November was eventful this year! Veterans Day once again reminded us of how, where, and when we served, while Thanksgiving reminded us again of just who we served. It was the elections, with their remarkable results, that added dramatic focus to our Constitution that defines why we served. While there may be some regrets, there is certainly much to celebrate.
Our Commonwealth remains a purple state, not the hoped for red swing state, despite the hard work of many. Politics, once again, proved to be an exhausting and frustrating puzzle dominated by money, messaging, and media. Still, our election was safe, transparent, timely, and, in the end, certain. Our Constitutional Republic endures, strengthened by a resounding Presidential victory. And this year at Thanksgiving, we can celebrate both our personal blessings and an inspiring hope for a return to common sense, a strong economy, lower inflation, and restored national security.
As Veterans, we feel cautiously optimistic. Older Veterans know the solution to the recruiting crisis begins with an abrupt return of mission focus to our active military. They understand the human costs of growing national security threats posed by bad actors overseas and at our border. And they know the long road back to combat readiness has few short cuts. Veterans hope to see Serious leaders and Serious actions.
Younger Veterans may have slightly more immediate concerns and appropriate expectations for improvements in VA services for health, education, employment, business development, and family support. The incoming administration’s intent to promote efficient, effective solutions across the federal bureaucracies must include the Veterans Administration. DOGE and their genius team must spend some time dealing with Veteran needs despite their total lack of experience with the Veteran world. Once again, Veterans hope to see Serious leaders and Serious actions.
The assembling administration, its leaders and their proposed actions, has been likened to a pirate ship. Sounds about right. This new team is a remarkable mixture of personalities, politics, and egos intent on disrupting the status quo of Washington. They serve a returning President who knows the obstacles facing his policy agenda, both bureaucratic and institutional. Changes will begin at the border, continue through the economy, reverberate internationally, and impact politically. Veterans, both young and old, expect results, not riots. Indeed, they want Serious leaders and Serious actions.
This new administration can only begin corrective steps. It is said that they have only 10 months to put their changes in place. Next year, at this time, we will see the politics of midterm elections gaining strength. The follow through, the adoption, the broad acceptance of everything from border policies to defense priorities to public norms and laws will take reinforcement in the halls of Congress, the departments of the federal government, our full array of courts, and the legislatures of our states. Executive orders are insufficient. There will be much more work to do. Such work demands Serious leaders and Serious actions.
As voting in these most recent elections produced promising consequences, only voting and winning the elections ahead will assure the outcomes that raise our hopes and expectations today. There will be a natural desire to declare “End of Mission” as we watch future national dramas. The changes in policies and personnel will shortly move from the spectator spectacle consuming these short days before January 20, 2025, to the intensity of new elections with opponents bent on recovering their diminishing electorate and political power. In 2025, all Virginia House Delegate seats are up for election (100) as are the full slate of Virginia State offices. Time for Serious leaders and Serious actions.
Members of American Veterans Vote have earned sincere gratitude and some time to rest and recover before preparing to once again serve. But it can’t be End of Mission. We must remain vigilant. Time is our advantage for planning and preparation. After four election cycles completed, American Veterans Vote is conducting a leadership AAR in December. And we are assembling insights from Veteran voting data in 2024. We’ve learned much about the Veteran role in winning in Virginia. We remain convinced that Veterans are those Serious leaders capable of Serious actions – Vote, Volunteer, Lead.
VETERANS FORWARD
EVERY VETERAN EVERY VOTE
Bob Wood
LTG (R), USA
CEO, American Veterans Vote
by
Michael B. “Yama” Hoyes
COL (R), USAF
The “dust” has virtually settled, and the incoming administrations are projecting new assignments. Those folks have a pretty good idea of when their terms will end as well as when they will begin. Do you ever think about your life in that same regard? Of course, we don’t know when it will end, but what do you do with your “assignment”? Do you take time to praise the One who gave you life and set you in this particular time and place in history? Perhaps now is that time.
We are blessed to live in a nation where there can be a peaceful transfer of power between two seemingly diametrically opposed factions. We are blessed that WE THE PEOPLE have a say in OUR present outcome and OUR future. We are blessed that so many Veterans and those who support Veterans stood tall once again, not by facing down enemy forces, but by simply doing your civic duty to vote…THANK YOU!!
So, in this month of Thanksgiving, let us make time to give thanks and celebrate our activity. Let us thank the One who endows us with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Let us look to the future with anticipation and find even more folks that are “living in the shadows,” and bring them into the light.
From Psalms, “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song” Psalms 95:1-2
American Veterans Vote is very proud of data work regarding Virginia’s Veterans, their issues and needs, and their voting patterns. This work, led by Dr. Arch Turner, USN Retired and a Founding Member of AVV, keeps us focused on our goal of Every Veteran, Every Vote promoting change through the ballot box. As a former Navy pilot, he’d say it keeps us “on target!” It should be noted that AVV is the only Veteran oriented organization in the U.S. using such tools to understand and promote Veteran voting, all in accordance with our goals and principles! This work is part of our comparative advantage in the work we do with our members in Virginia.
While the 2024 voting data for our Virginia Veteran voters is not yet released, we can draw some comparisons from past Veteran voting behavior in voting years similar to the upcoming 2025 year. In 2025, all Virginia House Districts as well the full slate of state leaders will be up for election. This year matches 2021 when all HD seats and Governor Youngkin’s full team faced election. We know how these elections turned out! Alternatively, 2023 saw all HD seats again up for election but there was not a race for governor and his team on the slate. We looked at how a governor’s race impacted likely Republican Veteran voter turnout for both the State offices and the HD races. The tables below show what we found:
2021 Governor/Virginia House Election Increased R&RSW Veteran Turnout
The presence of a state race, particularly a governor’s race, dramatically impacts Veteran Voter turnout. This is an important finding for AVV’s planning in preparing for the 2025 race. Also, when data becomes available, we expect to see an increase in Veteran Voter turnout in this most recent 2024 election where former President Trump drew impressive increases in voter turnout in Virginia, particularly among white male voters, age 18-25 years, as well as Hispanic and Black voters overall. The propensity of Veterans to vote for Republican candidates has substantially increased. The last election for HD candidates in 2023 does not accurately predict turnout in 2025! The impact of our work to turn out Every Veteran, Every Vote can be dramatic!
American Veterans Vote, Inc. (AVV) is a volunteer team of Veterans and Veteran supporters. We are a 527 Political Action Committee with a nationally-focused mission to promote the political power of Veterans and Veteran supporters in support of our three strategic goals:
AVV’s goal is to help Veterans maximize their political voice by supporting Veterans’ ability to Vote, Volunteer and Lead.
“Every Veteran, Every Vote.”
We don’t speak FOR Veterans… we speak AS Veterans.
PAID FOR BY AMERICAN VETERANS VOTE
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