Spanberger Joins Ford, Ratcliffe at Piedmont Dems Rally
Bipartisanship, economics and public education were hot topics at the sixth annual Piedmont Dems Summer Rally, held Saturday, Aug. 26, in Orange. The event was hosted by the Democratic committees of Orange, Lake of the Woods, Culpeper, Greene and Madison, and was attended by Sara Ratcliffe and Jason Ford, along with keynote speaker Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA 7).
Both Ford and Ratcliffe will face off against Republican incumbents in newly drawn districts in the Nov. 7 general election, with Ford running for a spot in the Virginia Senate against Bryce Reeves, a Republican who has held office in the old 17th District since 2012. The winner will represent the new District 28, which is comprised of voters in Orange, Madison, Greene, Culpeper and Rappahannock counties, along with parts of Spotsylvania and Fauquier counties.
Meanwhile, Ratcliffe is challenging Nick Freitas, who took office in the old Virginia House of Delegates District 30 in 2015 and won re-election in 2019 as a write-in candidate after failing to submit the required paperwork for candidacy. Both candidates are vying to represent the redrawn District 62, which includes the western half of Orange County, in addition to Greene and Madison counties and a sizeable portion of Culpeper County.
“I'm excited to be here and I hope that in this time when politics still continue to be a bit chaotic and full of division and frankly, far too often full of anger, that in these two candidates you will see exactly what I want to see in the political system, which is people who are focused on doing right by the community, being accountable to the community and doing good work for all people,” Spanberger said.
Ford shared that he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Spanberger, whom he previously campaigned for, in working with politicians across the aisle. Earlier this month, Spanberger was ranked the top bipartisan lawmaker in Virginia and the second in the nation by the nonpartisan Common Ground Committee.
“When you get elected, you are really working for the benefit of everyone in the district, not just the party or the constituents that voted you in,” Ford said. “That requires hearing their concerns, hearing what they're interested in, and working with legislators who might not see things eye-to-eye.”
Regarding the specific issues facing Orange County, economic concerns and public education were major topics of discussion. Ratcliffe said her talks with constituents have made clear the need to “shore up and support our agricultural community,” including funneling down funding from the state level to go toward initiatives such as expanding the high school’s career technical education program. She also acknowledged the economic stresses that residents have faced in the wake of mounting inflation.
“I believe that we need to show up for our government certainly and make sure it's held accountable, but we also need to make sure that that government shows up for us, and that is true for folks at the lower end socioeconomically and all the way through,” Ratcliffe said.
Ford named education as the top issue facing the county, citing the Virginia Department of Education calc tool error that led to a $201 million funding shortfall across the commonwealth in January.
“In terms of how that actually trickled down to Orange County, I believe it was two positions and a facility building that was supposed to get built that didn't get built. And so that's what looks like on a real level,” Ford said. “I've heard that they're running out of space to put the kids because the county's growing. You want to be able to support what the county's looking for and meet the needs that they have, and that requires providing funding.”
According to Spanberger, meeting those needs will require electing officials who are focused on issues like funding and teacher pay, and “not using kids and their education as some type of pawn.”
“I think that means having folks in Richmond, and certainly having folks on the local school board and in elected government on the town council or the board of supervisors, who are just clearly articulating the fact that every parent has the right to make clear their priorities for their own children, but other parents don't get to do that for me, for other kids, or other families,” she said.
For more information on elections in Orange County, visit www.orangecountyva.gov/663/Election-Information. Current Virginia district maps can be viewed at www.vpap.org/redistricting.