WOODBRIDGE – (Press Release) Former Chairman of the Virginia State Board of Social Services, D.J. Jordan, 41, announced his intent to run for the 31st District of the Virginia state House of Delegates in this year’s elections. The district includes parts of Prince William and Fauquier Counties.

“I am excited to announce my campaign for the 31st District of the Virginia House of Delegates,” said Jordan.

“If elected, I will advocate for policies that build a culture of human dignity, expand economic and educational opportunities for families, and help small businesses innovate and create high-paying jobs. This campaign is not about me, but rather about the people of this community and the role of state government in our everyday lives. All Virginians deserve a state government that supports our basic freedoms and equal opportunity to succeed.”

Jordan will seek the Republican nomination for the general election on November 5, 2019, when all 100 state House of Delegate seats and all 40 state Senate seats are on the ballot. The House of Delegates currently has a 51-49 Republican majority; all 100 members are elected for two-year terms.

He is running as a Republican, in large part, because of his admiration and respect for Lincoln’s Party and the foundational tenets embodied in its beliefs.

Jordan was born and raised in the Tidewater, Virginia area, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Liberty University, and played on the football team as a student-athlete. He also earned a Masters in Public Management from The Johns Hopkins University.

Jordan worked in the U.S. Congress for ten years in several offices, including the House Committee on Small Business. Prior to coming to Capitol Hill in 2008, he worked in broadcast journalism at CNN and also Fox News. Jordan now works for a public relations firm in Alexandria.

“Throughout this campaign, I will lay out a set of ideas that create more opportunity for families in this district, and I encourage people to engage us at VoteDJ.com,” he said.

Jordan and his wife, Glorya, have four children, and have fostered and adopted from foster care. They live in Woodbridge, and are members of Move Church in Lake Ridge.

Democrat Elizabeth Guzman currently holds the 31st District seat.

WOODBRIDGE — (Press Release) Margaret Angela Franklin, 33, announced her candidacy for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors for the Woodbridge District.

Franklin’s campaign focuses on four major issues:

1. Economic development and job creation within the Woodbridge community

2. Affordable housing options for all residents

3. Improving local transportation, and (4) excellence in education.

“I am running for the Board of County Supervisors to create a new start for Woodbridge residents. A new start that will place a renewed and earnest focus on key issues that impact Woodbridge residents. I will make increasing the quality of life for Woodbridge residents a priority by tackling the challenge of building communities where individuals and families can work and play without having to sit in hours of traffic, providing safe and affordable housing options for all residents, and creating schools of excellence that are conducive to learning,” said Franklin.

A resident of Woodbridge, Franklin serves as an Alternate Commissioner on the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission for Prince William County, Virginia and previously served as Vice Chair of the Prince William County Democratic Committee.

A native of Memphis, Tenn., Franklin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Howard University.

Ms. Franklin is the Legislative Director for Congressman Al Lawson of Florida where she manages Congressman Lawson’s legislative priorities including food assistance, issues impacting small businesses, veteran affairs, regulatory reform, and voting rights. Ms. Franklin previously served as the Senior Legislative Assistant to Congresswoman Alma Adams of North Carolina and as a Legislative Aide to U.S.  Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Franklin does not have a spouse or children. She sits on the planning committee for African American Women on the Hill and the Board of Advisors for the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee.

Current Woodbridge Supervisor Frank Principi has not announced his political plans, or whether or not he will run for re-election to the office.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — (Press Release) Yesli Vega, a military wife, mother, former police officer, and Prince William County Sheriff’s deputy announced her campaign for the Prince William County Board of Supervisors Coles Magisterial District.

If elected, Vega, a Republican would serve as the first minority representative in the history of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.

Born in Texas, Vega was raised in Northern Virginia and graduated from Annandale High School.

Vega started with the Alexandria Police Department on the “street beat” as a patrol officer and later became a Field Training Officer, certified Hostage Negotiator, and served on the Crisis Intervention Team.

She also oversaw department spending which helped hard-working taxpayers by reducing wasteful spending.

“First, as a former law enforcement officer, public safety and protecting the citizens of Prince William County will be one of my top priorities,” said Vega. “Second, we must reduce the tax burden on our homeowners by broadening our tax base with policies that attract more businesses to the county. There’s no reason our hard-working homeowners should have to pay the highest real estate taxes of any county in the region.”

“Finally, the growth at-all-costs strategy toward development we’ve seen over the last decade must be replaced with a more balanced approach that respects the wishes of our neighbors. Hour-long work commutes and overcrowded schools are only two consequences of past decisions. Prince William County is a great place to live and raise a family, but we must elect citizen legislators who put the interest of the public over their own private interests when it comes to development.”

In addition to her career in law enforcement, Vega has served the Prince William Community as a mentor to at-risk youth through the Cal Ripken Foundation’s “Badges for Baseball” program. She has also coached her daughter’s youth soccer teams, and volunteers with Special Olympics, Girl Scouts, and “Santa Cops”.

Vega is a graduate of American Military University and the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy. She resides in the Coles District with her husband, Rene, and their two children who attend Prince William County Public Schools.

The Coles District seat is currently held by Marty Nohe, who is not seeking reelection to the seat but rather to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors At-large seat.

Republican Paul O’Mera is also making a second run at the Coles District seat this year, and Republican Patrick Sowers is making his first.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY – (Press Release) Amy Ashworth announces her candidacy for the office of Commonwealth’s Attorney for Prince William County and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney represents you, the people, in the criminal cases before the courts and oversees a staff of 24 prosecutors.

Ashworth has lived in and practiced law in Manassas City and Prince William County for over 23 years. For 11 of those years, she worked as a prosecutor in the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, assigned to the Special Victim’s Unit, where she handled cases involving child sexual and physical abuse, homicide, adult rape and sexual assault allegations. She successfully took many of those cases to jury trial where she secured convictions and lengthy prison sentences for many offenders.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney is a very powerful position. Some of the responsibilities of the office include advising the police departments of Prince William County, Manassas City, Manassas Park, the Towns of Haymarket, Quantico, Occoquan and Dumfries, as well as deciding whether or not to charge someone with a crime, the nature and number of charges to bring, whether or not to take the case to trial or to negotiate a plea deal.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney also recommends an appropriate punishment such as asking a judge to take away someone’s liberty, suspend a driver’s license, impose a fine or require someone to be listed on the Sex Offender Registry. The Commonwealth’s Attorney can even ask a jury to impose the ultimate punishment – death.

Ashworth states “Make no mistake, there are absolutely cases in which the full power of the state should be brought down upon an offender to ensure that justice is done. But there are many cases in which that power should be tempered with compassion. Compassion for those who have served our country, those who are addicted to substances, the mentally ill and those who have made a mistake and are truly remorseful.”

Ashworth adds that “Under her administration, the office will operate with guiding principles set forth in her mission statement. There will be no more deals made with defendants without consulting with the victim of a crime and there will be no more “good old boy” network for the recruitment and hiring of prosecutors.

The budget, under her administration, will be transparent so that resources will not be wasted and pay scales cannot be adjusted to pay men more than women for equal work.”

Since 1995, Ashworth has successfully managed two law offices in private practice and worked as a prosecutor in Prince William County. As a mother, a wife and an active member of this community, she has the insight and experience to handle the office beginning on day one. She will continue to hold herself and those who work for her to the highest ethical standards of honesty and fairness when dealing with law enforcement, victims and witnesses of crimes, defense attorneys and the public.

Amy is looking forward to this campaign and serving this community as Commonwealth’s Attorney. For more information, visit her website at voteashworth.com.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Jackie Gaston is throwing her hat in the ring for Coles District School Board.

She’s a special education teacher in Fairfax County as well as a mother of three boys whose experience with PTO’s, meetings in the schools, and school improvement planning teams for her own children in who attend Prince William County Public Schools led her to want to serve.

Keeping good teachers is a big issue for Gaston, 51.

“Teacher retention is absolutely critical,” said Gaston. “We lose most young teachers within the first three years. We’ve got to do more to retain them.”  

Another challenge:  There aren’t enough teachers coming into the industry as there are retiring from the industry. “ On the School Board, she’ll ask “what can we do to bring the best and the brightest to Prince William County and to keep them?” Gaston said.

Building a  “solid mentoring program” for teachers to lean on during the first three years can help with teacher retention. “Because you go through such growth as a new teacher,” Gaston said.

She said this will not only help new teachers but also revitalize veteran teachers and bring new ideas and energy into the mix. Gaston also believes in continuing education for teachers –

“Whether it’s to go for a master’s degree or to learn a new skill, or even just to learn the most updated technology in your classroom…” Gaston said.

She’s also focused on having resources available for teachers, bus drivers, and office staff that could help them such as wellness programs or support groups.

Prince William County, like others, has a bus driver shortage. She said school officials should talk to bus drivers and find out how to get more people to fill the open positions become bus drivers. “What are we going to do if we can’t get our kids to school safely?” Gaston said.

Gaston also says she wants equity for all students.

“I am a special educator, so equity as far as getting the curriculum, understanding the curriculum, performing to the best of their abilities. And I also believe in equity as far as the facility. We’re a growing community, we’re building large beautiful facilities in some of the newer areas. I don’t want to neglect some of the other areas and try to bring both schools and their facilities up to standard, up to what our students all deserve,” said Gaston.

When it comes to getting moving children out of trailer classrooms, Gaston has an idea: modular buildings. It ’s basically a temporary building that had a front and back door that could lock and was equipped with sprinklers and an HVAC system, Gaston explained. She used to teach in one.

She said the modular building was connected to the school and was equipped “with more safety features than just a trailer.”

She suggested that this be something the county look into. One modular building could replace several trailers – the modular building Gaston was in had about 10 classrooms in it.  

“And again, the dream is to have all our kids under one roof,” Gaston said. But until there are more school facilities built, Gaston said, “Let’s look at what all the other options are out there so that we can keep classroom sizes down and still provide the safety that everybody wants.”

Gaston is married to her husband Micheal. The couple has a 27-year-step daugher who lives in Pennsylvania, a 16-year-old sophomore at Osbourn Park High School, and two twin sons aged 13 at Parkside Middle School.

The family lives in the Yorkshire area of Prince William County.

Incumbent Willie Deutsch will seek reelection to the seat.

Lisa Zargarpur will also run for the seat. All eight seats on the School Board are up for reelection on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.

MANASSAS -- Delegate Lee Carter’s seat is up for election next year, and Manassas City Councilman Ian Lovejoy plans to run for it.

Lovejoy will announce his campaign on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at a small gathering in his house in Manassas.

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PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY -- The last time Patrick Sowers ran for office was for class president in 1991, at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge.  

Patrick Sowers just threw his hat in the ring for the Republican nomination for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in the open seat that Coles District Supervisor Marty E. Nohe will be vacating next year for his run for At-large Board of Supervisors Chairman.

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Babur Lateef this year was appointed to the Prince William County School Board as its Interim At-large Chairman.

The appointment came after former chairman Ryan Sawyers stepped down in March after months of wrangling with fellow Board members and county school staff over lawsuits regarding emails, as well as social issues like LGBT bathroom rights. He served two years in the job.

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MANASSAS — Democrats will rally in Prince William County during the final hours of the 2018 mid-term elections campaign.

Senator Tim Kaine will be joined by fellow Democrats Vangie Williams and Jennifer Wexton, who is running for Congress in the 1st and 10th Districts, respectively.

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Corey A. Stewart, Republican faces steep competition on November 6 race. According to a September press release, Sen. Tim Kaine held “double-digit leads over Republican nominee Corey Stewart (R) among both registered and likely voters.” In a recent letter, one resident cited local land use issues that could also affect Stewart’s outcomes. But it’s not over  until it’s over. Stewart still has a loyal base of followers and voters.

We sent survey questions to Stewart and all local candidates running in the upcoming election. Below are Stewart’s responses.

PL: What role can you play in helping to improve traffic conditions in Northern Virginia? What can Congress do when it comes to improving traffic or public transportation in the region?

Stewart: As governor, Tim Kaine gave away the Dulles Toll Road, to an unelected, unaccountable governing body. In the U.S. Senate, he failed to get the federal highway aid that Northern Virginia urgently needs. As a result, commuters today are facing insanely high tolls on I-66 as well as rising Metro costs.

During my chairmanship in Prince William County, we built more than a billion dollars worth of roads. As your new Senator, I will focus on securing federal funding to relieve traffic congestion and ease access to our region’s vital economic hubs.

PL: How would you characterize President Trump’s first  year and a half in office, in terms of his administration’s impact locally, nationally and internationally?

Stewart: President Trump has succeeded in revitalizing our national economy – through lower taxes, streamlined regulations, and renegotiating unfair trade deals. In addition, we are now rebuilding our military and restoring our nation’s credibility on the international stage. The current administration has made tremendous strides in the right direction, but more still needs to be done. And that’s why Virginians need a results-oriented U.S. Senator – not someone who mindlessly “resists” whatever President Trump is for.  

PL: What’s your view on the recently enacted tax reform bill — and on the potential for a second round of tax cuts?

Stewart: Thanks mostly to recently-enacted tax reforms, our nation’s economy is now roaring back to life. Wages are rising. Overall unemployment has fallen to a 49-year low – and unemployment rates for African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans and youth are at their lowest ever in our nation’s history. In the Senate, I would vote to make President Trump’s tax cuts permanent – and I would like to cut taxes even more, to ensure continued prosperity for all.

PL: Where do you stand on immigration reform? What should happen with DACA and TPS recipients, particularly those in the Northern Virginia area? Do you support using taxpayer funding for a border wall?

Stewart: There is a big difference between illegal aliens and legal immigrants. Legal immigration has benefited our nation enormously. Illegal immigration, by contrast, carries with it significant costs – in both financial and human terms. Nationwide, we need to remove criminal aliens from our streets, as I have successfully done in Prince William County, where violent crime fell by nearly half. I do not favor any form of amnesty – nor do I favor a “path to citizenship,” until we truly control our borders first. In the Senate, I would vote to fund construction of the southern border wall. A true wall on the border would not only block illegal aliens – it would also thwart human trafficking and stem the flow of illegal drugs.

PL: What’s your view on salaries and retirement benefits for federal workers, particularly those in this area?

Stewart: I rarely disagree with the current administration, but on this I did.

Federal employees in Virginia wake up early, face punishing traffic, and work hard to serve their nation and support their families. These workers need and deserve a pay raise.

When President Trump proposed a federal worker pay freeze, I respectfully criticized his stated position – and he retweeted my criticism, after which the President reconsidered his view on the matter.

As this example illustrates, I will successfully advocate for the interests of Virginians, in a way that Kaine simply cannot.   

PL: What’s your position on how to improve the nation’s health care system and the status of the Affordable Care Act?

Stewart: The Affordable Care Act has failed to deliver on its promises, as too many individuals and families have learned the hard way. I strongly favor health savings accounts, as well as the restoration of short-term and low-cost “no-frills” plans. We should allow insurance plans to be sold across state lines (more competition is healthy). Ultimately, we need a free-market, consumer-driven health care system that puts the needs of patients first.