candidate essay

Natalie Roy: Why you should vote for me

By Opinion Contributor
Arlington County Board candidate Natalie Roy (courtesy photo)

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Natalie Roy, candidate for Arlington County Board.

I am running to bring new energy, transparency, and responsiveness to the County Board. It is crucial to have someone on the County Board with experience in the trenches, who knows the county well, and tells it like it is. With me, what you see is what you get. I am not shy about asking the tough questions or challenging the status quo. I will focus on improving our public engagement process and bringing people together.

As a 32-year resident in Arlington, I have decades of community experience including serving as the President of my neighborhood’s civic association, as a PTA president, as an active member of the County’s covid vaccination committee, and as the coach of the Yorktown girls’ varsity tennis team for 17 years.  I also helped organize opposition to a gun store in our neighborhood.

My wide range of professional executive experience includes running two national environmental organizations, one statewide handgun control group, and working on recycling for a state agency and a municipality. As the recycling director for the glass container industry, I worked with union members at glass plants across the country to promote recycling. I founded and still manage a top-performing real estate business in Arlington, which gives me real-world insights into housing and development.  As a lifelong Democrat, I have worked and volunteered on countless progressive national, state, and local campaigns.

At the risk of some blowback from local basketball circles, I am a proud graduate of Duke University.  My husband Nikki and I raised three daughters who all went to Arlington County Public Schools. Nikki and I met 42 years ago working for the same environmental group. He is still saving the world, fighting climate change. We both know that reducing our carbon footprint should be a priority at every level of government.

I got out of my comfort zone and launched this, my first run for public office, because I opposed the County’s recent sweeping zoning changes. Although the new zoning changes likely will benefit my real estate business, they would be harmful to the community, and that is my first priority. This election is about whether we in Arlington want unplanned density for the sake of density throughout the County or environmentally sound, transit-oriented development that meaningfully promotes affordability and diversity. I support smart growth and our community.

Far from the isolated issue some claim it to be, Arlington’s current ‘Up-Zoning Everywhere’ approach with no real goals or guardrails, is a central issue. These density dynamics will affect our County’s economy, our environment and tree canopy, infrastructure, transit, schools, and emergency response for decades into the future.

This watershed election is a vote on who has the best vision for Arlington. I have the requisite experience, high creativity, strong leadership skills, and deep community roots to serve on the County Board and hit the ground running on day one. I have no political aspirations other than to serve on the County Board to provide the unifying leadership and transparency critically needed now.  I would be honored to receive your #1 Vote.

Susan Cunningham: Why you should vote for me

By Opinion Contributor
Susan Cunningham (campaign photo)

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Susan Cunningham, candidate for Arlington County Board.

My name is Susan Cunningham. I am a common-sense problem-solver who will reconnect our community and young people, get housing right, and get the basics right.

I am running for County Board because I think Arlington’s best days are ahead and we need elected leaders with experience and common sense to bring us together to get there.

The recent missing middle housing debates and challenges facing our youth highlight that we have a lot of work to do to bring our community back together. I am ready to represent each of you on the county board to do just that. I’ve worked with many of you through professional and volunteer roles since I first moved to Arlington in 1994 (“back in the 1900s” as my daughters remind me) as an:

  • Experienced Problem-solver: Trained as an engineer, I am first and foremost a creative problem-solver. I know how to frame a problem, bring everyone to the table, and deliver solutions, including infrastructure investments and progressive environmental goals. Whether serving as a founding member of the Joint Facilities Advisory Commission, refurbishing a Donaldson Run rambler for a gigantic Afghani refugee family, serving as a founding member of the Joint Facilities Advisory Commission, or leading a divided community through the Dorothy Hamm Middle School project, I get things done for and with this community.
  • Common Sense Leader: I combine executive experience and common sense to solve complex problems and create a stronger, inclusive Arlington. As turn-around CEO of housing provider AHC, I know the many tools we need to get housing and planning right for our community. As a seasoned executive at U.S. Treasury and McKinsey, I know how to manage billion-dollar budgets and large organizations through challenges and change.
  • Long-time Neighbor: My husband, Philip, and I started our adult lives in Arlington right out of college. Arlington has been our home for over 25 years. Along with our two school-aged daughters, we are active members at Saint Mary’s Episcopal. As the Executive Director at Arlington Thrive (formerly AMEN), I know the challenges many in our community face and the strengths and challenges in our social services delivery.

As a County Board member I will prioritize:

  • Smart growth and planning that gets housing right – with diverse options for ownerships and rental across life stages and incomes. This includes monitoring and revising the newly adopted Expanded Housing Options policy to create a comprehensive, common sense housing plan.
  • Reconnecting our community – especially our young people, whose formative years  have been disrupted by the pandemic, political unrest, and climate anxiety. This means investing in out-of-school programming, expanding recreation center hours, and improving our bus network for all users.
  • Transparent, good government that gets the basics right – creating a vibrant and desirable community for residents and businesses and responding quickly when something needs attention. This includes a defined response time to resident inquiries, expanded data access, and improvements to permitting and site review processes.

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Maureen Coffey: Why you should vote for me

By Opinion Contributor
Arlington County Board candidate Maureen Coffey (courtesy photo)

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Maureen Coffey, candidate for Arlington County Board.

Arlington is an exceptional community. It has been an overwhelming privilege to spend the last six months talking to people from every part of our community.

I’m running to be your next County Board member because I want to do my part to keep Arlington exceptional. I believe that everyone in Arlington, no matter your background or stage of life, should see a place for themselves in our future. To do this, we need a plan that centers the needs of people in our community and protects and values Arlington’s core identity. We need to balance fixing immediate concerns and supporting a vision of our future.

As a member of my civic association, a former Civic Federation board member, and a leader among the Arlington Democrats, I know Arlington can and should provide better transparency and more effective engagement.  We need to develop overlapping layers of communication that reach across different demographics to bring people into the conversation, meeting them where they are and recognizing that the people closest to the problem should also be most involved in creating the solutions.

Housing availability and affordability remains a critical issue, and as a renter, I know first hand the current dysfunction of housing in Arlington. At the same time we need to consider the impacts of increasing housing and population on our schools, greenspaces, services like child care and mental health, and infrastructure. Our planning and investments should recognize the many interconnections between our areas of need and work together to address the big picture alongside the individual pieces. We should accept that our role is to assess and reassess – and yes, sometimes change course if there are unintended outcomes.

My professional life is spent working on policies that support the real needs of families with an emphasis on gender, racial, and economic equity. Working on family economic stability gives me the skills to see the connections between our issues and think both systematically and proactively about how to solve problems. That expertise is why Governor Ralph Northam appointed me to Virginia’s Family and Children’s Trust to advise on policies that create stable families, support child well-being, and prevent and treat family violence. My experience in both my professional and volunteer roles prepares me to address our biggest issues here in Arlington.

As a member of the County Board, my goal will be developing a plan that enables us to create the community we want, together. To do this well, we have to engage everyone in our community, bringing people to the table to share their perspectives and listen to others.  I am asking for you to join my vision for moving Arlington forward by ranking me on your ballot.

To learn more about me, my specific policy priorities, endorsements, and more, please visit MaureenCoffey.com

JD Spain: Why you should vote for me

By Opinion Contributor
County Board candidate JD Spain (courtesy photo)

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from JD Spain, candidate for Arlington County Board.

My entire career has been focused on public service because of a sense of duty and service that my parents instilled in me at a very young age. We’re at a pivotal point in our community where proven leadership is of the utmost importance to effectively serve and earn the electorate’s trust. As a 14-year resident of the Penrose Community who has worked diligently with many stakeholders over the years, I have seen firsthand how focusing on single issues fails us. Without diversity of thought and robust community input in the public policy process, we are left with a deeply divided community. That’s why I am a uniter of people and the one candidate who has a track record of bringing people together. Moreover, I am the only candidate with broad working experience at the highest levels of our local, state, and federal governments, internationally, and with nonprofits. I will be ready to lead on day one.

I care deeply about addressing the mental health care needs of Arlington residents, especially because children and young adults are struggling. I am laser-focused on  increasing our affordable housing, protecting our environmental resources for the next generation, and improving community safety and economic security for our businesses, residents, and seniors. I want to help build an innovative economy where all Arlingtonians may thrive.

What will that look like? You can expect from me faithful and transparent stewardship of our budget, our environmental resources, and a push for more sustainability in our governmental practices. You can expect better pedestrian and public transit infrastructure so that everyone – younger, older, with different levels of mobility – can get around safely in our communities. You can expect me to take a thoughtful approach towards increasing housing affordability and opportunity so that the children we educate here can start their adulthood here, and so that our workforce spends their dollars locally to benefit our economy, not just in commuting from elsewhere. You can expect me to protect workers’ rights against wage theft and exploitation. You can expect an experienced leader in civil rights and inclusion who will tackle the systemic barriers that prevent our residents from unleashing their full potential. Finally, you can expect focus from day one on our population’s acute mental health needs, with creative solutions to provide support that helps improve and save lives.

I will collaborate extensively with our community to shape an Arlington that’s more innovative, inclusive, sustainable, affordable, and united, pulling upon my 30+ year track record of thoughtful public service. I served our country honorably for 26 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring in December 2016. The hallmarks of a Marine are honor, courage, and commitment, and those characteristics are part of my moral fabric. I will bring these qualities and values to the County Board, always putting people first.

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Jonathan Dromgoole: Why you should vote for me

By Opinion Contributor
Arlington County Board candidate Jonathan Dromgoole (courtesy photo)

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Jonathan Dromgoole, candidate for Arlington County Board.

Hello, my name is Jonathan Dromgoole. I am a renter, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and an immigrant from Guadalajara, Mexico. My family came to the United States with the hope of achieving the American Dream: buying a home, starting a small business, and ensuring the best education for their children. I am dedicated to making the American Dream a reality for all residents of Arlington.

As the first person in my family to attend college, I had the privilege of studying at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service for my undergraduate degree and later returning to the McCourt School of Public Policy for graduate school. During my time as an undergraduate, I met my now-husband, Juan. Both of us being immigrants—him from Venezuela—we have experienced living in different cities, but we chose to make Arlington our home over half a decade ago.

I am running to be your Democratic nominee for the county board in order to bring our diverse voices to the decision-making table and develop community-driven policies. It is striking that despite nearly 20% of Arlingtonians identifying as Latino, there is no Latino representation on the County Board. Additionally, the average age of Arlingtonians is 35, yet 40% of the population lacks representation. Currently, 60% of Arlingtonians, who are renters, do not have a voice on the five-person board. We cannot claim to make policies in the best interest of all residents if these perspectives are excluded from the decision-making process.

We need a transparent, efficient, and forward-thinking county board that prioritizes inclusivity, expands opportunities for small businesses, and places environmental sustainability and resilience at the forefront of its policies. It is crucial to have leadership that not only rebuilds trust in our civic engagement process, but also goes a step further by meeting communities where they are and engaging with a broader range of voices, beyond those who typically have access to the board.

In our 26 square miles, we have incredible opportunities. Opportunities to expand affordable housing while preserving green spaces. Opportunities to support small, diverse businesses that form the backbone of our community, instead of pushing out talent and innovation because we have made it too expensive to do business in the county. We can lead the way in adopting greener transportation methods, combating climate change by investing in electric buses, expanding the electric vehicle charging network, and ensuring accessible, safe, reliable, and efficient multimodal transportation for all.

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Tony Weaver: Why you should vote for me

By Opinion Contributor
County Board candidate Tony Weaver (courtesy photo)

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Tony Weaver, candidate for Arlington County Board.

I’m running for Arlington County Board because I want to make sure our county has the financial stability and resources needed so that all residents – regardless of the circumstances they were born into – can thrive.

I’m committed to the progressive ideals of promoting education, equity, and environmental sustainability. What sets me apart is that I have a record of service that has given me a ground-level understanding of our community’s challenges, and the business experience and policy know-how to actually implement effective solutions and ensure responsible financial stewardship.

As president emeritus of the Arlington Rotary Club I’ve seen how hard economic pressures have hit many residents. At the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC), with which we regularly partner, we’ve been seeing ever longer lines of people coming in for help. It’s unacceptable that people in a county as affluent as ours must struggle with such a basic need.

In partnership with Arlington Community High School – the county’s alternative school – I’ve worked to get college scholarships to young people whose families are scraping by on incomes of $30,000 per year. For many of the students I’ve gotten to know, our scholarships are what’s making it possible to pursue higher education. But the impact Rotary is having only underscores how much more must be done for the students who are falling through the cracks.

The answer lies in a wholesale reinvestment in education. Ensuring, for instance, that Arlington has strong funding streams for teachers – as well as often-overlooked guidance counselors, who currently must serve about 100 students each.

Yet the resources needed for these investments are now under threat from unprecedented economic change. The work-from-home revolution brought on by the pandemic is here to stay. Anyone who has recently walked through Rosslyn and Crystal City can see the empty buildings as Arlington’s office vacancy rate has reached a record 23 percent. The long term impact on the county’s tax base – and therefore on county revenues – could be severe.

As a member of the county’s Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission, I’ve been tracking the concerning budget cuts that have already been introduced as revenues have fallen relative to inflation. This includes the elimination of a vacant assistant director position at Arlington Economic Development – the very department whose mission is to attract the businesses that could expand county revenues.

That’s why it is my top priority to stabilize Arlington’s revenues. It’s imperative that we bring in new businesses to fill as much of the vacant office space as possible, while adapting remaining buildings to new uses. And to accomplish this we’re going to need county leaders who are well versed in the needs of both Big Tech and Main Street operations.

In contrast to every other candidate, I have this business experience and knowledge. I’ve worked at a technology firm in Silicon Valley. I’ve founded a venture capital-backed startup. And since returning to my Northern Virginia roots and starting my Arlington-based small business nearly a decade ago, I’ve tripled our revenues.

As a member of the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Political Leaders program, I’ve also been criss-crossing the state over the past year speaking to economic policy experts and government officials of other localities. And I’ve been encouraged by what I’m finding when it comes to the potential for helping innovative businesses find a home in our county. 

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Parisa Dehghani-Tafti: Why you should vote for me

By Opinion Contributor
Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti at Arlington Democrats election watch party in November 2019, when she was elected to office (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, incumbent for the office of Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church.

Four years ago, I ran for Commonwealth’s Attorney on the simple idea that we could build a more just legal system while still keeping our community safe. I am proud to say that since I took office, we have made that idea a reality. I have kept the promises I made to implement criminal justice reform here in Arlington, helping to make our community one of the safest in the country.

As promised, I have expanded opportunities for diversion for lower level crimes and non-violent crimes. I helped create a mental health docket and expanded our drug court, quadrupling the number of people served by it. These diversion programs get people the treatment they need rather than simply incarcerating them and ignoring the underlying issue. This both makes our community safer, and is the right thing to do.

I have also worked to make the legal process easier on victims and survivors. I reorganized the office to implement a victim-centered prosecution model. This means that only one prosecutor or team is assigned to each case so that victims aren’t being shuffled around between different prosecutors at every stage. Further, I have helped empower victims by creating a restorative justice program for appropriate cases. And, unlike my opponent, I don’t prosecute victims of domestic violence for fighting back against their abusers.

I have used my lobbying power as a prosecutor to advocate for safer gun laws and criminal justice reforms and am a Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate. I supported Red Flag laws, ending the death penalty, decriminalizing marijuana, and many other legislative efforts. More than once, I have convinced VACA (the statewide Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ lobbying group) to see the other side of an issue and refrain from opposing reforms. That’s why I’ve earned the endorsement of local progressive legislators like Delegates Patrick Hope and Alfonso Lopez, and Senator Barbara Favola.

Of course, my office aggressively prosecutes serious crimes like rape, murder, and gun violence. Under my supervision, the office’s trial conviction rates on violent felonies have nearly doubled over those of my predecessor. The overall trial conviction rate is also significantly higher. And we have achieved these increases even as we take a higher percentage of cases to trial.

As you may know, before becoming the Commonwealth’s Attorney, I spent many years working at the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project. In doing so, I saw the harm that results—both to the accused and to crime victims—when the system gets it wrong. That’s why I created a conviction review unit to review old convictions for mistakes. That unit has already helped overturn a conviction and keep a woman from being wrongfully deported away from her family and the only country she knows.

To prevent errors going forward, I have also made strides to even the playing field with the defense and make sure trials are a fair fight. Immediately upon taking office, I ended my predecessor’s outdated policy requiring defense attorneys to hand-copy documents and began providing open-file electronic discovery. And, my office was one of the first in the country to stop using peremptory strikes in jury trials except in limited circumstances. This is a commonsense way to prevent discrimination in jury selection.

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Josh Katcher: Why you should vote for me

By Opinion Contributor
Josh Katcher, candidate for Commonwealth’s Attorney, at the Arlington Democrats meeting in January (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Josh Katcher, challenger for the office of Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church.

I am a lifelong Democrat who believes in public safety. I am also a reform prosecutor who believes that we can create a fair and equitable local criminal justice system that  respects victims. However, that possibility is rapidly slipping away because the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney is in free fall. In the past 18 months, 14 attorneys have quit, and there are 9 fully-funded attorney positions that remain unfilled.

My campaign commitment is “Real Reform, Real Justice.” Real Reform views cases through a contextualized and humanized lens, rather than looking at incarceration as the only tool to wield.  It connects individuals who desperately need services and programs to treat underlying issues with an eye towards diversion. Think of matters involving kids doing kid things, the mentally ill, the homeless, the addicted.  It means not prosecuting simple marijuana cases and opposing the death penalty.   However, Real Reform does not shy away from aggressive and unapologetic prosecutions for offenses such as murder, rape, robbery, major drug dealing, and serious gun charges.

Real Justice means embracing, not just giving lip service to, the belief that justice for victims is bedrock in our judicial system. It means unequivocally upholding the constitutional rights of the accused. It means always remaining focused on just and equitable outcomes for the convicted.\

But the promise of 21st century reform prosecution requires more than just good intentions and slick talking points; it requires the relevant experience to lead and train a team of prosecutors in this complicated task. I have that experience.

I have been a local prosecutor for the past 11 years. I have practiced in every court, been in front of every judge, and collaborated with all our local law enforcement agencies. I have tried hundreds of bench trials and over 50 jury trials. My opponent has not personally prosecuted a *single* case since taking office.

Last August, I made the difficult decision to quit a job I loved, because I had lost faith in the leadership and management of the office. Prior to doing so, I was the Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney supervising the largest team in the office. Specifically, my opponent entrusted me to train up our next generation of reform prosecutors.

Over the past 11 years, I have served as president of the Arlington County Bar Association and as a member of the Virginia State Bar Council. I have often been invited to train prosecutors, defense attorneys, and police officers on the law across the state. I have been fighting for Democratic values my entire life. I have served as a local precinct captain twice, the head of voter registration, a member of our local Democratic Steering Committee, and a host of other roles.

As your Commonwealth’s Attorney, I will not retreat to the corner office when I’m elected. I will be in court on our most serious cases. I will handle cases from our juvenile justice docket. And I can and will pull my prosecutors off the line and handle their dockets myself when they need relief.

Karina Lipsman: Why you should vote for me on Nov. 8, 2022

By Opinion Contributor
Karina Lipsman, the Republican nominee for the 8th Congressional District (via Fairfax County Republican Committee/Facebook)

Earlier this week, we invited the candidates running in Tuesday’s general election to write a post about why our readers should vote for them. Find information here on how and where to vote in Arlington on Nov. 8.

Below is the response from the Republican nominee for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, Karina Lipsman. It has been edited at the end to remove sentences that brought the submission above the 750 word limit.

Northern Virginia has been setting records.

Record high crime, record high cost of living, record high gas prices, record high inflation, record high lowering of standards in our schools, record high lack of transparency into what is happening in the hallways and what is taught in the classroom.

These are records brought on by Don Beyer and that is why I’m running for Congress.

I was born in Odesa, Ukraine when it was still under the Soviet regime and fled to the U.S. with my single mother and elderly grandparents when I was 8 years old. We did not speak English, lived in low-income housing, and survived on food stamps. On my first day of Baltimore public school, my fellow classmates stood up in unison and recited the Pledge of Allegiance and while I did not understand a single word, I felt that it was something I wanted to be a part of. So as soon as I turned 18, I became a U.S. citizen by choice and recited the most meaningful Pledge of Allegiance knowing how fortunate I was to have this opportunity that many around the world can only dream of.

I put myself through college in three-years with a bachelor’s in economics, earned a master’s in engineering from Johns Hopkins while working in the defense and intelligence communities and resigned my 14-year career to run for Congress full time.

I’m working for you because I am you. When I am in the community, I hear your concerns, and I feel them too. I feel the higher cost of living, I pump my own gas, which I am now afraid to do at night with rising crime. I talk to struggling parents across the district who are disenfranchised that they can’t afford private schools. Even with the high taxes we pay, the public schools are failing our children.

I could not watch the American Dream I lived slip away, and I promise I will be your voice in Washington to protect this Dream for all. I will never vote 100% with any party, and I promise to never embrace polarizing politics.

Sadly, my opponent is the opposite. He inherited a legacy business; making him the top 5 wealthiest members of Congress. He doesn’t feel the high cost of living, or the pain at the pump. He says we need to ban stock trades by members of Congress, yet he has made 102% returns on semiconductor stock trades after helping write and pass the CHIPS Act — a bill regulating and setting policy for this exact industry. While he claims the number one issue he hears about from constituents is “airplane noise,” I’m in the community hearing what really matters to residents: rising crime, rising cost of living, and crumbling schools.

My opponent is just another out-of-touch career politician who is in it for himself and not the people of Northern Virginia. Just look at the recent scandal in his office: he represents the Pentagon and the CIA and had to fire a staffer working for the Chinese Embassy! My opponent is compromised.

New leadership is needed now more than ever. It is time for someone who understands the struggle of the almost 47% minority or immigrants that now make up this district and the average person — not the political elite.

As your Congresswoman, I will be a strong and powerful voice in the incoming majority that will represent Northern Virginia. I will be the first female ever elected in this district, the first Republican since Ronald Reagan, the first refugee Ukrainian immigrant in Congress, and the largest political flip in the country. I will use this platform and my strong voice to bring common-sense and not partisan politics to the national spotlight.

I will prioritize positive solutions and will work across the aisle. I will advocate for common-sense policies that fight crime, reduce inflation, and improve our educational standards. I will keep Northern Virginia and America safe.

I am tired of the broken promises made by my opponent. If I break any of my promises to you, I ask you to vote me out of office.

You deserve better. Vote for me for the change we need, the fresh voice we deserve, and a new age in Congress. I would be humbled and honored to represent you.

Karina Lipsman is the nominee for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District. Lipsman’s story is the American Dream. She is a refugee immigrant from Odesa, Ukraine.

Editor’s note: Candidates for local races are invited in advance to submit candidate essays, via contact information ARLnow has on file or publicly-listed contact information on the candidate’s website. Reminders are sent to those who do not submit an essay by the evening before the deadline.

Teddy Fikre: Why you should vote for me on Nov. 8, 2022

By Opinion Contributor
Independent congressional candidate Teddy Fikre (courtesy photo)

Earlier this week, we invited the candidates running in Tuesday’s general election to write a post about why our readers should vote for them. Find information here on how and where to vote in Arlington on Nov. 8.

Below is the unedited response from the independent candidate for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, Teddy Fikre.

Hello fellow residents of the 8th Congressional District, for many of you, most likely, this is the first time you have been made aware of my campaign and heard of my name. That is to be expected as I’ve been running a campaign that is far from conventional. Whereas the typical political playbook demands raising fortunes in order to blanket the airwaves and roadways with ads and inundate mailboxes with flyers, I made a decision to try something different when I was contemplating running for Congress.

After witnessing one politician after another promising to deliver change only to become part and parcel of the very status quo they ran against, I realized that the only way we can restore representative government in DC is by running an authentically organic campaign as an independent and not taking a penny from corporations and special interests. I did this so I could focus my campaign on overcoming social and political divides instead of pitting people against each other the way both political parties have and continue to do.

Though there are many issues facing our country and many problems we need to confront, there are two concerns in particular that compelled me to run for Congress and are the basis of my campaign. The first issue is the state of our economy and the way wealth is being transferred to a fraction of society while poverty is being socialized for the rest of us. Martin Luther King Jr once noted that social justice is not possible without economic justice; this is an immutable fact because the root cause of many social ills can be traced to the pervasive poverty or financial uncertainty that are the realities facing most Americans.

While we are conditioned to fight over our differences and bash other powerless people, the harsh truth is that 70% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and the net savings of the average worker is zero. Almost all of us, irrespective of our skin tone, gender, orientation or belief systems, are but one or two missed paychecks away from calamity. This is precisely what happened to me in 2015 as I went from being a high-priced consultant to homelessness.

As hard as that two-and-a-half-year journey through homelessness was, in hindsight, I am grateful for the hardships I endured. Before experiencing a life of destitution and despair, I viewed life through the lens of partisanship and fought for justice through the prism of tribe. Living in shelters and witnessing a sea of humanity broken by hopelessness and penury taught me this valuable and undeniable lesson: pain transcends all our political and social differences.

This gets to the second and even more important reason why I decided to run for Congress. The number one issue facing us is the way we have become so polarized as a country. As long as we remain divided, we will never be able to galvanize a critical mass of people needed to compel change that will benefit all. While it is critical to acknowledge historical injustices and address inequalities that are impacting the lives of so many, we must do so without reverting to collective judgement and assigning blame to others who are struggling to make ends meet.

Far from turning us away from divisive rhetoric and antagonism that is Balkanizing society, Democrats and Republicans in DC are leading us towards more factionalism and antipathy. That is because the bedrock of our politics and the calling card of both parties is the toxic tribalism of “us versus them” that has replaced our common purpose and eroded our common humanity in the process.

I am running as an independent for this very reason, we cannot depend on politicians who are thriving through our disunion to bring us together. It is time for authentic change in DC. As a full-time IT Project Manager who drives Uber part-time to make ends meet, I ask for your vote so that we can have a representative in DC who doesn’t have to feel your pain because I live your reality.

Editor’s note: Candidates for local races are invited in advance to submit candidate essays, via contact information ARLnow has on file or publicly-listed contact information on the candidate’s website. Reminders are sent to those who do not submit an essay by the evening before the deadline.

Don Beyer: Why you should vote for me on Nov. 8, 2022

By Opinion Contributor
Rep. Don Beyer (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Earlier this week, we invited the candidates running in Tuesday’s general election to write a post about why our readers should vote for them. Find information here on how and where to vote in Arlington on Nov. 8.

Below is the unedited response from Rep. Don Beyer, who is running for re-election in Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.

My name is Don Beyer, and I have served as your representative in Congress for Northern Virginia, including Arlington, since 2015. I am seeking reelection, and your vote, in the 2022 midterm election on November 8th.

This election is one of the most important of our lives, with so much hanging in the balance, and huge implications for our economy, American democracy, and the future of the planet.

Today Northern Virginians are struggling with higher costs, and as Chair of the Joint Economic Committee I am working to help bring down prices to help families. This year we enacted the Inflation Reduction Act, which will lower health care costs and prescription drug prices, and make energy cleaner and more affordable.

We also passed the Chips and Science Act, which will create jobs in our region through investments in scientific research and development, support American manufacturing, and strengthen our supply chains. And we enacted the American Rescue Plan, which has helped fuel one of the fastest economic recoveries in history, with a record 10 million jobs added since President Biden took office.

House Republicans opposed these bills to help Americans, and while they talk a lot about inflation, their plans would actually make things worse. They’ve called for more tax cuts for the wealthy, making prescription drug prices more expensive, and threatening to wreck the economy unless they get cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Led by Kevin McCarthy, they have also given total allegiance to Donald Trump, echoing the “stolen election” lie and voting to overrule Americans’ voice at the ballot box by rejecting election results.

These nihilistic positions are dangerous for the country. I will continue to oppose them, and to protect our elections and Americans’ right to vote. I will also continue working to deliver real results that change things for the better.

This term saw enactment of my hate crime prevention bill, and major suicide prevention initiatives I helped fund. I helped enact an expanded Child Tax Credit, which saw poverty in the United States hit an all-time low. I helped craft provisions of the biggest climate bill ever enacted, and a key measure in the first major gun violence prevention legislation in nearly 30 years. I voted for the bipartisan infrastructure law, which is already funding transportation improvements in our region. I helped thousands of constituents get assistance from federal agencies, and secured millions in federal funding for local projects.

But we still have so much more work to do.

My top priorities start with continuing our very important work to address inflation and strengthen the economy. I will keep pushing for more legislation to prevent gun violence, and seek to advance bills that will enact universal paid leave, support affordable housing, bring down the cost of health care and child care, protect union rights, and raise the minimum wage.

One of the most important things I will work for in the next Congress is federal legislation to protect abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

I humbly ask for your vote on Tuesday, November 8th, to continue the progress we have made. If you have questions please visit www.friendsofdonbeyer.com. Regardless of who you support, I encourage everyone to vote in the midterm election, and send my thanks to all who are doing their civic duty by participating in our democracy.

Editor’s note: Candidates for local races are invited in advance to submit candidate essays, via contact information ARLnow has on file or publicly-listed contact information on the candidate’s website. Reminders are sent to those who do not submit an essay by the evening before the deadline.

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