Yesterday, on Sept. 21, Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak broke a story about the two candidates in the 2023 race for Virginia's 36th Senate District: Democrat Stella Pekarsky, who is also on the Fairfax County School Board, and Republican Julie Perry, who is a school teacher in Fairfax County.
Prepare to put on your shocked face because, whoa nelly, it looks like Pekarsky has been up to no good.
Stella Pekarsky, a school board member, is running for Virginia Senate against Julie Perry, a teacher
— Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) September 21, 2023
A Pekarsky donor filed a complaint against Perry with her school, which immediately consulted Pekarsky about how to proceed, then threatened to fire herhttps://t.co/8vO4ClDESX
What was the basis for the complaint? The fact that Perry had made conservative social media posts from her campaign account which mentioned her teaching experience. Specifically this tweet she posted in May was cited:
The far-left uses the literal mentality of children with Autism to abuse them in this manner. This is why children with Autism need greater protection. https://t.co/z1wf3oFexI
— Julie Perry for Virginia State Senate (SD -36) (@Julie4Senate) May 6, 2023
What part of that is so offensive that it would generate a complaint? To answer that, it helps to know that the two people who made the complaint to Perry's principal are Democrat activists with close ties to Pekarsky. Doesn't seem like a coincidence, does it? Those activists are Vanessa Hall and Robert Rigby. And if Rigby's name sounds familiar, he is part of a group that promised to 'help' gender-confused students by taking them away from their families and placing them with LGBTQ guardians.
His letter to the principal mentioned that he had filed a complaint with Virginia Child Protective Services (CPS). Because of course he did.
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So this guy IS the same Robert Rigsby @RobertRigbyJr1 who made the CPS complaint.. https://t.co/TP7uRf7Zpm
— Dr. Supreme Court Justice (@Troll_Troll4Fun) September 21, 2023
The principal, in violation of normal procedure, referred the complaint to the superintendent, who then turned to none other than Pekarsky herself for guidance about what to do regarding the complaint (which Rosiak confirmed based on her own emails he obtained through a FOIA request for her emails and calendar).
Ummm, what?
Later in May, the school principal then sent a disciplinary letter to Perry stating that 'parents and students have expressed concerns that your posts are hurtful to some members of the community.'
Parents and students. Some members of the community. Or maybe just two Pekarsky associates.
The letter included an ominous warning as well: 'Any action that brings the school system into disrepute may be just cause for dismissal.'
Rosiak outlines a tick-tock of the events that demonstrate Pekarsky's close involvement in the situation.
3:15pm Pekarsky donor emails complaint about Perry to Principal Lehman
— Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) September 21, 2023
4:02pm, Lehman forwards to Asst Supt Penny Gros seeking guidance
4:00-4:30: Call between Gros and Pekarsky "re: Julie Perry"
4:29pm: Gros tells Lehman she's ready to talk. Lehman threatens Perry with firing
Finally, the letter added one more hypocritical prohibition to Perry:
The discipline letter barred Perry from mentioning that she's a teacher in her Senate campaign. Pekarsky uses being a teacher as a top campaign point, despite not being a teacher or having a teaching license.
— Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) September 21, 2023
Pekarsky did not deny the call, instead suggesting Perry is a Nazi.
Sure she is, Stella. Everyone is a Nazi. There, there. (This writer is currently using his sarcasm font and rolling his eyes as he types.)
Experts said the conduct could constitute election interference and misconduct, saying it is improper for individual board members to be involved in the discipline of specific teachers—much less their own campaign opponents. It normally takes 6 layers of appeal to reach the board
— Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) September 21, 2023
Pekarsky must've been operating under the rule of: 'It's (D)ifferent when we do it.' But that might not fly this time in Virginia, given the current Attorney General.
The AG @JasonMiyaresVA has two compelling reasons to act against Stella Pekarsky.
— The Virginia Project UAC (@TVPUAC) September 22, 2023
The first is the most blatant, caught red handed act of election interference you'll ever see.
The second is the massive abusive of power by a school board member at FCPS.
As of this writing, AG Miyares has not issued a public statement based on numerous requests for him to investigate this matter, but given how determined he was in releasing the report about corruption in Loudoun County schools, he may already quietly be looking into it.
Outrageous, unethical attacks on @Julie4Senate by a member of the @fcpsnews School Board & the profess'l activist class that conspires w/Board members. @FairfaxDems will do anything to maintain power, including fraudulent, bad faith CPS (!) complaints that threaten livelihoods. https://t.co/bJlEztN8UN
— Mike Ginsberg (@MikeGinsberg6) September 21, 2023
Stella Pekarsky must resign from FCPS school board immediately. She had no legal role in internal discipline, so there is nothing to recuse herself from. That she knew about the plot proves she was part of it. This is a major violation of her duties as school board member.
— The Virginia Project UAC (@TVPUAC) September 21, 2023
@Stella4Senate should step aside, this behavior is disqualifying for state senate and for school board. Anybody with half a brain could see that @Julie4Senate post did not violate county regulations. There was no personally identifiable information posted for any student.
— Mike Burch 🇺🇸 (@mrburch68) September 21, 2023
Yeah, don't count on any Democrat voluntarily accepting responsibility or holding themselves accountable. The likelihood of that happening is about the same as the chances that Joe Biden visits East Palestine, Ohio, this week.
The 2023 statewide elections in Virginia begin today with early voting, leading up to Election Day on November 7. Republicans are trying to hold a slim majority in the House of Delegates and win just a few seats needed to take control of the Senate. Democrats opposed to Governor Glenn Youngkin are pulling out all the stops to keep the Senate and take back the House.
Unfortunately, 'pulling out all the stops' apparently includes some highly nefarious (and arguably criminal, according to Virginia law) actions by Stella Pekarsky. We suppose she should at least be given credit for straight-up intimidation and election interference and not raising money on an X-rated website, like some candidates we could mention.
September doesn't seem to be great time to be a Virginia Democrat.
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