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FIRST ON FOX: Virginia Republicans offered their own response to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s Democratic Party rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union, featuring a descendant of the famously outspoken Founding Father Patrick Henry.
Del. Anne Ferrell Tata, R-Virginia Beach, is a direct descendant of Gov. Patrick Henry’s sister Elizabeth, a lineage Tata said stems from the first days of the Old Dominion and one she does not often discuss.
But, as Tata mentioned in recent floor remarks, Henry — famous for his "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech to the Second Virginia Convention at St. John’s Church of Richmond in 1775 — proved that "concern about the government silencing its citizens is not new."
In her response to Spanberger, Tata condemned the governor’s partisan interest in redistricting out all but one Virginia congressional Republican, suggesting it is the new way some politicians are trying to silence citizens.
"A few years ago, Virginians did something rare. We agreed the old redistricting system wasn't working. Too much power in the hands of politicians, too little trust from the public," Tata said.
"Voters approved a constitutional reform to remove politicians from the process and Governor Spanberger, who was in Congress at the time, praised that change and spoke at length about the corrosive effects of gerrymandering on our democracy. It wasn't easy. It required compromise. It required restraint and it required trust."
Tata noted that Indiana, a Republican-led state, and legislative leaders in Maryland, a Democrat-led state, both opposed similar efforts to create a map that sweeps away the political minority’s voice.
"Both chose to respect the rules. Both chose to keep the promise they made to voters," she said.
"Here in Virginia, our governor and her allies faced the same test. And they chose power instead."
"This isn't about maps. It isn't about party. It's about whether reform means something when it costs you."
Tata said that when leaders like Spanberger "abandon voter-approved reform" they prove why voters do not trust their political system.
"Virginians deserve leaders who keep their word, especially when it's hard. That is the standard, and it should apply to all of us," Tata said.
In prior remarks to the state House chamber, Tata said that Henry warned against a government that "grows too strong and too indifferent to the natural rights of its citizens; rights bestowed by God."
"That warning remains as poignant as ever. Every voter deserves an equal vote in this government, regardless of zip code."
VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS CHARGE 'POWER GRAB' AS DEMOCRAT WHO BACKED REDISTRICTING RUNS FOR CONGRESS
Henry, who was born in Hanover and lived most of his life at "Red Hill" in Brookneal, was Virginia’s first governor — and his name can be found throughout the commonwealth — from the formerly conjoined Patrick and Henry counties far to the southwest to US-1 being divided into Patrick and Henry Streets in the Washington suburb of Alexandria.
In his famous address, Henry warned that armed conflict with England was becoming inevitable, and that lawmakers assembled on Church Hill should agree to arm the colony for its own defense.
"I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death," Henry boomed as he concluded his remarks.
Earlier in his speech, Henry said that men are naturally "apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts."
"Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it."
That address has gone on to live as one of early America’s most important events, and is often recited around its anniversary in Richmond.
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment.
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