Mike Mullin is a law and order liberal -- a politically effective position. He is running against the candidate he beat in the special election to win this seat. He continues to serve as a Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Suffolk. He stresses his commitment to opposing gang violence and has been certified by the Virginia Gang Investigator's Association as a Gang Investigator.

Originally from New York, Schuyler VanValkenburg went to the University of Richmond. He married and stayed in Virginia. He has been teaching school. National Board Certified, he is good at it. Much as he may love to teach, but is now a politician -- running for an open House of Delegates seat. His first few issues include infrastructure spending, fixing the tax code, and adopting the medicaid expansion that is part of the ACA. He concludes with education spending.

Dawn Adams is a six foot tall athlete. She joined the US Coast Guard when she was 17 and left as a Captain. She served as a search and rescue pilot. An extremely hard worker, she made her way through college and graduate school. She became an RN, a nurse practitioner, and earned a doctorate. Now she is Head of the Office of Integrated Health for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. She is no bureaucrat. She is an inspiration.

Karrie Delaney is the Democratic candidate for Virginia's House of Delegates District 67. She is originally from Florida and was originally a Republican. Having moved to Virginia, she became involved in the nonprofit world there. She chaired the County Citizen Corps Council and was appointed to the Fairfax County Library Board of Trustees. She chaired that board, too. Governor McAuliffe appointed her to the to the Virginia Commission on Youth. One of her projects has been work with Voices for Vaccines, which provides parents with scientific information about vaccines and vaccine-preventable disease.

Jennifer Caroll Foy is a graduate of VMI. That alone is news. She is one of the first African-American women to graduate from the Virginia Military Institute. Graduating from VMI is a demonstration of her courage and persistence, qualities she continues to demonstrate in her work. A public defender in Arlington, she has started a Foundation to support children in foster care. No small challenge for her, VA 02 is a 95% white district. She does have one surprise advantage. Although the recount forced her to have a late start in the general election, her Republican opponent had a later start. He is a substitute, required because the original Republican candidate falsified his educational credentials.

Hala Alaya is a risk taker. She is a candidate for Virginia’s House of Delegates District 51. Moved by her experience in the Women's March on Washington, she resigned from her federal job and submitted papers as a candidate. A local of minority-majority eastern Prince William County. She still lives there. Her father had both Salvadorian and North-African roots. Her mother was Irish and Lebanese. She began her working life as a single mother -- in service jobs; living without health insurance. She was eligible for Medicaid. “Medicaid saved my son’s life." Hala Ayala's way out was to join the Coast Guard. She joined in 2008. She was on a trajectory. She enrolled in an online program at the University of Phoenix and completed the requirements in two years. She earned promotions to become an INFORSEC Specialist (IT Security). She persisted and became a cyber specialist program analyst with the Department of Homeland Security. She quit that job to run for Delegate.

Kathy Tran and her parents fled Vietnam as boat refugees when she was just seven months old.* Although many other countries offered them asylum, they waited 13 months for the United States to accept their application. For Kathy’s family, this country has always represented hope, opportunity and freedom. She has devoted her career to ensuring that all Americans have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. She began her civil service career at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2003. During her 12 years of service, she served in numerous leadership positions. She went on to work at the National Immigration Forum, one of the nation’s leading immigration advocacy organizations. There, she advocated for policies that prepare immigrants in the workforce to reach their full career potential.