Flip The States: Virginia Edition
With all due respect to the 2020 presidential candidates, we have major elections happening this year. On November 5 2019, 25 RFS endorsed candidates are running for state and municipal seats across Virginia.
For those of you that don’t know, this is a BFD.
In 2020 the U.S. Census will commence and Virginia — one of the most heavily gerrymandered states in the country — will begin the process of redrawing legislative and congressional district lines, determining voting representation for over 8 million people.
In order to ensure Virginia voters get a fair shake in the redistricting process, we have to elect progressive leaders up and down the ballot. The Republican Party currently holds a one-seat majority in both houses, but all of that could change this November. We have one shot to get this right and make sure Virginians have fair representation for the next 10 years.
Take a look at the 25 RFS-endorsed Virginia candidates running for state and local seats this November and make sure you get involved this fall.
Volunteer, donate, just do something to help us #FlipVABlue. __________________________________________________________________
State Legislative Candidates
Jennifer Carroll Foy
Virginia House of Delegates, District 2
www.jennifercarrollfoy.org
Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy currently represents the Second House District, which contains parts of Prince William and Stafford County. She was the first public defender to ever serve in the Virginia General Assembly and now devotes her time as an attorney advocate representing abused and neglected children in court. Delegate Carroll Foy was also a foster mother for eight years. Because she believes so strongly that no child should be without a nurturing home, she started the Foundation for Foster and Orphan Children, a nonprofit committed to building better futures for orphan and foster children. Additionally, the Delegate was one of the first African-American women to graduate from Virginia Military Institute. Delegate Carroll Foy was born in Petersburg, VA, and currently resides in Woodbridge with her husband and twin boys, Xander and Alex.
Amanda Pohl
Virginia State Senate, District 11
www.pohlforvirginia.com
Amanda was born and raised in Virginia’s 11th Senate District, where she and her husband now raise their daughters 10 miles from the elementary school Amanda attended. Amanda is a nonprofit team director, adjunct graduate social work instructor, and National President of Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. A graduate of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, she served for over a decade as a hospital chaplain. Amanda has worked for healthcare for all Virginians, voting rights to formerly incarcerated citizens, privacy rights of sexual and domestic violence survivors, and more in her career.
Chris Hurst
Virginia House of Delegates, District 12
www.hurst4delegate.com
Chris L. Hurst is the Delegate for the 12th District in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing parts of Montgomery and Pulaski Counties and all of Giles County and the City of Radford. He was elected in November of 2017 to a two-year term and currently serves on the House Education and Science and Technology Committees. In 2018, he was selected to serve on the House Democratic Caucus Campaign Committee and as Communication Chair. Virginians, increase teacher salaries, and pass redistricting reform. During the 2019 legislative session, he passed nine bills including measures to address college affordability, increasing economic development for Southwest Virginia, and ensuring access for people with disabilities. Prior to serving as Delegate, Chris was evening anchor of WDBJ7 for six years, telling the stories of people in southwest Virginia. During that time he reported on mental health and criminal justice, which are now some of his top legislative priorities.
Danica Roem
Virginia House of Delegates, District 13
www.delegatedanicaroem.com
Virginia state Del. Danica Roem (D-13th) represents the City of Manassas Park and the Prince William County portions of Haymarket, Gainesville and Manassas in the Virginia House of Delegates. Born at Prince William Hospital in Manassas in 1984, Del. Roem is a step-mom and a lifelong resident of the 13th District from Manassas. She covered western Prince William County as the lead reporter of the Gainesville Times/Prince William Times from 2006–2015.
After winning a historic election in 2017 to become the first out-and-seated transgender state legislator in American history, Del. Roem joined a bi-partisan coalition of state lawmakers in 2018 to expand Medicaid to 400,000 uninsured Virginians and raise teacher pay throughout the commonwealth. In 2019, she authored three bills that passed the General Assembly to make local government more transparent (HB 2375), free and reduced school meals more accessible (HB 2400), and child support orders more accurate (HB 2339). She continues to advocate for fixing Route 28, increasing mass transit, ending school meal shaming, increasing government transparency and making Virginia a more inclusive commonwealth.
Eric Stamps
Virginia House of Delegates, District 14
www.ericstamps.com
Eric Stamps is running for the 14th district House of Delegates in Virginia. Wages are too low for working people in Southside Virginia. Eric wants to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. Eric wants to fully and equally fund our education system. He also will work to protect our environment from the effects of climate change and provide better healthcare for all. It’s time for a New Way Forward in Southside Virginia.
Flourette Ketner
Virginia State Senate, District 19
www.floketner.com
Flo is running for State Senate in the 19th District, which includes all of Salem City and Floyd county, and parts of Bedford, Carroll, Franklin, Montgomery, Roanoke, and Wythe Counties. A wife and stay-at-home mother of three young children, she has lived in the New River Valley for over 30 years. She graduated from Floyd County High School and Radford University, with a B.S. in English and currently serves on the board of a budding non-profit as their treasurer. She feels it is time the district is prioritized and given strong opportunities to develop and succeed.
Jennifer Lewis
Virginia House of Delegates, District 20
www.jenniferlewisfordelegate.com
Jennifer Lewis is running for Virginia’s 20th house district. Jennifer is a mental health worker, community advocate, and leader in the fight against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. She’s been a civically active member of her community, volunteering for various local groups, serving on boards and commissions, and fighting on the front lines for the values of the valley. Jennifer spent the early part of her professional career working in the Virginia public school system, providing mental health services to at-risk youth. She currently works with adults with mental illness who are transitioning from inpatient care back into the community.
Kelly Fowler
Virginia House of Delegates, District 21
www.delegatefowler.com
Kelly Fowler is the Virginia House of Delegates Democratic nominee in the 21st District, which encompasses parts of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. She is a real estate broker where she leads a team of women specializing in military family relocations and a former public school teacher. She is a lifelong resident of Virginia Beach where she currently lives with her husband and two daughters.
Jennifer Woofter
Virginia House of Delegates, District 22
www.jenniferwoofterfordelegate.com
As a sustainability consultant, Jennifer helps organizations grow and create jobs by improving labor conditions, reducing harmful pollution and partnering with communities to build vibrant local economies. As a Delegate, she will bring people together to find win-win solution for living-wage jobs, affordable access to healthcare and expanded rural broadband internet.
Jennifer has worked to cut government waste, fraud and abuse as a committee staffer in the US Senate. She’s a former foster parent and now volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in the child welfare system. She lives in Lynchburg with her husband and their three children.
Jennifer Kitchen
Virginia House of Delegates, District 25
www.electjenniferkitchen.com
Jennifer is running for the Virginia House of Delegates to give voice to the underserved rural communities of the Commonwealth. Focusing on farmers, addressing the needs of rural infrastructure, and creating equity in education funding across the Commonwealth, Jennifer has clear priorities on important matters for her first term. For the first time in 24 years this district is an open seat and with the swiftly turning tides of rural progressives Jennifer is the perfect candidate to bring the needs of the people to Richmond.
Ronnie Ross
Virginia State Senate, District 27
www.ronnieross.com
Ronnie Ross is a high school teacher and administrator who believes that Together, We Can Do Better, and, in doing so, create the communities in which we want to live. Inspired by the birth of his son and prompted by his wife, Ronnie is taking on an incumbent who, the last time there was a real challenge, won by only 600 votes out of 50,000 cast. He will fight for our schools, our environment, our healthcare, and our voting rights, all the while being a fierce advocate for criminal justice reform, equality, and the working class.
Joshua Cole
Virginia House of Delegates, District 28
www.jgcole.org
Joshua Cole is a Pastor, Community Activist and Son of the 28th District. He currently serves as the President of the Stafford County NAACP, A Member of the Stafford School Board Equity Diversity and Opportunity Committee and a host of other local community endeavors. As someone who grew up in the district he’s currently running for, he understands the growth and change that has faced and will face the 28th District. In 2017, he ran for the 28th District and narrowly lost by 73 votes, he’s back and ready to win to ensure the Virginia General Assembly represents ALL Virginians.
Qasim Rashid
Virginia State Senate, District 28
www.rashidforva.com
Qasim is running for Virginia Senate in the 28th District. He is a human rights attorney, an author, a media and book consultant, a speaker, and a husband and father.
Qasim is running on a platform to increase education funding, expand healthcare and healthcare access, ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and reform our criminal justice system to one based on reformation, not retribution.
Morgan Goodman
Virginia House of Delegates, District 55
www.goodmanfordelegate.com
Morgan Goodman is running to represent Virginia’s 55th House of Delegates District because she believes we need legislators who will do more listening and less talking so we can find common ground. Married with two children, Morgan holds a bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology and a master’s degree in Environmental Policy. She has worked to protect the environment in the non-profit sector, for the federal government, and currently as a state employee. Morgan is active in her community and is a Vice President on the PTA at her children’s school and co-leader for her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop.
Sally Hudson
Virginia House Of Delegates, District 57
www.sallyforvirginia.com
Sally Hudson is an economics professor and community organizer in Charlottesville, Virginia. She teaches statistics at UVA and studies some of the most pressing economic challenges we face, from workers’ stagnant wages to mounting student debt. Sally understands how our broken economics is distorting our democracy, from the lax campaign finance laws that empower corporate interests to the rigged district lines that deny us all competitive elections. She’s running for Virginia’s House to deliver progressive reforms that secure a real and responsive democracy and genuine economic opportunity for all.
Lindsey Dougherty
Virginia House of Delegate, District 62
www.lindseydougherty.com
I come from a working class family who values hard work and effective, representative government. I am a mom to two young children, one of which has an autoimmune disorder that impacts his physical and mental health. We regularly have to fight with our insurance company to have treatments covered and I believe that families should not have to choose between quality affordable healthcare and putting food on the table. Professionally, I am a budget analyst for local government, overseeing a portfolio of departments totaling $85M of annual operating and capital budgets. Through this work, and in my previous work in juvenile justice and working on health outcomes at the local and state level, I firmly believe that the changes our community needs are not going to come from Virginia’s current leadership. A new, more representative, voice is needed for our children and education, our families and healthcare, and in comprehensive criminal justice reform.
Schuyler Vanvalkenburg
Virginia House of Delegates, District 72
www.schuylervanvalkenburg.squarespace.com
Schuyler VanValkenburg is a public school teacher who is running for re-election as Delegate to fight for strong public schools, to create 21st Century jobs, and to level the playing field for all citizens. In his past two years as west Henrico’s delegate, he has shown the same drive and energy in representing his constituents that he has in his educational career. Delegate VanValkenburg has sponsored bills establishing better standards for school safety, expanding the role of counselors and nurses in helping to care for the whole student, and fought for SOL reform. He also has sponsored bills to make it easier for Virginians to vote absentee if they need to, and harder for politicians to gerrymander themselves safe district lines and undermine fair electoral
competition. Finally, he’s sponsored legislation large and small to help Virginians striving for better careers by limiting non-compete agreements and preventing professional licenses from being suspended for unpaid student debts.
Suhas Subramanyam
Virginia House of Delegates, District 87
www.suhasforvirginia.com
Suhas is a Loudoun County-based attorney, small business owner, and volunteer firefighter who served as a White House technology advisor to President Obama. He has dedicated his life to serving his community and solving some of the country’s biggest challenges, and now he’s running for the House of Delegates because he truly believes everyone’s voice should matter in their government. Suhas has spent his entire career fighting for progressive values, and if elected, he vows to continue that work in Richmond.
Jessica Foster
Virginia House of Delegates, District 88
www.jessfoster.org
Jess Foster is a native Virginian running for the House of Delegates in the 88th District. Starting her legal career as a domestic violence prosecutor, she eventually opened her own criminal defense practice where she focuses on juvenile law. Jess lives in Remington with her husband, two young children, two dogs and four donkeys. As a litigation attorney who is skilled at negotiation and advocacy, she recognizes the need for active representation for the constituents that she would represent in Richmond, much like she does for her clients.
Phil Hernandez
Virginia House of Delegates, District 100
www.philforvirginia.com
Phil Hernandez is a Hampton Roads native, an attorney, and a champion for working class families. After becoming the first in his family to graduate from college, he dedicated his career to public service. Over the last decade, he has been an advocate for the environment, represented low-income families on the brink of homelessness, and advanced the civil rights of people all over the country.
Phil is running to build an inclusive future that opens up meaningful doors of opportunity for everyone and recognizes the dignity of all people.
Municipal Elections
Ian Serotkin
Loudoun County School Board, Blue Ridge District
www.ianserotkin.org
Ian is running for Loudoun County School Board after years of advocating — successfully — for improvements in Loudoun County Public Schools. As a result of Ian’s efforts as a leader of the More Recess for Virginians advocacy group, Virginia passed a new state law in April 2018 that allows local school districts more flexibility in providing recess, and the LCPS school board passed a new recess policy in June 2018 that more than doubled the amount of recess time students receive in elementary school. Ian’s biggest priorities include reducing overcrowding, lowering class sizes, and paying teachers a living wage so they can afford to live in Loudoun County.
Justin Hannah
Loudoun County, VA Sheriff
www.justinhannah.com
Justin is running for Sheriff of Loudoun County, Virginia. If elected, he would be the first African-American to hold the position in the history of the county. He is a commander of a Military Intelligence Unit in the U.S. Army Reserves and federal government contractor. In his decade of military service and intelligence work, Justin has regularly come face to face with public safety issues like the protection of people and property. He currently commands a unit that is the only of its kind in the U.S. Army. It has the unique mission of providing rule of law support and policing to areas where they are deployed. He hopes to bring all he is learned in the military to his campaign to address Loudoun County’s failing drug policy, the mismanagement of the Sheriff’s Office and the corrosive partisanship that has plagued the County’s policing.
Kenny Boddye
Prince William County Board of Supervisors, Occoquan District
www.kennyforsupervisor.com
Kenny is the former Chairman of the Occoquan District Democrats and Prince William NAACP Criminal Justice Committee, and an advocate for social justice. Kenny comes from a low income background and due to key mentors and hard work, graduated from Georgetown University. After losing his mother to chronic homelessness and substance abuse, Kenny decided to devote his life to fighting for the most vulnerable. He also discovered that his maternal ancestors were enslaved Africans brought to Virginia over 200 years ago. Kenny will fight for more equitable schools, transit options, better jobs and more county services in Prince William County.
Michael Payne
Charlottesville City Council,
At-Large michaelpayneforcville.com
Michael is a community organizer running for Charlottesville City Council in Virginia. He worked for Habitat for Humanity Virginia and co-founded Indivisible Charlottesville to fight for progressive change throughout Virginia. As a City Councilor, Michael will champion truly affordable housing — including a historic investment in public housing, partnerships with local nonprofits, and a comprehensive rewrite of the city’s zoning codes. Michael has also led the discussion on municipal action on climate change and racial and economic equity in the Charlottesville community. If elected, he’ll push for 100% clean and renewable energy and an end to racial inequities in city schools.
Tia Walbridge
Loudoun Board of Supervisors, Blue Ridge District
www.tia4va.com
Tia is a sheep farmer, mom, and small business owner running to represent Blue Ridge on the Loudoun Board of Supervisors. She is a Governor’s Appointee to the Virginia Agricultural Council and is a board member of Loudoun County Farm Bureau. She also serves on the board of Dandelion Meadow, a nonprofit that provides facilities for women battling addiction in Loudoun County. Tia is running to protect Loudoun’s active agriculture and green spaces, invest in our public schools, and repair our crumbling infrastructure. She’s endorsed by Rep. Jennifer Wexton, several state and local representatives, Loudoun Education Association, and Vote Mama.
