Jesse Ferguson, former deputy press secretary for the Hillary Clinton campaign, said the "resistance" against President Donald Trump will start with the Virginia gubernatorial race.
Writing an op-ed column for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Ferguson said the race will offer voters a chance to express their true feelings about Trump.
"Democrats, independents and even some Republicans across the country are asking the same questions about how they should stand up, how they should fight back and how they should resist," he wrote.
"The election of Virginia's governor is the first chance the voters of this country will get to speak up about the Trump administration."
"The resistance will start in Richmond," he added, noting that Nov. 7, 2017 is the date Virginians choose their next governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 members of the House of Delegates.
"Many people have said that the 2018 midterm elections are our version of Star Wars' "New Hope" where we fight back against the Death Star. If that analogy is to hold true in 2018, then 2017 in Virginia is going to be our "Rogue One," where the seeds of the resistance are sown."
Ferguson maintained Virginia is the right place for the "decline of the new Trump administration to formally begin."
"… the motto of the Commonwealth of Virginia is Sic Semper Tyrannis — Thus Always to Tyrants. Where better to launch the resistance?"
The Washington Post reports that the Republican Governors Association recently committed to spending $5 million in the hope of winning the gubernatorial race in Virginia for the GOP.
The newspaper noted the size of the contribution suggests Republicans like their odds in the November race.
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