Qasim Rashid Hosts Six In-Person Events Throughout the First District
7/28/2020
“We believe that we are the first campaign to restart in-person events in the 1st District,” said Ayodele Okeowo, campaign manager
STAFFORD, VA - Qasim Rashid, Democratic Candidate for Congress in VA-01, spoke over the weekend at public parks and churches in six counties throughout the 1st District. Each event had a question and answer portion where voters consistently asked about broadband internet access and other important issues.
“I believe broadband should be treated like a utility,” said Rashid.
“People are hurting right now from the federal government’s inadequate response to COVID-19. This global pandemic is complicated by the fact that so many of us in VA-01 do not have access to reliable broadband internet” Rashid continues. “Working families are struggling to educate their children during this unprecedented time and access telehealth options. Rob Wittman is beholden to corporate interests, you can see that in his response to COVID-19 as well as his inaction over the last 12 years on broadband.”
The events drew hundreds of attendees over the course of the weekend.
“We believe that we are the first campaign doing live in-person events in the commonwealth,” says campaign manager Ayodele Okeowo. “We implemented safety precautions to ensure that folks could participate safely.The town halls gave voters the chance to get to know Qasim and learn about ways to get involved with the campaign. We’re proud to have hosted events that were safe, well attended, and substantive”
“Rob Wittman is not engaging with the public like Qasim is, in fact, he’s nowhere to be found” said Communications Director Grace Hagerty. “We have invited him to six debates and he’s refused to respond with an answer. The Wittman campaign has also failed to respond to our call to disavow the Islamophobic push polls circulating a few weeks ago, and their silence is deafening.”
“This weekend, our campaign did the difficult task of mobilizing voters safely during COVID-19,” Hagerty continued. “We’re proud of the substantive conversations that were held and it’s unfortunate that the current representative of the 1st Congressional District consistently chooses to disengage.”
Masks were required at every event and social distancing measures were enforced. Each event concluded with “socially distanced group selfies” which many attendees shared on social media.
Media Contact: Grace Hagerty, [email protected]
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