious Liberty
3.Protection of the Family and Parental Rights
4.Limited Government
