The Hard Red Line

This is my latest cartoon for the FXBG Advance.

Crystal Vanuch is a Republican and a Stafford County (Virginia) Supervisor. She’s currently for re-election and was a candidate for the GOP nomination for the U.S. House Virginia District 7, a seat currently held by Democrat Abigail Spanberger. She lost. But one of her positions in both campaigns is her opposition to affordable housing. You know, low-income housing. You know who moves into those neighborhoods. Wink wink. Nudge nudge. Yeah, those people.

Virginia is unique in that cities are independent of counties. Most cities in this state are not in counties. Northern Virginia is very blue and that stops at the Stafford County border. Stafford is red. Spotsylvania County, south of Stafford, is also very red. Stuck in the middle of those two red counties is Fredericksburg, a blue city with a population of a little over 28,000. Fredericksburg has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988. Fun fact: The Republican Party has only won the popular vote nationally once since 1988. Stafford has a population of over 160,000 and Spotsylvania has over 143,000. This means if you go to a bar in Fredericksburg, despite it being very blue, you’re liable to be sitting between two Trump-voting MAGAt dental-hygienically-challenged yee-haw fuckers. Hell, they might even be wearing red caps. I even walked into a bar a couple years ago and there was a fucker, not on stage, just sitting on a bar stool, wearing his MAGA cap while playing a guitar and singing songs he wrote about Trump. I found another bar.

I also found another location. I lived in Stafford for a short while and I HATED it. They probably hated me there too, so whatever. But I returned to the FXBG (and then did a short stint living with my girlfriend at the time in even bluer Prince William County, north of Stafford. I liked it).

The 7th Congressional District was red from 1971 until Spanberger took it in 2019. This was due to rapidly changing demographics and redistricting. It is not a safe Democratic district. Spanberger won it in 2018 with 50.34 percent, and in 2020 with 50.82, and in 2022 with 52.2. Her margins are inching higher each election, but each has been extremely tight. My point is that this is a strange area.

Every blue voter needs to get out and vote this November (local elections) and next November.

And don’t vote for the racists.

Creative note: Shout-out to my editor at the Advance for being bold. I gave him two options, both were hard hitters, and he chose this one. The first cartoon I drew for the Advance was also pretty bold. I think this is going to be a good gig for me.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: If you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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