The Virginia Gubernatorial election is the current focal point of politics inside the Commonwealth and beyond. The race features two controversial candidates: former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe, who served the Commonwealth from 2014 to 2018, and Republican businessman, Glenn Youngkin, who has received President Donald Trump’s endorsement. But the 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial race also includes the first Black woman on the general election gubernatorial ballot in the Commonwealth’s history.

Princess Blanding is a teacher and activist who is running for governor on the ticket of the newly formed Liberation party. But who is Blanding and what does liberation mean to this new party?

According to Blanding, the Liberation Party’s platform is focused on freeing people from oppression systems. “When I think of liberation, I think of the current and historical oppression systems that people of color are forced to live under,” Blanding explained. She added that these oppressive systems also impact every working-class person, elaborating that systems like the Commonwealth’s criminal justice system, the housing system, and the food sovereignty system are unfortunately keeping many people in a state of poverty. Blanding hopes to use her platform with the Liberation Party to address the need for change in such systems.

The event that sparked Blanding’s call to public service was the murder of her brother Marcus-David Peters at the hands of Michael Nyantakyi, a Richmond City Police officer. Peters, who was unarmed, was killed during a mental health crisis, the only mental health crisis he had experienced. 

After her brother’s murder, Blanding began advocating for a bill which is now known as the Mental Health Awareness Response and Community Understanding Services Act, or the MARCUS Alert Act. The bill was brought to the General Assembly by Delegate Jeff Bourne (D-71) during the 2020 special legislative session, and it was signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam. The law encourages the inclusion of mental health professionals when police respond to mental health calls, but as Blanding has maintained, the version that passed was watered down and left too much discretion to police departments.

Blanding said that she was approached by Bourne as well as Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-9) about the bill after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. She was told that advocates would be involved in the process of drafting the legislation but was left shocked and disappointed when the fully drafted bill was sent to her. “The cake was already baked,” she said. She added that the most important aspects of the bill were stripped away and that everything throughout the legislative process was a fight, even getting her brother’s name attached to the bill. Aspects of the bill that were scrapped include: ensuring police officers let mental health specialists take the lead and only intervene if the situation becomes dangerous; ensuring that police officers use unmarked vehicles to avoid making the situation worse by causing more stress to the person in crisis; and ensuring police officers were not equipped with lethal weapons.

The version of the bill that passed allows every jurisdiction in Virginia to interact with the MARCUS Alert law differently. Blanding stated that this can lead to inconsistent results across the state. She cited that there have been incidents that have occurred since the law was passed that would have been prevented by the more robust policy that advocates had fought for. She specifically cited two separate situations in Culpeper County just months apart during which Black veterans were killed while experiencing mental health crises. Blanding said that without a more equitable policy, the system will remain the same as it always was. 

Blanding also said that the burden for advocating in these situations should not fall on families the way it did for her family and the family of Xzavier Hill, who was killed by a police officer in Goochland County in January of 2021.

When asked how she hoped to prevent murders similar to those of her brother, Tamir Rice, and George Floyd, Blanding stated she would start with ending qualified immunity, a policy that protects police officers from personal liability. Advocates of ending the policy have said that it will allow people to hold police officers accountable for their actions when they use violent force.

When asked about marijuana legalization, Blanding expressed a similar sentiment to her views on the Marcus-David Peters Act, saying that legislators are failing to pass a bill that fully addresses the issues. “We cannot have people in prison for marijuana use when it has been legalized,” she said. Past laws have been applied unequally and need to be corrected with current legislation. She went on to say that other unrelated laws need to be updated. It should not be up to police officers to exercise their own discretion or interpretation of a law, and she specifically cited Virginia’s prohibition of wearing masks in certain places. Blanding expressed that such laws leave too much power with the police.

Critical Race Theory has been a point of controversy in Virginia lately. The Republican nominee, Glenn Youngkin has expressed his opposition to the policy while former Governor Terry McAuliffe has refused to speak on the issue. The question many people are asking right now is whether Critical Race Theory should be implemented in Virginia’s public schools, and as a teacher, Blanding stated she believes it should be a part of every student’s learning experience. 

“We cannot move forward until we acknowledge our past,” she said. “We must teach the truths of our past in order to move forward with a brighter future.” 

When asked if she would consider herself the definitive anti-racist candidate in the race, Blanding responded by saying that she is the only anti-racist candidate on the gubernatorial ballot. “More importantly, I am the only candidate who is fighting to ensure that liberation is a human right for all Virginians,” she added, stating that she is the only candidate who is not funded by big corporations. “I am the only candidate putting the voices, needs, and concerns of all Virginians first and foremost, and that is what is most important to me.”

Blanding also stated that she is not a career politician, saying, “I don’t have previous experience. I’m an impacted Virginian […] of this unjust system.”

Blanding added that the progress Virginia has made in the past few years is mostly performative, explaining that she had been trying to work with legislators to create a bill to address her brother’s murder since it happened in 2018. Despite her efforts, legislators widely ignored her until the murder of George Floyd two years later. Blanding stated that she does not believe any of the progress is truly significant: “When you have the ability to do more and you don’t, that’s very problematic.”

Blanding also expressed her disappointment and discontent with the Democratic Party in the Commonwealth. “In Virginia, the Democratic Party has the majority in the House and the Senate and we have a Democratic Governor, so they can’t blame it on Republicans and say ‘oh, we don’t have the votes.’ They do. They’re comfortable with the status quo, and the status quo is keeping us in a very oppressed, dangerous state. I cannot sleep knowing that I’m not doing all that I can in my power to be a part of a positive change to bring equity and humanity as the pillars of all legislation.”

When asked why she would not run for House of Delegates as a Democrat as many critics have said that she should, Blanding responded, “I will not run under a party that I don’t believe in.” Blanding went on to criticize the Democratic Party for what she sees as a failure to bring significant change to the Commonwealth and a failure to fight for the people of Virginia.

One element of the gubernatorial race that has been a source of controversy has been the debates. The Virginia Bar Association was set to host a gubernatorial debate in late July, but because of a lack of cooperation from Glenn Youngkin’s campaign, it forced them to cancel the debate.

The controversy surrounding the debates has been heightened by the fact that Blanding has not received invitations to participate. As the first Black woman and the first member of the LGBTQ+ community to be on the gubernatorial ballot, Blanding and her campaign represent a changing Commonwealth. Blanding expressed that her voice should serve as a bullhorn for oppressed Virginians, and believes firmly that she belongs on the debate stage alongside McAullife and Youngkin.

Despite the efforts of her campaign to be granted access to the Virginia Bar Association’s debate, the organization canceled the debate due to Youngkin’s failure to accept.

Her opponents represent two very familiar factions in today’s political scene. McAuliffe is a close ally of the Clintons, having served as campaign co-chair for President Bill Clinton’s reelection campaign in 1996 and as campaign chair for then-Senator Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. Youngkin, on the other hand, is a businessman who shares a similar background with and echoes the political rhetoric of former President Donald Trump.

According to Blanding, the top three issues that her campaign focuses on are criminal justice, racial justice, and education. Blanding is the only third-party or independent candidate in a hyper-partisan election between an establishment Democrat and a far-right Republican. 
If you are interested in learning more about Princess Blanding, you can visit her website at https://www.princessblanding.com/.