So far, the leadership of the new Democratic majority in the House of Delegates has looked pretty Northern Virginian, but now there’s a exception to that rule — one of the Peninsula’s own, Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, is co-whip.
Nope, he’s not going to be wielding a cat-o-nine tails. It’s one of those quiet jobs that puts you at the very center of things, because it’s all about perhaps the most important thing in politics:
Counting.
Mullin, along with co-whip Alfonso Lopez, D-Arlington; chief deputy whip Hala Ayala, D-Woodbridge; and deputy whips Kathy Tran, D-Springfield, and Karrie Delaney, D-Centreville, will be responsible for tracking every single bill (upwards of 1,600 in an even-year 60-day session).
That’ll mean tallying support, on both sides of the aisle — counting — as well strategizing about when and whether to try to amend or kill a bill (more counting, this time in committees and subcommittees), planning for floor sessions, including talking points for bills and for ripostes to any debating points from The Other Side.
That is, Republicans.
Mullin’s a strong Democrat, but he does build coalitions across the partisan divide. Just in the last session, he worked closely with Del. Chris Collins, R-Winchester, on distracted driving legislation, and with Del. Chris Peace, R-Hanover, on a measure to open access to youth services that previously had been reserved for children only after they got into trouble with the law.
Then there was that bipartisan initiative of 2018, when he and Del. Emily Brewer, R-Suffolk, teamed up to form the House Wine Caucus. They celebrated on the very floor of the House with a happy “Cheers,” she and Mullin, clinking glasses with a splash of Williamsburg Winery’s Governor’s White (a semi-dry Riesling with a lot of bright fruit and multiple layers).
It may have marked the first time legislators quaffed — well, openly — on the floor.
Besides Mullin, Del. Cliff Hayes, D-Chesapeake, takes on the Democratic caucus’ deputy policy chair position to help steer the caucus through the 2020 session. Looking ahead to 2021, Del. Chris Hurst, D-Blacksburg, as campaign chair, and Del.-elect Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, as inclusion officer, will focus on re-electing and expanding the caucus going forward.
Though most of the Democratic caucus is from Northern Virginia, as is Speaker-designee Del. Eileen Filler Corn, she’s already picked legislators from RoVa (Capitol Square shorthand for the rest of Virginia) as chairs of a couple of key committees: Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, at Commerce and Labor, and Roz Tyler, D-Sussex, at Education.
Shad Plank is the Daily Press blog that tracks Virginia politics. It takes its name from the traditional Shad Planking political get-together, though hopefully it is tastier than the roasted fish featured at that Sussex County event. To contact Dave Ress with tips or questions, call 757-247-4535 or email dress@dailypress.com.
