Sen. Saslaw to face challenger in Democratic primary

Taeb

Minority Leader Dick Saslaw, who has represented the 35th district in the Virginia Senate since 1980, will have a challenger in the Democratic primary next June.

Yasmine Taeb, a human rights attorney who advocates for refugees and asylum seekers as the senior policy counsel at the Center for Victims of Torture, announced plans to run against Saslaw.

Taeb is the first Muslim woman elected to the Democratic National Committee, and reflects the more progressive wing of the party. She immigrated to the United States from Iran as a child and has a strong focus on immigrants’ rights.

The 35th district covers parts of Annandale, Falls Church, Bailey’s Crossroads, Lincolnia, and Springfield.

Taeb is a new resident of the district, having moved from Arlington to Falls Church earlier this year. She grew up in Coral Springs, Fla., and attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of a mass shooting in February.

She plans to make Saslaw’s pro-business voting record, and in particular, his close ties with Dominion Energy, a key part of her campaign.

According to a blog post in Blue Virginia by Todd Smyth, Saslaw is the General Assembly’s biggest supporter of Dominion Energy, including the company’s project to build a massive, unneeded fracked-gas pipeline with the cost covered by taxpayers.

Smyth quotes an AP story stating the company and its executives “have given about $350,000 to Saslaw in the last 15 years, by far his biggest source of campaign funds.”

While it’s difficult to beat an incumbent, especially a long-serving leader in an off-year primary, Smyth believes Taeb has a good chance. The 35th district is highly liberal and diverse, has about 5,500 more female than male voters, and is one of the few “majority minority” Senate districts in Virginia.