Legislative Black Caucus reception

On the eve of the start of the extended session of the General Assembly, in which the legislators intend to tackle a number of issues in one day, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus held their annual legislative reception Tuesday night. Nearly all of the Democratic legislators were already in town and in attendance. I dare not try to mention all of the ones that I talked to, but I did have the opportunity to meet Paul Nichols for the first time. He’s an interesting guy, with a great sense of humor.

Folks were so busy chatting that I didn’t see anyone taking pictures. But once the announcements started, the cameras came out. Shown here are the members of the LBC in attendance. Not shown is MC Kenny Alexander.

Alexander, who reiterated to me that he still hasn’t made up his mind about running for LG, introduced all of the members of the legislature in attendance. The chairman of the LBC and future mayor of Richmond, Del. Dwight Jones, then took over, introducing our next Senator, Mark Warner and Governor Tim Kaine, both of whom make brief speeches.

Benny Lambert, the former Senator from Richmond, was honored last night for his prior service and presented a plaque.

It was a great event – the food was marvelous, by the way – and I’m glad I made the trip. Despite it being held on the night of the PA primary, there wasn’t a whole lot of talk about the presidential race, which was a good thing in my opinion. I did chat with some folks about the delegate selection for both our state convention (seems Virginia Beach had quite a time selecting their delegates) and for the national convention. I also discovered the identity of poster “Not Glen Crowshaw,” who has been busting my chops about supporting Hillary.

One last thing – seems some folks are already looking to 2010 and redistricting, in particular at the Congressional level. I heard last night that there is a real possibility of there being another majority-minority district. If that comes to pass, there’s a candidate in the wings!