Did unprecedented, rigged process used by Richmond City DEM Committee violate Voting Rights Act?

Goldman for Mayor - 28 September 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contact: 804-833-6313

Did the Richmond City Democratic Committee violate the Voting Rights Act by the questionable, unprecedented, and apparently rigged process it used to endorse Delegate Dwight Jones for Mayor this past Thursday?

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor issued the following:

"Surely Barack Obama and Paul Goldman aren't the only Democrats who realize that time has come for a new politics. I like Dwight, he is a terrific guy. But this is not about any one person, it is about the values and principles Democrats across America believe in.

Yesterday, following the procedures in the Virginia Democratic Party Plan, I asked the appropriate body to review the process.

In 2003 and 2004, some of the individuals who voted to break the rules last Thursday night were the same persons who said they didn't back the Elected Mayor law that I drafted because its passage had been done in violation of the Voting Rights Act. They heaped false personal abuse on myself and others.

So the question is: When will we stop the double standard in Richmond and in that regard, if the Richmond City Democratic Committee is incapable of believing in Dr. King's dream, then what does that say about the future of things in the River City?

As my filing showed - and as the additional filing will additionally show now that I am in possession of the RCDC bylaws - the rules passed to protect the rights of the minority, of the all the citizens of Richmond, were not followed last Thursday.

Having been the one person among the candidates running for Mayor who has a proven record of being willing to take the lead at historic moments to bring blacks and whites together so we get with the business of getting past the past, I can say this based on successful experience:

Two wrongs can never make things right, and in the end, the people who get most hurt by the public cynicism fueled by ill-advised action as the RCDC took last night are the very poor children and working families who have long looked to Democrats to level the playing field.