The Weekly Diplomatic Reach

by Brian Reach

A High-Profile Endorsements for Salim in Senate Race

In perhaps his highest-profile endorsement yet, Saddam Salim, the News-Press endorsed candidate in the race to represent Falls Church in the Virginia Senate, was endorsed by Eileen Filler-Corn, the first ever female or Jewish Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, and person “exploring” a run for Governor.

“As Speaker of the House of Delegates, I worked with Governor Northam and Democratic leadership to pass historic gun safety legislation to keep our communities safe. With each passing week it becomes even more clear that we must take further action to curb our nation’s gun violence epidemic, including passing an assault weapons ban.” said Filler-Corn in a statement sent by the Salim campaign on Tuesday.

She continued, “We need leaders in the Virginia Senate who will vote on the side of Virginians, not the gun lobby – Saddam Salim will be that leader. I know he will work to expand our progress to make our communities safer, and so much more. I am proud to endorse Saddam in the Democratic Primary for Senate District 37.”

Petersen Campaign Threatens Legal Action Over Use of “Fairfax Senator”

The campaign for Chap Petersen, a Virginian presumably born without the title “Fairfax Senator,” has contacted the campaign of opponent Saddam Salim threatening legal action if they use the terms “Fairfax Senator” and “Chap Petersen.”

Sources say that certain variations of the website FairfaxSenator.com, which serves as Petersen’s campaign website, were purchased and redirected to a page on the Salim website criticizing Petersen’s voting record, bit.ly/chapcrap, which includes abundant references. A full briefing is available at bit.ly/ChapCrap (case-sensitive).

Sources claim these variations included FairfaxSenator.org, though it no longer does, and we were unable to confirm while any redirect was active. A brief GoDaddy search shows multiple variations of the domain still available for purchase.

One can currently purchase all three of fairfaxsenator.info, fairfaxsenator.co, and fairfaxsenator.us for under $15.

The Salim campaign responded in an email, saying:

“All of what we’ve put on the campaign website salimforsenate.com/chap is linked to sources and all of it is factual, verifiable information. Senator Petersen claimed this website was deceptive, but it is clearly marked as our campaign website – what the Senator resists is the idea that he is accountable for all of his record, not just the part he likes to campaign on.

“He has threatened to sue us for using