Political Note #21 Lee Carter VA HD 50

2017    General ElectionElected 54 – 46

I am returning now to Virginia — suggesting a  Democratic candidate to the Virginia House of delegates who is worthy of support in the effort to make the Virginia legislature Democratic. 

……Virginia has its state elections in odd numbered years.  In 2017 state-wide offices are up for election as well as all seats in the overwhelmingly Republican House of Delegates.  General elections for the state Senate don’t occur until 2019.  Democrats are only one seat away from control of the Senate so long as they also retain the Lt. Governor position (the Lt. Governor presides over the Senate and votes in case of a tie) in the 2017 elections.

To take control of the House of Delegates, however, Democrats need to flip seventeen seats.  That is a lot of seats and the goal may not be achievable.   However, coincidentally, in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton carried seventeen Republican held House of Delegate seats.  I have already suggested support for Democratic candidates who do not have primary opposition for seats in four of those districts. 

Here is a fifth. Lee Carter http://www.carterforvirginia.com/  is the Democratic candidate for the House of Delegates in Virginia, for HD 50, a district Hillary carried.  Lee Carter is another Virginia candidate with deep roots in the military — a former marine who is proud of the fact that members of his family have served in all five branches of the US military.

……He is an IT specialist who lives in the City of Manassas.  He moved to Virginia in 2011, after completing five years of service in the United States Marine Corps.  He got his technical training through the Marine Corps Communications-Electronics School.   Now he is studying cybersecurity at Northern Virginia Community College.

……Lee Carter is a member of Bull Run Unitarian Universalist congregation in Manassas and is the former vice chair of the Prince William County Young Democrats. He describes himself as having been involved in issues of economic justice in Northern Virginia, including, as part of his commitment to affordable housing, a fight to help residents of a mobile home park to stay in their homes.

The broader context of his concern is the problem of economic insecurity.  His legislative goals are to combat economic insecurity by reforming workers compensation and unemployment insurance, by improving public transportation, and by supporting the public schools. Lee Carter actually has a integrated vision that moves his politics — educating people so that they can be in the workforce, improving transportation so that people can get to and from work more easily, and creating conditions that allow people who fall on hard times to have enough resources so that they can focus on getting back to work.