2017 General Election Elected 58 — 42
House District 67 should have a Democratic Delegate
This Note is one of a series about candidates for Delegate from Virginia. Virginia has its elections in odd years. This November, they are electing a Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates. Virginia Democrats are trying to flip seventeen seats from Republican to Democrat. If they are successful, they will gain control of the House of Delegates.
Karrie Delaney http://karriedelaney.ngpvanhost.com/home is the Democratic candidate who intends to make that happen for Virginia’s HD 67. Like most candidates in Virginia, she has a military connection. The connection is her dad. He was a veteran who came back from the Korean War to get his GED. He got his GED and a good job at a VA hospital back in the day when it was possible to get a decent paying job with just a GED.
Unlike most candidates in Virginia, Karrie Delaney can’t claim to be a local. She’s from Florida. She went to the University of South Florida where she met her husband.
Karrie Delaney can’t claim to have always been a Democrat either. In Florida, she was a Republican. Initially, a counselor for foster children, she was hired by the Republican State’s Attorney as a youth crisis counselor for juvenile offenders. She had this job for three years. With the help of the state’s attorney, she was appointed to fill a vacancy as City Counselor in West Melbourne, Florida (I’m assuming the state’s attorney helped). She lost City Council election that November. Her opponent promised to cut taxes.
Karrie Delaney’s focus — regardless of party — has been children. Her skill (shared with her husband who is now the Public Information Officer for Fairfax County Fire and Rescue) is in public communication and fund raising.
In Florida, she and her husband were blue collar Republicans who went to college. In Virginia, as a Democrat, she is appreciated for her communication and her fund raising skills. .
In Northern Virginia, Karrie Delaney became the Communications Director for Shared Hope International, a non-profit focused ending sex trafficking. Karrie Delaney left Shared Hope, started a small consulting firm, and got involved in local Fairfax issues. Republican County Supervisor Michael Frey appointed her to be a member of the Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council – responsible for emergency preparedness. She chaired the CCC 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. That work brought her the ire of anti-vaccine groups and, if those groups are to believed, an equivocal response by the incumbent Delegate who she is opposing.
Karrie Delaney has prepared for the job. She has positions about the issues for which there are brief summaries below:
- Jobs and the economy – provide mechanisms to help small business. Through the County libraries, for instance, she tried to provide small businesses and entrepreneurs with access to 3-D printers so they could test prototypes
- Education – provide full day kindergarten and additional resources for schools
- Transportation – widen I-66, fix and expand the Metro
- Health and human services – expand Medicaid coverage under the ACA and provide clinics for women’s health
- Women’s issues – ensure equal pay for women to end the wage gap, provide paid family leave and sick leave to care for children or other family members
- Veterans – support health care, benefits, housing, and jobs training that help veterans rejoin the civil workforce
- Seniors – prosecute those who defraud seniors
- Energy – make Northern Virginia technology corridor a hub for energy independence
- Community Protection – ensure responsible gun ownership and pass commonsense gun laws
Karrie Delaney http://karriedelaney.ngpvanhost.com/home is a serious candidate. She will raise funds on her own for what will be one of the most expensive Delegate seats to contest. Help her win the contest and donate to this campaign. She is demonstrating that she is worth being supported by other Democrats. Provide some support so that she can win. Remember: November 7 is almost here.