North Stafford, Va. — The owner of a nursery has volunteered to carry on the democratic banner in Stafford.
Fred C. Sweat threw his name into the ring as the Democrat hoping to replace fellow party member and retiring Stafford Supervisor Bob Woodson in the Griffis-Widewater District. It marks the first time will have run for political office.
The 69-year-old owner of Sunnyside Nursery on U.S. in near Boswell’s Corner, Sweat said he will push for better education and improve transportation along U.S. 1 at Quantico and Aquia Harbour.
“Pushing ahead with every available resource – county, federal and state – to bring us where we should be in education and transportation,” said Sweat in a press release.
Sweat spent 25 years working in railroad transportation, for CSX and Amtrak, served in the Navy and worked as a sheriff’s deputy and materials manager in a shipyard.
“It’s my hope that, if elected, my vote will be counted,” said Sweat in an interview with PotomacLocal.com. “We’ve gotten into the game a little bit late and we have some catching up to do, but we doing it.
The candidate opened Sunnyside Nursery in 1988 and said his diverse background makes him the right man for the job. Sweat plans to hold a fundraiser at his nursery Aug. 27.
Sweat faces another first-time would-be politician, Keith Angle, during the general election Nov. 8.
